‘Tell me!’
Lee sighed and gave him an address in Highgate. ‘Jorn, just be careful, OK? You know the rules...’
‘Yes, I know the rules.’ He ended the call and headed for Highgate. The phone rang again...probably Lee trying to talk him out of visiting Amy but Jorn’s earlier confidence in the sign he thought he had been given was shattered and he needed to see Amy. He ignored the call.
*
I tried to pull myself together and used up half a box of Kleenex wiping my eyes and blowing my nose. I hated that I was so affected by Jorn. I really didn’t deserve this. It was probably my own stupid fault for allowing myself to get swept away with the passion of the moment in the hotel room but that had all been physical. What I felt now was pure emotion. How could I be in such a state?
Shaking my head, I got a bottle of vodka out of the kitchen cupboard. This was no time to be hitting the bottle but I needed something to calm my nerves. I poured a good measure of the clear liquid into a glass and added orange juice. It burned my throat when it went down but it felt good.
I took a second sip and returned to the living room. I realized something. The burning I felt wasn’t just in my throat.
It was on my chest.
The dragon and rose pendant felt like it was on fire. I looked down between my breasts. Not only was the metal heating up, it seemed to emit a faint blue glow. What the hell was happening?
The air in the apartment seemed to change, like it does outside when there’s a storm coming. I think it’s to do with negative ions or something. But no it was happening indoors, in my living room.
The hairs on my arm and on the back of my neck stood up, prickling my skin.
And suddenly the air in front of me seemed to split apart, revealing a blue glow like the one coming from the talisman. It started small but grew until it stretched from floor to ceiling.
Three men dressed in black leather armor came through the opening. They all held swords and looked as if they were ready to use them. I screamed. I could hardly comprehend what was happening. Who were these men and how had they arrived in my living room?
They seemed equally confused when they saw me. Frowns crossed their faces.
‘It’s a woman,’ one of them said.
‘She’s wearing the amulet,’ another added.
‘Who is she?’ the third asked.
‘Who are you?’ the first speaker asked, coming closer to me. I backed away but I had nowhere to run. They were too close and there were three of them. The blue rip in the air remained open behind them, casting a blue light over everything.
‘I’m...my name is Amy,’ I said.
‘How do you come to be wearing that talisman, woman?’
‘It’s someone else’s.’
‘A knight of the Order Of The Black Rose would never let another wear his talisman.’
So it was true. All of it. Denny had been right. Jorn was a knight. But if he was a knight then who were these armed men in my apartment?
‘What shall we do?’ one of them asked.
‘We will take her to Anders.’
I backed away. ‘No, look I don’t know who or what Anders is but I have nothing to do with...’
‘You are coming with us, he said, grabbing my arm tightly.
I screamed and pulled against him but his grip was like iron. ‘Do not struggle,’ he said, ‘there is no point.’
There was a sudden, frantic knock on the door. More of them? But they seemed as surprised as I was by the noise.
Another knock.
‘Help!’ I cried out. ‘Call the police!’
The door cracked against the frame as someone on the other side attempted to break it down. I wondered if it was Jorn come to save me again but I dismissed that as wishful thinking. Besides, he was too late. Another of the intruders grabbed my other arm and they pulled me toward the blue hole.
‘No!’ I begged. ‘Please!’
The door shattered inwards and Jorn came tumbling into the room. The sight of him gave me a new found confidence and I struggled against my captors.
‘Take the woman,’ the leader said, ‘and I will deal with this knight.’ He leaped forward and struck with down with his sword. Jorn rolled out of the way and the blade cut into my carpet.
‘Jorn!’ I shouted as the two men pulled me through the blue brightness. Everything turned instantly blue then they were dragging me through a meadow beneath a night sky. The blue glow remained in the air and through it I could see the interior of my apartment and Jorn fighting with the companion of the two men who dragged me roughly away from my saviour. ‘Jorn!’ I shouted again but he couldn’t hear me.
