Read Promised to the Crusader for Free Online Page B

little.’
    ‘Thank you.’ Elaine allowed him to help her down. she sank onto the blanket he placed for her and leaned back against a tree. Tears were very close, but she refused to shed them, though she could not help thinking of Marion and Bertrand.
    ‘Your friends may have managed to give them the slip. It is clear that the earl split his forces to follow you—perhaps this will save them.’
    ‘Yes, perhaps,’ Elaine said and took the bread and cheese he offered, breaking small pieces to eat. ‘You, too, could have died if they caught us.’
    ‘There were no more than three. I am a match for them,’ Janvier said. ‘I thought it best to lead you to safety if I could, but had it been necessary I should have given my life to save you.’
    ‘Why?’ Elaine looked at him in wonder. ‘You do not know me—why would you risk so much for me?’
    Janvier shook his head. ‘It is my lord who would keep you safe. He is the most honourableknight in Christendom—and he would not see any woman fall prey to the man who pursues you.’
    ‘You have heard of the Earl of Newark?’
    ‘Yes—but I shall say no more. You must learn what else you need to from my lord.’
    Elaine nodded. ‘I am ready to go on, sir. I would meet with your lord before nightfall if ’tis possible.’
    ‘Come then, lady,’ Janvier said. ‘For I think he is close behind us.’

Chapter Four
    ‘I am glad to be of service to you,’ Sir Roderick said as he clasped Zander’s hands. ‘I honour you for all you have suffered in the Lord’s cause, and my men will serve you faithfully for as long as you need them.’
    ‘When I secure my father’s keep I shall employ more and send them back to you.’
    A shadow passed across his uncle’s face. ‘I fear there is little there to reclaim, Zander. The lands were small, as you know, for your father fell into debt and forfeited some acres. His keep is nought but a mouldering ruin.’
    ‘Then I shall restore it and build a fine manor house,’ Zander said. ‘I have won both honours and a fortune, Uncle. I shall restore the name of my father and bring his lands back into goodheart so that there is food and a place to live for those that are still loyal.’
    ‘Then go with my blessing and may the peace of God be upon you, Nephew.’
    ‘My soul can never be at peace until I avenge my father,’ Zander replied, but he smiled and clasped his uncle’s hand. ‘I thank you for your help and now I must go, for I fear my lady is in great danger.’
    He mounted his horse, signalled to the men his uncle had assigned to him, and set off at a canter from the moated manor house. It was a secure stronghold and his uncle was a powerful man who employed more than one hundred men-at-arms. The horses’ hooves clattered across the wooden bridge, eleven men in all—and every one a good fighting soldier.
    Zander hoped that soon he would recover his strength. He had taken two measures of the cure brewed from the herbs Elaine had given him and was feeling a little less exhausted. The dizziness that had plagued him for weeks seemed to have gone. He smiled as he bent forwards over his horse. He would not faint and fall again and they must hurry—if they delayed, it might be too late.
    Elaine’s heart caught with apprehension as they saw a band of men galloping down theroad towards them. It looked a larger party this time and she feared that the Earl of Newark had sent more men to look for them. Here there were no woods to hide them and to flee back the way they had come would be useless.
    ‘If they wish to take me, you must allow it,’ she said to Janvier. ‘I do not wish you to sacrifice your life for me. The Earl’s men will not harm me; he needs me alive so that he can claim my lands without fear of reprimand or retribution.’
    Janvier smiled as the horsemen came closer. ‘Fear not, lady. ’Tis but my lord and the men who serve him.’
    ‘Oh…’ For some reason Elaine’s heart beat even faster and her stomach