Read Daughters of the Dagger 03 - Amber for Free Online

wandering the lands was unfulfilling. He knew damned well he’d never have a pot to piss in if he kept up that lifestyle. No mercenary who wasn’t a noble would ever have his own castle. The church had more wealth than most the nobles, and by God he wanted some of it, as he’d seen Father Armand’s lifestyle and it was impressive indeed. If a church were to give him a castle, he’d be accepted, be he a noble or not.
    Lucas had nothing in life. No wealth, no lands, and no one to love or care for him. He’d been promised a castle after he did the priest’s bidding, and now he was being denied it. Father Armand controlled the strings of the coin pouch for the double monastery though that position should have been controlled by the abbess alone. And as the priest was his surrogate father, Lucas felt he deserved to share the wealth as well.
    “You bastard,” he spat, raising a hand to hit him, but Father Armand stood up and moved away quickly. The priest stumbled backward and steadied himself by grabbing on to the table.
    “What’s the matter?” Lucas growled. “Been nipping too much wine from the chalice again?”
    “You’ d better watch your words, as I’ll not allow you to hit a holy man and get away with it again. I’ll have you excommunicated.”
    “I w as well in my cups when I punched you the first time, but I am more than sober now. And if you need to excommunicate me from the church, then do so. There is nothing here for me anymore, so it doesn’t matter.”
    “I sent you away before, and I’ll do it again,” said the priest raising up and smoothing down his robe. “As soon as you’re able to leave the bed, you’ll finish your pilgrimage as was our deal. I need you to go to Canterbury where one of our biggest shrines to the saint, Thomas Becket is just crying out for someone to sell relics. Besides, Canterbury Cathedral has a relic I want and you are going to retrieve it for me. Actually, it’s not a relic, but one of the treasures of Canterbury.”
    “ Retrieve?” he repeated the word. “What you really mean is that you want me to steal from a church, don’t you? You’ve gone mad.”
    “I want the parish of St. Ermengild to have the best relics in the land. Real ones, that is. And also the best treasures. The archbishop of Winchester will be visiting soon and I need to make a good impression in his eyes. If he likes what he sees, I am hoping he will put in a good word to the Pope about me. With any luck, I’ll be a bishop soon and have my own diocese instead of just a parish. Besides, this won’t be the first time a relic or treasure is stolen from a rivaling church. This has been going on amongst the churches for years. It is not anything new, I assure you.”
    “ Perhaps not, but you are asking me to do it. I almost died from a band of ruffians with very large blades on your little mission already. It was only by my own training with a sword that I was able to protect the other pilgrims and kill the bandits. And I assure you it didn’t help that I had these to slow me down.” Lucas held up the chains to show him. “Had they not used the chains to hold me down I never would have been wounded. ’Twas only because I had my feet free that I was able to get out of their hold.”
    “Yes, I suppose that could be a problem. But I knew you could take care of yourself, Lucifer so I wasn’t worried.”
    “ I admire your vote of confidence, but the fact doesn’t change that we made a deal and I’ll not let you renege on it.”
    “Of course not. Just finish the pilgrimage and get me my relic from the cathedral of Canterbury and I’ll make good on all I’ve promised.”
    “Fine. But since this mission sounds even more dangerous than the last, I want more than just a castle when this is finished. I want lands and a wife too. And more wealth than an earl.”
    The priest thought for a moment, and then nodded. “All right,” he said. Canterbury Castle will belong to the church soon, as