I turned my head to see where I was being taken and in the distance I saw a dark castle. My entire world had been turned upside down. I wasn’t sure I was even in my world anymore. I needed Jorn. I needed someone who knew what was going on. I needed a friend because at that moment I felt so alone and scared.
They dragged me to where three horses stood waiting and I was unceremoniously laid across the saddle of a large chestnut mount and joined by one of the men, He held me down against the leather saddle and spurred us toward the castle. The other man followed, occasionally glancing behind him for the guy they had left fighting Jorn in my apartment.
I looked back too, in the hope that Jorn would come through the blue portal and come save me from the men in black armor.
But it didn’t happen and as the blue glow faded in the distance behind us, the castle loomed closer. I was totally lost and vulnerable. I felt tears of hopelessness roll down my cheeks as the horses entered the castle gate and a heavy iron gate closed behind us.
We stopped in a courtyard and I was pushed from the saddle. On the walls and stone steps around the courtyard, more black knights looked down on me. For one crazy moment, the danger I was in was overridden by the realization that I was still in my Hello Kitty pyjamas. The horse ride had left me in a dishevelled state and pulled the top down so that my cleavage was on display. I adjusted myself and tried to stand firmly while all these eyes were on me but I felt like my legs were made of rubber and I could collapse at any moment.
A fair-haired muscular man wearing black leather pants and a loose white shirt that looked like he had quickly thrown it on came toward me. Two steps behind him, a blond woman in a blue brocade dress glared at me.
‘What have we here?’ she asked.
‘We went through the Crystal Doorway following the talisman,’ the man who had ridden me here said, ‘and this woman was wearing it. A knight came to rescue her but we brought her here and left Lars to deal with him.’
The man looked me up and down. ‘Very good. We have the woman of a knight of the Order. This changes things in our fight, gives us a new game piece on the board.’
‘But what are we going to do with her, Anders?’ the woman asked.
‘I’ll think of something. For now, take her to the dungeon.’
I thought of running but where would I go to? How could I get away? Before I even had chance to consider such an action, rough hands grabbed me from behind and led me to the interior of the castle.
As I was led down a set of stone steps into the dank, musty-smelling gloom of the dungeon, I felt a weak whimper escape my lips. If Jorn hadn’t managed to defeat his opponent and get through the blue doorway, I was stranded here at the mercy of these people. Denny had told me that the Order Of The Black Rose protected society; I assumed that the residents of this castle were what they protected it from.
They shoved me into a cell and locked the door behind me. The stone cell was bare and cramped with a barred window the high into the wall. A sliver of spectral moonlight shone through the window and illuminated a small square on the floor. I sat down in that square of moonlight and hugged myself, head bowed and tears flowing freely.
I knew that things were going to get a lot worse unless my knight came to save me.
KNIGHT OF PASSION
CHAPTER ONE
Capt
ured
I paced the cell, worrying that Jorn had not made it through the blue portal. I needed to know that he was okay, not because I needed to be rescued but because I had to know he was still alive. I didn’t think I could go on in a world without him in it. He was everything that was good in a man and if that he was gone then my captors may as well get it over with right now and kill me. Or leave me in this dungeon to rot. Either way made no difference to me if Jorn was dead.
The silver moonlight surrounding me seemed to give me a sense of hope. Surely Jorn had defeated the evil knight in my apartment and was on his way here. He had to be. I had to believe it.
A sudden noise from the corridor beyond the cell door startled me. I turned my head in that direction as heavy keys clattered in the lock and the door opened. A heavy-set guard entered, followed by the blonde in the blue brocade dress. She looked at me with her pretty blue eyes and I was suddenly reminded of every high school bully who had looked at me with disgust because I was the big girl. Insults had followed, and physical violence in some cases, and this lady didn’t look like she was averse to either. I looked at her but didn’t speak.
