Read Daughters of the Dagger 03 - Amber for Free Online Page A

I’ve heard the lady of the castle’ s husband has died without heir and he has left it to the church as well as his land. I want you to go there after your pilgrimage and court the woman. In the meantime, I’ll make the arrangements needed, and in order not to lose her lands she’ll have to marry you. Then you’ll have not only your castle, but your lands and wife as well.”
    “And why would she marry me? I’m not a noble. I have nothing to offer.”
    “She doesn’t need to know that. I’ll pay someone to write up the appropriate parchments so it’ll look like you’re a baron or an earl.”
    “Nay. I’ll never be able to convince anyone of that. I’ll go to the castle, but as a knight errant only. And though I’ve taught myself to fight, I’ll live by the rules of chivalry that’s expected. I will earn my title of knight and lord, though the castle will be your gift to me for the hell you’ve put me through.”
    “ And as for a wife, – I will take Lady Canterbury but only if she so pleases me. I’ll not have a wife who is old or ugly. I’ve spent my life in a monastery of drab nuns. I want a wife who is alluring and very lively and who will see to my lusty needs. And now that our agreement is settled, I will not have these chains on me another minute, so I demand that you release me.”
    “ Fine,” said Father Armand. “But I warn you if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will not carry out my end of the deal, do you understand?”
    “ This is the last time I’ll do your bidding, and believe me, I have no intention of telling anyone anything that could keep me from the lifestyle I truly deserve.”
    “H rmph,” sniffed the priest, getting a reaction out of Lucas.
    “You never did tell me anything about my mother. Nor if you know who my father was. For all I know, I could have been sired by the king.”
    “There’s no chance of that, Lucifer, take my word on it.” With that, Father Armand stood and pulled a key out from the folds of his robe. “Give me your hands.”
    Lucas held them forwa rd and as he unlocked them, the chains fell to the ground with a loud clang.
    “I’m surprised you didn’t hack them off yourself,” said the priest unlocking the neck collar as well.
    “I thought about it, but since you were the one to put them on me, I wanted the pleasure of seeing you regretfully take them off as well. Besides, we had a deal and I was upholding my end.”
    “There, ” said the priest, dropping the collar to the ground and then placing the key on the bedside table. “Now hand over the coins, and be sure to restock the relics before you go.”
    Lucas grabbed the canvas bag with fake relics, dumping them atop the bed. “Pig bones, horse hair, old teeth from the beggars at the gates … why the hell do people believe these are body parts from saints? ’Tis garbage and not worth a rat’s ass.”
    “Because they want to beli eve, Lucifer. It doesn’t take much to convince someone of anything if they are crying out in their mind, wanting to believe in something.”
    Lucas knew how that felt. He’d been crying out silently for years to believe in something. He’d thought at first it was the church, but when he’d seen how corrupt Father Armand was yet he still wore the holy robes, he knew his faith had been misplaced. If there was a god, then why hadn’t he helped him by now instead of making his life so miserable?
    “Now the coins,” said Armand, his long fingers jutting out towards him, the greed showing in his eyes. “It looks like that pouch is full.”
    “It is. And don’t forget I almost died to keep it.” He picked up the heavy pouch filled with coins collected from the sales of the fake relics for the past four months. He was about to hand it over, then decided against it and clutched it to his chest instead. “I think I’ll keep this for now to make sure you’ll deliver your end of the deal.”
    “You can’t do that. That money belongs to the church,