The Knight of Swords Prepares To Defend His Queen From Violent Suitors

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Here is the next part of Knight of Swords.  I hope you enjoy it.

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Sara











Knight of Swords

‘We have some time.  He will need the right atmospheric conditions plus a full moon for the ritual to be successful.  That does not happen until three days’ time.’

‘You know of this ritual?’

‘I have read of its conception in the ancient times.  Its practice was long since forbidden by our race, under penalty of death.’

‘As it should be.  Why is Sebastian’s body failing?  Is he not immortal . . .’

Gabriel interrupted me, ‘I don’t know.  That is something I do not understand myself.  I fear the reason will be something none of us could have even imagined or considered.  There are many mysteries about our race that even I, for all my years of living, have not had occasion to fathom.  I must think on all that you have told me.’

He paced the room, putting his fingers to his lips, frowning with the concentration of his thoughts.  Then he turned sharply and gestured to me.

‘Juliet’s blood is not yet cleared of the animal poison.  Those spasms of intense pain you saw were caused by the venom contained in Caratacos demon bites.  The venom burns inside the blood, ridding the body of any foreign substances.  It seems Juliet is doing her best to retain the animal blood by forcing her body to resist the cleansing.  She is trying to stop Sebastian consummating their joining.  She will be in terrible pain.’

Gabriel paused as though considering this knowledge before he continued.

‘The rings of fire around her throat, wrists, and ankles are to control her mind, to keep you out.  They bind her in her mental and physical world.  The iron that composes the table she rests upon will further weaken her as a hybrid.  It is another poison to our kind.’  He turned to look at me with curiosity.  ‘Yet . . .’ he spoke slowly with disbelief.  A small degree of sarcasm tingeing his voice made my eyes narrow.  ‘. . . She suffers and resists all for you.’  He made no effort to disguise the wild envy blazing in his eyes.  I made no mention of it. 

He turned away and gave a small laugh.  ‘I have never heard of a Taleian Queen with so much strength to resist control by a Caratacos demon so effectively.  To shield someone from them as well is astonishing.  She is special, Nathan.’

This time volatile jealousy laced his words.  My narrowed eyes viewed him with a dark warning.

‘You do not need to convince me of her worth, Gabriel.’  I was beginning to understand the violent passions of the male hybrids where females were concerned.  It was part of their nature.  I was not without them either.  The beast within wanted to rile Gabriel further as a warning.  My human side could do precious little to prevent it.  ‘I am inside her, Gabriel.  I know her thoughts, her inner beauty.  She hides nothing from me.  You will never understand how it feels to be so close to her.’

I watched him take a breath as he realised his provocation and the wrath it had produced in my response.  We could not afford to fight amongst ourselves at this moment.  I was grateful he appreciated this. 

‘Of course,’ he said with a forced smile.  I could sense the danger had passed.  We continued our discussion of strategy for rescuing Juliet.  

‘We must raise an army,’ Gabriel informed me, the tension in his voice ebbing away.

‘My knights, under my lead, are sufficient.  We are the royal guard.’

‘We will need help.  Sebastian will know you are coming.  He and the others will be well protected.  I know of two other knights who can assist us.  They have followed a different path in life to the rest of us, but they are noble.  They will not let us down with a new queen in danger.  They will bring other hybrids and humans to help.  What you really mean, Nathan, is that you do not need any more challengers.  Unfortunately, you may have to brace yourself in order to rescue Juliet.’

I said nothing until a brief smile of humour on his lips at my silence encouraged me to answer him.  I raised an eyebrow with my response to give him a haughty repost.  ‘I do not doubt there will be more challengers for Juliet.  Any man would want to possess such a powerful beauty for himself.  But like you, they will be made to respect that she is mine.’

 Chapter Seventeen

The air hung damp with a fine mist, lit by the glow of the weak winter sun as we rode hard through a picturesque, snow laden valley towards the coast.  We had travelled constantly for nearly three days now, and had made the rendezvous with Gabriel’s friends.

Although grateful for their help and the extra men they brought to our side, I was unsure of the roguishly handsome twin brothers, Dylan and Byron Lysander.  No doubt it was because of my possessiveness of Juliet.  They were criminals, leaders of a notorious gang of thieves.  Both had been Cavaliers, from a rich, noble family in the seventeenth century.  Their estate had been sequestered in the Civil War.  Left with no financial support, they decided to take to the road as highwaymen.  They held up rich travellers for money, often charming their female victims into giving up their virtue in their carriages.  The brothers’ fame soon spread.  Many a woman was secretly desperate to be held up by them on the road, eager for their affections.  Then there were the scandalous stories of them kidnapping wealthy, young heiresses to hold them for a ransom.  They were often sent home ruined.  Now the brothers were engaged in smuggling and all manner of knavery.  They appeared to live well on it.  Their wicked good looks, combined with their devil may care approach to life, would no doubt lead many woman astray, perhaps even Juliet.

I shook my head and gave myself an abrupt inner rebuke of contempt, ‘Listen to yourself, fretting like an old maid.  Concentrate on the task at hand, save Juliet.’ 

Since breaking through the barrier of fire that closed our minds from each other it was as though a narrow tunnel had been left.  It allowed some of Juliet’s thoughts and visions to flow into my mind.  Her pain accompanied them, but it was a small price to pay to partially rejoin our minds.

Her blood was now cleansed, despite her efforts.  She had delayed the process far longer than any other hybrid would have been able, but she had lost her battle with the Caratacos demon venom.  Despite this, she continued to pour effort into protecting me from the pain she endured, so I would not be weakened.  I was both honoured and in awe of her great love for me.