She held up her hand, Jorn’s pendant dangling from her long fingers. ‘Where did you get this?’ she asked.
‘I found it,’ I lied.
She smiled and I felt my insides go cold. ‘Good,’ she said, ‘you want to do this the hard way.’
‘Not particularly,’ I said, ‘I just want to go home.’
‘Then tell me where you got the talisman. Why were you wearing it?’
I remained silent. I didn’t want to say anything that could compromise Jorn.
When she realised no answer was coming from my lips, she changed her line of questioning. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Amy,’ I replied.
‘Amy,’ she said as if tasting the two syllables. ‘I’m Darla. I decide if your stay at Castle Eldritch is long and tortuous or short and pleasurable. So don’t tempt me to make it the former. We have many devices in this dungeon which you don’t want to become acquainted with.’
No matter what she did, my stay at the castle was going to be tortuous. Not knowing if Jorn was alive or dead was torture enough. As for pleasure, only being with him again would bring me that. This woman could not bribe me to answer her questions. I didn’t know much about being captured by the enemy but the one thing I did know was that you did not talk. I intended to stay silent and wait for my rescuer.
‘Are you listening to me?’ she snapped.
When I didn’t answer, she came forward and grabbed a handful of my hair, pulling my head back. I gasped as pain flared through my skull.
‘What is your connection to Jorn? Why are you wearing his talisman? I can’t believe you’re his woman…not someone like you.’ Her look of scorn made my blood rush through my body, carrying with it adrenaline. Here was everything I had put up with all my life, every hurtful word whispered behind my back, every look of disgust, every harsh insult. I had taken those words to my heart, believing myself to be worthless, too big, taking up too much space. Now, as Darla looked directly at me and gave me the look I knew so well of old, I heaved myself up and pushed her against the stone wall, putting all my weight behind the shove I gave her.
She lost her balance and let out a surprised squeal as she hit the wall hard. The guard seemed lost in a dilemma of whether to restrain me or help his mistress who was in obvious pain as she slid down the wall to the floor. His indecision caused inaction and I quickly ducked past him and slammed the heavy door behind me, praying that he had left the key in the lock. There was no way I was going to keep the door closed if he pushed on it and he was already turning toward me and moving forward.
My eyes darted to the lock. The keys was there, inserted in the big iron lock. I turned it quickly and heard the satisfying clunk of the door locking.
‘Guards!’ Darla yelled, picking herself up from the floor and rubbing the back of her head. ‘The prisoner has escaped!’ Her eyes were wide with anger and her lips were pulled back, baring her white teeth in a snarl.
I ran. I had no idea where I could go to hide or get away. I was sure I couldn’t escape the castle so my only thought for now was to keep my freedom and avoid the guards. The dungeon was dark, lit only by flickering torches set into iron holders along the stone walls. There were shadows I could probably hide in but my instincts told me to get out of this subterranean prison. I felt trapped down here.
I reached a set of stone stairs that led upwards. Listening for footsteps from above, I convinced myself the way ahead was clear and I ascended the steps as fast as I could in my bare feet. Why had I let myself be abducted in my Hello Kitty night shirt? It was just like me to be kidnapped in embarrassing nightwear. And now I was running around a medieval-style castle in an oversize shirt with a cute cartoon cat on my chest. Ridiculous, Amy! Maybe Jorn was too embarrassed to rescue me. I know I would be. And I was going to be mortified if he suddenly came crashing into the castle to find me dressed in a night shirt that just about reached to my knees with nothing but a pair of pink panties beneath.
I got to the top of the stairs gasping for breath, trying desperately to stay quiet even though I was panting like a dog and my heart was beating loudly in my ears. It tripped along at a fast pace, driven by the adrenaline that pumped through my veins.
