Read Desire for Free Online

movement. He extended the blade, hilt first, toward Clare in an unmistakable gesture of homage and respect. He waited, along with everyone else, for her to take hold of the weapon.

    A murmur of astonishment and approval swept through the crowd. Clare heard it. She sensed William's barely contained excitement. The expectant tension in the atmosphere was overwhelming.

    To refuse the sword would be a move fraught with risk. There was no telling how Gareth would react or what his mounted warriors might do to retaliate. They could destroy the entire village in a matter of minutes.

    To accept the blade, however, was to give Gareth and everyone else cause to believe that his suit would be favorably received.
    It was a trap. A rather neat one, Clare had to admit, but definitely a trap. It was a snare with only two exits, both of which were dangerous. And it had been very deliberately set. But then, she had known from the first that this was a man who used his wits as well as his strength to gain his ends.

    Clare looked down at the hilt of the polished length of steel. She saw that the pommel was set with a large chunk of rock crystal. The cloudy gray stone appeared to be filled with silvery smoke from unseen fires. Suddenly Clare knew whence the blade had taken its name. It did not require much imagination to envision the crystal in the pommel as a window into hell.

    Clare met Gareth's steady gaze and saw that the smoky crystal was a fine match for his eyes.

    Knowing that there was no way out of the trap, Clare chose one of the only two options available. Slowly she reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword. The weapon was so heavy that she had to use both hands to hold it.

    A great cry of jubilation went up from the crowd. William grinned. Cheers filled the air. Armor clashed and rang as the mounted knights and men-at-arms brandished their lances and struck their shields.

    Clare looked at Gareth and felt as if she had just stepped off one of the high cliffs of Desire.

    Gareth reached out with his huge, mail-covered hands, caught her up, and swept her off the wall. The world spun around Clare. She very nearly dropped the big sword.

    An instant later she found herself settled safely across the saddle in front of the Hellhound. She was steadied by a mail-clad arm the size of a tree. She looked up and saw the satisfaction blazing in Gareth's eyes.

    Clare wondered why she felt as if she were still falling.

    Gareth raised one hand to summon a knight. A hard-faced warrior rode forward.
    "Aye, Sir Gareth?"

    "Ulrich." Gareth pitched his voice so that his man could hear it above the thundering cheers of the crowd. "Escort my lady's noble protector in a manner which befits his excellent service."

    "Aye." Ulrich eased his mount closer to the wall and held out his arms to seize William by the waist. He lifted the lad off the wall and settled him onto his saddle bow.

    Clare saw William's eyes grow huge as he was carried off through the crowd astride the massive war-horse. She realized with wry chagrin that Gareth had just gained a loyal follower for life.

    Clare listened to the exultant shouts of her people as the Hellhound of Wyckmere walked his gray stallion through the crowded street. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw Margaret standing in the gatehouse entryway.

    The prioress waved cheerfully.

    Clare clutched the Window of Hell and considered carefully the excellently set snare in which she had been caught.

    2

    "Presenting the Window of Hell to the lady was a pretty gesture." Ulrich grinned as he watched Gareth soap himself in the large bathing tub. "Quite unlike you, if I may say so."
    "You think me incapable of pretty gestures?" Gareth shoved his wet hair out of his eyes and looked at his trusted friend.

    Ulrich lounged on a cushioned window seat. The sunlight shone on his totally bald head. A seasoned knight some six years older than Gareth, Ulrich was a heavily muscled man of surprisingly handsome