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The Shields 3:
A DARK SEDUCTION
By
Donna Grant
©copyright by Donna Grant, August 2007
Cover Art by Eliza Black, © copyright August 2007
ISBN 978-1-60494-038-2
New Concepts Publishing
Lake Park GA 31636
www.newconceptspublishing.com
This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.
Chapter One
LeBlanc village
Westmorland County, England
Summer 1244
Eyes as sharp as a falcon’s scanned the crowded village as people shuffled from place to place in an effort to accomplish their chores.
All was normal in the small, sleepy village, except for two men who stood silently against the loud backdrop.
Cole, the taller of the two by mere inches, found his gaze returning again and again to the three story tavern. He straightened from the blacksmith’s shop as his hand brushed the handle of his war axe.
“What is it?”
Cole glanced at his companion. Gabriel stood tense, his hands relaxed by his side, ready to grasp his bow and arrow at a moments notice.
“I don’t know,” Cole finally answered. “There’s something in the tavern that draws my attention.”
In response, Gabriel reached behind his head and drew his hair away from his face and tied it off at the nape of his neck with a string of leather.
Cole grinned at his friend. “Ready for some action?”
“I was born ready,” Gabriel said and flexed his shoulders.
Just as Cole lifted his foot to step into the street, a flash of yellow caught his attention. He stared, transfixed, as a shapely leg peeked out of an upstairs window.
“Is that…?”
“Aye,” Cole answered, unable to look away.
To his glee, more leg was exposed, and then a slender arm joined it. It was only moments later a shapely backside also moved through the narrow window.
Gabriel leaned forward for a better look. “What do you suppose she is doing?”
Cole chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. “I have no idea, but I’m enjoying the show.” During that time, the girl had managed to extract the rest of her body from the window and hung perilously by her fingers and toes to the side of the building, her faded yellow gown blowing in the slight breeze.
“She’s going to plunge to her death.”
Cole happened to agree with Gabriel. Yet, by the way the woman hung on, as if she didn’t have a care in the world, he had a feeling she knew exactly what she was doing.
“She’s not in a hurry,” Cole said as he glanced at the open window to see if anyone followed her.
Gabriel snorted. “Then why in the name of the Fae is she climbing down the tavern.”
Cole shrugged and involuntarily took a step toward the woman when her foot slipped.
“We need to do something,” Gabriel stated.
Cole was surprised that they were the only ones who noticed the woman. She hung above the villagers and any moment could come crashing down atop one of them.
A smile pulled at his lips as the woman slowly worked her way to the corner of the building and then climbed down. He heard Gabriel mumble something beneath his breath when the woman’s feet touched the ground and she untucked her skirts from betwixt her legs.
All Cole managed to see through the throng of people was strands of brunette hair that had escaped the cap atop her head. She had caught his attention as any women who would brave such dangers would. He couldn’t wait to have her in his arms.
Before he could go to her, Gabriel’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“There’s no time.”
Cole looked back toward the woman. She was just making her escape from the town when two men caught her and roughly dragged her back into the tavern.
It was just as well, Cole thought. His rod would have to wait while he and Gabriel gathered what information they could. With his mind set to forget the woman, anger sliced through him when one of the men backhanded her so hard she fell to her side in the dirt. It took every ounce of will for Cole to turn away. He couldn’t make a scene, not yet.
Not until they knew what evil lurked in the small village.
As they walked down the dirt road toward the castle high up on the hill, he found Gabriel fingering his dagger. Gabriel had a keen sense that the Shields always listened to. Cole wasn’t about to ignore it now.
“What is it?”
“The castle,” Gabriel murmured. “There is something about it, something that doesn’t seem quite...normal.”
Cole’s eyes immediately went to the imposing stone towers that reached toward the clouds. “You think the evil resides there?”
Gabriel shrugged and slowed his pace. “In the past, anytime the Fae has moved us through time, we always arrive once the creature has begun to plague the village.”
Cole nodded, following Gabriel’s line of thought. “Yet no one acts as though their lives are in danger. Do you suppose the creature hasn’t yet arrived?”
“Nay, it’s here. Aimery said as much.” Aimery. Cole wished the Fae commander was with them to shed more light on their quest. Being a Shield was something Cole prided himself on, but a little more information could be as valuable as gold.
Gabriel punched him on the arm. “Don’t tell me you still dislike being thrown into a time and place that you know nothing about.”
Cole shook his head at the grin on Gabriel’s face. It was a rare occurrence when Gabriel smiled, not to mention jested, and after all they had been through with being separated from Val and Roderick, then losing Darrick to death and Hugh to his heart mate, Cole could barely muster a grin, much less jesting.
“Knowing what we were up against could give us an added edge, at least.”
This time Gabriel chuckled. “As if you need it. An immortal that can use a war axe like others use a sword.”
It was true, but Cole didn’t like to advertise it. He had been trained by the Fae themselves, and with his unnatural ability to use his war axes more effectively than most, he was deadly.
Cole lengthened his strides. “With time running out on us, why don’t we tackle the obvious first? Let’s see what the lord of the castle has to say.”
They walked from the crowded village down the main road toward the castle. The road twisted and many times their view was obstructed by trees from the forest on either side of the dirt road.
With just the slightest touch to Cole, Gabriel stepped into the forest as the castle came into view. Cole knew Gabriel would scout the castle while he talked to the baron.
Cole gazed at the massive wooden gate that was shut and the two guards that stood outside. As he passed villagers that were turned away, he began to wonder why the baron kept his castle sealed off to his villagers.
“What business do you have with the baron?” one guard asked as Cole approached.
“I’m a knight from a distant castle. I’ve heard great things about your baron and I wish to offer him my services.”
“We have plenty of knights.”
Cole inhaled deeply and crossed his arms over his chest. “Shouldn’t that be the baron’s decision?”
The two guards looked at each other and laughed. “Unless you have an invitation from the baron himself, you don’t gain entry into the castle.”
Cole stared at the pair of guards before dropping his hands and turning on his heel to walk away. Half way back to the village Gabriel joined him on the road.
“It smells,” Gabriel said.
Cole glanced over his shoulder to see more villagers turned away. “Aye. What lord doesn’t allow his own people inside his walls?”
“One that has something to hide.”
Cole nodded. “And the quickest way to discover what he has to hide is through his villagers.” He turned to Gabriel to see his silver eyes alight with anticipation. “You have a plan.”
“I have a plan,” he said and quickly turned back toward the village.
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