I was in a corridor that led off to the left and right, each direction seemingly free of guards. Closed wooden doors lined the corridor. Which way would lead me to a hiding place? Left or right? I felt exposed here standing in the middle of the corridor. If anyone came around the corner at either end of the corridor, I would be caught again and I was sure Darla wasn’t going to let my escape go unpunished. I shivered and set off to the right, sticking close to the stone walls in case someone came along the corridor and I had to take my chances by ducking through a door.
I heard a noise ahead, just around the corner. I couldn’t be caught again. Opening the door next me, I slipped through it, praying the room beyond was empty.
I closed the door behind me and heard voices outside in the corridor. My eyes adjusted to the gloom and I began to make out details of the room in which I stood. A large dead fireplace had been built into one wall and a large tapestry hung above it, displaying a symbol of an black eagle on a yellow background. There were some chairs in the room and large unlit candelabras flanking the fireplace. There was also a window. Small with leaded panes but offering a view of the outside. The world beyond the castle.
My heart leapt as I saw the sky. It was twilight, the sun going down and casting a pink glow over the clouds. I went to the window and opened it, ready to climb out and escape, but I quickly stopped myself. Although this room was on the ground floor, the stone wall outside ran vertically down about fifty feet to a dark moat below. I should have known I wouldn’t just be able to climb out onto the ground; a castle was built for defence from attackers. I wondered how deep the moat was.
Voices came drifting from the corridor outside the door. I heard Darla shouting, ‘Search the entire castle. She can’t have gone far.’ She sounded pissed. Very pissed.
Then I heard something that made my blood run cold. Doors. Opening. They were searching the rooms.
My eyes darted around the room looking for a place to hide but there was nowhere. If they came in here, they would find me. I had no choice. I climbed up onto the wooden cill of the window. The cool night air whispered under my night shirt, lifting it up to my hips. I didn’t want to do this but the choice had come down to two options: capture or escape. And the first was really no option at all.
The door opened and two guards burst in. One of them saw me in the window and shouted, ‘She’s in here!’
Then I dropped from the window and suddenly the vertical wall of the castle was rushing by me as I plummeted downwards.
CHAPTER TWO
Rescuer
Jorn stood in the woods, his sword bloodied, his breathing ragged. He had come through the portal from
Amy’s apartment just before the glowing blue doorway had closed. He had brought the body of the dead knight with him and now he dragged it to a stand of trees and left it there. Then he stood staring at the distant castle in the twilight. Anders’ castle. Castle Eldritch. Amy was in there and he had to get her out. If they had harmed her…
He clenched the grip of his sword so tightly his knuckles hurt.
He couldn’t rationalize his feelings for Amy anymore and he was beyond trying. All he knew was that she affected him deeply despite their short time together. He couldn’t deny those emotions no matter how much training and discipline were hard-wired into his life. His only hope was that she would be unharmed when he reached her because if she wasn’t he would greet death and take as many of Anders’ men with him as he could. Amy had been thrown into this battle through no fault of her own and she didn’t deserve to have her life turned upside down by Anders and his evil witch Darla. Jorn would see to it that any harm that came to Amy was avenged sevenfold.
He wiped his sword on the grass and sheathed it, attaching the scabbard to his back, over his white shirt, with its leather straps. He started off toward the castle when he heard a voice in the trees behind him. Whirling around, he slipped the sword from its scabbard and listened to the forest. He heard birds twitching among the trees, the wind sighing among the branches, and a sound like an animal moving through the undergrowth. Then a weak whisper. ‘Jorn.’
He didn’t believe in ghosts but at that moment he expected a spectre to come floating through the trees, whispering his name.
He didn’t reply. He strained his ears. More movement then another utterance of his name, this time with a groan of pain. The source of the whisper was not supernatural in origin but a man in pain calling for him.
Jorn moved into the trees, seeking the source of the sound.
As he peered into the shadows, he saw Jonathan, one of the knights of the Order, crawling through the dead leaves on the ground. Jonathan’s leather armor had been slashed and a splash of crimson covered his right side, blood shining bright in the twilight.
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