I searched her mind as I rode, seeking to find any clue that would tell me where she was now being held.  Every muscle in my body clenched and my hands tightened painfully on my horse’s reins as I witnessed her lying helpless on a table in another dark room, lit only by candles.

Four red skinned Caratacos demons stood at the four points of the table, chanting over Juliet in an unfamiliar language.  They were dressed in black hooded silk cloaks, trimmed in red, their arms folded and hidden in their sleeves.  The back of their garments bore the emblem of a red Cobra.  For a reason I could not fathom, Juliet kept drawing my attention to this symbol in her mind.  It was a warning, but she could not communicate more.

Sebastian straddled her body, pressing down heavily upon her.  She struggled as best she could, whimpering with the pain of his weight.  He verbally tormented her with details of the Druid ritual, speaking with savage relish.  She would be naked for all to feast their eyes upon as he forcefully consummated their sexual joining. 

He lifted the skirt of her dress, roughly dipping his hand through her undergarments to her soft flesh unprotected beneath them.  He caressed the smooth skin of her stomach with the flat of his palm, digging his unkempt, long, dirty fingernails deeply into her flesh.  Blood blistered profusely to the surface.

Her fear, revulsion, and pain seared hot inside me.  Her scream rang in my ears as she shouted out for me.  Sebastian cruelly laughed at the tears that sprang from her eyes.  Still the demons chanted like speaking statues above her.  Sebastian coated his fingers in her blood.  Holding them up to the candle light, he admired its colour just as he did when he murdered.  He rubbed his blood coated fingers together.

‘The texture of a Queen’s blood is like the finest silk.  Its colour bears a vibrancy and sensual potency like no other.  It brands her a whore and a temptress.  She teases every Taleian man around her, hybrid or pure.  The Taleian Queen is the pinnacle of her race in beauty, intelligence, and power.  She bestows a mighty status upon her mate as Knight of Swords, leader of her army.  She is the ultimate prize.  Whoever mates with the Queen controls her power.  A man who desires the Queen will stop at nothing to make her his and bring her to her knees before him.’  He gave another laugh as he slipped his bloodied fingers between his lips.

He closed his eyes.  His body gave a pleasurable shudder.  ‘Your taste is exquisite, Juliet.  It won’t be long before you are mine, and we are joined.’

Juliet looked up at him with moist eyes.  I felt my own widen with surprise when her expression changed from fear to one of sympathy for the vile creature.

‘I understand now,’ Juliet whispered.  ‘I know what you are.  I had my suspicions, but I couldn’t be sure, not until now.  It is strange that a man would want to give up his masculinity to join with a female’s body, but you are already female, aren’t you?’

Sebastian’s whole body stiffened.  He stared down at Juliet but remained silent.

‘You used your power as a female hybrid to change your gender.  Seeking to gain power and position in a human world run by men, you decided to masquerade as one.  But something happened, something went wrong.  You became stuck in your own illusion when you couldn’t change back.  You aren’t meant to keep another form for so long.  Your body is slowly disintegrating.’

  Juliet’s voice was hoarse from a dryness to her throat.  She coughed, then continued.

‘You want to join with me to be female again.  But this time you will have real power as a woman, a Queen.  Power that will transcend any carried by a man.’

‘All this time I believed you too weak to invade my mind to read my past.  I evidently underestimated your guile and strength.  My barriers were inadequate.  Yes, my body is failing.  I am living a slow, painful death.  I was cursed by a Druid woman I raped.  I wanted to know what it felt like to be male, to be able to take what I wanted, when I wanted in a society that rejected me for being a female and a hybrid.’  There was passionate bitterness in Sebastian’s voice.

Juliet whispered, tears in her trembling voice, ‘You killed her.’

Sebastian paused.  There was a faraway look in his eyes as though he was remembering.  All that could be heard was the low monotone chanting of the demons around him.  He spoke suddenly, ‘Yes.’  Another pause.  ‘But I loved her.  For a while.  She would not love me as a woman.  She was too afraid.  Just as you were before her.’

‘Yes, I remember you.  I could not love a woman, I was always meant for Nathan.  Besides, I was a child.  You tried to force me . . .’ Juliet’s voice became shrill with hysteria.  ‘You had no right to expect love from me in any form.  You were my governess.’

I closed my eyes, feeling repugnance sit like a lead weight in the pit of my stomach. 

He leaned closer to shout in her face, ‘It does not matter now.  I will take you as a man, then I will take your body.  Afterwards, I will rip off the head of your precious Knight of Swords.  They will all kneel before me; men, Taleians, and hybrids.’

I felt relief when he climbed off her, but it was short lived.

‘I won’t let you kill him,’ Juliet screamed at him.

‘You won’t be able to stop me.  I will wait until we are joined.  Then he will die by your own hand.  There will be nothing you can do to prevent his death,’ Sebastian spat at her.

‘I pity you, Sebastian.  There is so much anger inside you.’

‘Quiet.’  The sickly grin appeared upon his face once more.  ‘I believe we should make sure your blood is properly cleansed.  Just to be on the safe side.  Another dose of venom will make you ready for the ritual.  That disobedient nature of yours will be tamed.’

Juliet began to cry again.  ‘Please, no more.  Please.  I can’t take it.’

‘But you will.’  Sebastian turned to the four Caratacos demons and spoke a command.  ‘Cleanse the Queen again.  When you have finished, ready her for travel.’

Sebastian disappeared into the darkness of the room as Juliet began to violently sob.  She cried out for me as her eyes flicked back and forth between the demons, waiting for them to strike.  My heart leapt to her need, but there was nothing I could do.