Kiss Of Darkness

Father Gregore had acted strangely throughout the day, cursing and muttering much more than usual. Now, as they assessed their enemy’s strength and planned their defense, he seemed stranger still. The knight respected the priest, though he was wary of his many incantations, intoned in a language bearing no resemblance to anything the knight had ever heard. A chill ran up his spine—an unusual sensation. He had faced ruthless enemies on the field again and again. He had watched his kinsmen and friends fall. Long ago, he had set his mind to the task with the knowledge he could never look anywhere but straight ahead, that there could be nothing but the fight for freedom to guide them.

“He rides with the Devil’s own henchman,” Father Gregore muttered savagely.

The knight forced the sounds of the priest’s voice from his mind and focused on the scene below. He pointed to the glen and the river, and the great tor beyond. “There,” he said softly. “There is where we must stop them.”

“They’ll attack by day,” the king mused.

“I don’t think we dare make that supposition,” the knight said.

The king sat very still. “My household rests in that glen.”

The knight was very aware of that, as well as the fact that the king had a number of illegitimate children. He had married for love; his bride had braved her own family’s disapproval for her husband. But there had been long times when they had been parted.

One of the king’s by blood, a daughter, had quite recently come of age. She attended the queen, who bore her no malice. Like her father, she was fierce, loyal and dauntless. Like her mother, late of the Isle of Skye, she was beautiful. She was adept with a small bow, and had used her weapon successfully against the enemy. Her wit was as quick as her shot. Bold with her laugher, her ability to tease and seduce, she epitomized everything the knight fought for: the fierce, wild spirit of the land. A challenge, proud and independent, she had captured his mind along with his heart. Sometimes, sleeping on the rocky ground, he closed off the sounds of the night and the smell of blood. He felt himself seduced anew in his mind, a hint of the scent of her skin and the feel of her flesh teasing him in his dreams.

He turned to the king. “They will not wait.” He pointed skyward to the rising moon. “It’s Father Gregore’s Demon Moon. They will see by its light, crimson and shadowed as that may be.”

The king gasped suddenly and caught the warrior’s arm. The knight looked down to the glen below, and his breath caught, as had his liege’s. There was suddenly a great burst of laughter among the men there as what had apparently been a small scouting party made a triumphant return. Horses burst through the pass, hooves pounding, the riders shouting loudly enough to be heard by the force looking down on them.

“A prize. A prize for our great king!” a man roared.

And then the knight saw. The king’s daughter Igrainia, his own true love, bruised and muddied, straight and defiant still, was seated before one of the raiders, who shoved her from the horse at the feet of the very man who was now their most hated enemy. Yet thrown hard, the wind knocked from her, she rose quickly, her chin high as she looked into the eyes of their foe.

Their enemy stared at the girl, then at his men. “The others?” he inquired.

“Dead,” the rider said, and spat. “At her hands.”

“And the queen?”

“Escaped—while this one mowed down our men.”

“And the so-called king of these outlaws?”

“Nowhere to be found.”

The enemy king, sly though not brave, cruel if not strong, assessed her, then looked around slowly. He raised his voice high, shouting so his words were an echo in the strange and eerie light that already seemed to be rising around them. “She shall die a traitor’s death! By the full rise of the moon, she shall die.”

The knight’s horse pawed at the earth of the cliff. The king again set a hand upon his arm. “Hold.”

“I will go alone,” the knight said. It felt as if his blood were boiling.

“Demon Moon,” the priest muttered behind him. “She is lost already.”

The knight ignored him. “I will not let her die without a fight,” he told the king. “She is your flesh and blood. Too many times she has risked herself to save others. I cannot let her die without a fight.”

“You cannot die needlessly. They know that we are near, that we are listening,” the king said. “We must plan.”

The knight looked at the king. “There is a way.” He pointed out the river, which was but a rill upstream, the jagged cliffs opposite their position. The cairns to the northwest, where they could escape through labyrinths, the enemy could not know.

The king listened gravely. Other nobles and knights came closer. The plan was decided.

“Pay heed,” Father Gregore demanded suddenly.

The king looked up, a deep frown creasing his forehead. He gave the orders to his men to circle to their positions, then rode to the edge of the cliff again.

The knight followed him. His stomach quickened.

Below, they were playing a taunting game with the king’s daughter, tossing her from man to man. She didn’t cry out. Her life had taught her stoicism.

A man grabbed her, pulled her close, then let out a scream as she bit his lip and kneed his groin. “My God, I’ll kill her!” he shrieked, drawing his sword.

The enemy king laughed. “So quickly? You are no match for her. But we ride this night with one who is.”

“The Devil’s own appears,” Gregore muttered. “But you must hold,” he warned the knight.

The enemy king lifted a hand as, from the throng of cavalry and foot soldiers, strode a man. He was taller than others, a black cloak around his shoulders and a painted black helm upon his head. He walked with confidence, approaching the girl.

The knight’s blood quickened; he gritted his teeth, fighting desperately for control.

This man had long been a servant of the enemy. The knight had met him in battle before, knew that at least once, he had inflicted grave damage upon him.

He remembered when they had last met. They had fought savagely, so savagely that he had believed he had killed his opponent, for he had managed a thrust to the throat. He had seen the blood gush and spill, the man fall, his life choking from him, his final words a curse and a vow that revenge would be his.

But rumor said that his foe had refused to die. That he had called upon Satan himself for succor.

Some whispered that Satan had sent one of his concubines to the earl. That she had given him a kiss, and therein sealed his pact with the Devil. He had not died, and the word that went across the country—terrifying his friends, it was said, as well as his foes—was that he had become invincible.

He was referred to now, in tones of awe and fear, as the Master.

And now that loathsome being had the king’s daughter in his power.

She would fight. The knight knew this in his heart. A feeling like death itself stole his breath. She would fight, and she would die. He had no prayer of reaching her, of perishing in her defense.

But she did not fight; she made no move. She merely stared at the damned warrior as he approached.

The man lifted his helm, his face shaded by the growing red moon. He seized the girl, drew her close beneath his cloak.

Suddenly she came to life. She screamed and raged, fought hard and somehow drew away, clasping her neck. With stunning speed, she stole the sword from the noble at the king’s left side. She swung it high and strong, despite its staggering weight. The cloaked man moved back; the warrior at his side was not so quick, and he died in agony.

Before she could strike again, a dozen men were upon her. She was instantly captured and bound, dragged to a tree, where faggots were quickly set. All the while, she swore in defiance. She cursed those who would murder her. “You will die,” she promised the enemy king. “You, too, will die in an agony of fire. Your insides will burn, as your soul races toward the fires of an eternal hell!” she shouted.

The black-cloaked figure turned, staring at the surrounding countryside. “See, Ioin? My power is greater now than any you will ever know. She is mine. Come, save her now, if you dare.”

The fire was lit.

Father Gregore crossed himself, muttered a prayer and drew his sword.

The knight knew he could wait no longer. He would defy the king.