Read Online Trouble in the Forest Book One: A Cold Summer Night by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Free Book Online

this was his final word on the matter. “Though that would mean following him back to the Holy Land, wouldn’t it?” He grinned at his own witticism.
    “It is not a matter of soldiers,” said deSteny with all the patience he could summon. “Or not the soldiers you mean.” He paused and launched into the purpose of his coming. “On Crusade we learned of those who have become servants of the Devil, men who were dead and not dead, men who made prey of other men in the Devil’s name. They drank the blood of the living to make them one of their depraved numbers. The Greek priests told us of them, and how they must be fought.” He had not believed what he had heard, not at first, he reminded himself, so Sir Gui’s incredulity should not amaze him. He himself had required proof, and only when he had it did he seek the aid of the Orthodox priests.
    “I will not sponsor an expedition to Greece,” said Sir Gui, fingering his fashionably pointed beard.
    “I will not ask that. I only want to tell you of this danger, newly arrived on our shores.” Again he waited, thinking that this jeweled and velvet-clad exquisite was a disastrous choice to rule Nottinghamshire. He might come from a distinguished line, but he had done little to add to his family’s distinction. But King Richard had given the fief to Sir Gui shortly after gaining the crown, and Sir Gui had been a man of distinction ever since, elevating his whole minor-nobility family to positions of importance and sparking great ambitions in his father. Many another family had done the same, and though Hugh deSteny disliked the results, he understood the impetus. Detesting his task, he went on, “It seems, from what I have been told, that the Devil’s servants we were warned of in the Holy Land have come to England.”
    “How is that, pray?” asked Sir Gui as if he were heartily bored of the whole matter. He stifled a yawn to make his point.
    Beginning to worry that his task was in vain, deSteny pressed on. “I have lately seen dead crofters who had been killed by the Devil’s servants.”
    “Oh. Crofters. Well, they are ... they are crofters. How can you expect them to defend against marauders?” He gave deSteny another look of displeasure. “If you are here because of a few dead crofters ...”
    “Not that they are dead, my Lord,” said deSteny, “but because of how they died.” He let this sink in, and added, “They were all drained of blood, my Lord.” He knew he should not tell Sir Gui that the bodies were missing: Sir Gui was repelled by accounts of desecration of the dead.
    “Someone murdered them, do you say? Or slaughtered them like hogs.” Sir Gui raised his eyebrows, anticipating an answer. “There are marauders from Greece killing crofters?”
    “Hardly marauders, my Lord,” said deSteny. “They are creatures who were once men, as other men, but who were seduced in death to the Devil’s cause, and do his work in the world.”
    “Murdering crofters,” mused Sir Gui. “Not what one would expect of the Devil. He is supposed to prefer finer game.”
    Now deSteny was hard-put to control his temper. “Killing anyone who has the misfortune to come upon them after dark. They do more than rob, they care more for shedding blood than taking plunder.” He tried to find a way to persuade Sir Gui of the horror he had witnessed. “They prey on hapless travelers, as well—”
    “But you said you had found dead crofters,” Sir Gui interrupted.
    “Yes. The warden found them and quite correctly came to me. But more than crofters, travelers are in danger. Those merchants who were attacked by outlaws who stole their goods might well have lost much more than that, had they faced these creatures.” He took a long breath. “These men who are no longer men are strongest in the night, but they can be powerful in the day as long as they are on their native ground. Anyone in Sherwood cannot think himself safe while these ... these servants of the Devil