Chapter Seven
Luke raised his sword and pulled Nessa behind him. He should have known all the commotion would attract attention. But he had never expected this.
The man on the ground laughed. “Is a cat worth your life?” He cackled.
Luke circled away from the man on the ground. He tried to keep both men away from Nessa and in front of him where he could see them.
Ernest’s sword glinted in the rising light. He circled to their right, keeping his distance from Luke’s blade.
The man on the ground continued his insane laugh until Ernest lifted his blade and plunged it into his stomach.
Nessa gasped in horror.
The man gurgled and Ernest pulled his sword from his stomach. He turned to face Luke. “I didn’t want your blood to be the only one on my blade, Brackley.”
Luke attacked, swinging his blade from side to side and then thrusting. Ernest blocked his blows and then parlayed with his own set of swings. Luke ducked one of the swings and kicked Ernest back, away from Nessa. His biggest concern was that some of Urien’s men would show up to aid him. He had to end this. Now. Luke moved after Ernest, thrusting. Ernest swung, knocking the strike aside. Clangs rang out through the forest. The red of the sun’s rising rays washed the clearing in crimson.
Luke swung left, but quickly changed up his blow and came in from the right. His sword connected with Ernest’s shoulder. Ernest stumbled back. He put a hand to his shoulder and his fingers came away bloodied. He grimaced and rushed Luke, attacking with mad swings and arcs. Luke was hard pressed to fend him off. He whirled away from one of Ernest’s quick jabs, but it caught his side. Luke felt the striking sting as the blade sliced his skin. He quickly stepped away, but his foot caught on something and he fell, heavily.
“Luke!” Nessa’s cry pierced the air.
Ernest stood over him for a moment. Like a hungry tiger, he looked down at his prey, relishing the moment. He lifted his sword for the final blow.
There came a strange thunk. Ernest paused, his sword raised over his head. Then, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed forward, toppling like a felled tree.
Luke rolled to his side to avoid Ernest as he crashed to the ground. Confused, Luke could only stare. Then, his gaze shifted to see Nessa standing where Ernest had just been, a large rock in her hand. She tossed the rock aside and rushed to Luke’s side, dropping to her knees. “Are you all right?”
Luke stared at her parted lips, the angled confusion of her brow. She had saved him. His awe slowly turned to anger and he pushed himself to a sitting position. She shouldn’t have had to save him. He should be the one impaling Ernest. It was his duty. Instead, he had to be saved by a woman. Self-disgust filled him. A sharp pain cut through his thoughts and he touched the spot it originated on his side to find a cut marred with moisture in his gambeson. He looked at his fingers. Red. Blood.
“Luke,” Nessa gasped.
“I’m fine,” Luke insisted. The amount of blood soaking his gambeson said otherwise. He had to get her somewhere safe so he could see to his wound. He held his hand against his side and stood up. The forest shifted, and he wobbled.
Nessa steadied him with a hand to his arm. “Sit down, Luke,” she commanded.
He had no other choice and sat heavily. His head was spinning. The wound was worse than he thought.
“I’ll go for help.” Nessa turned away.
“No!” Luke caught her hand. He didn’t want her in the forest alone. Not with Urien’s men out there. “Just let me rest a moment.”
Nessa knelt beside him.
Her beautiful blue eyes glinted with concern. Beautiful? When had her eyes become so large and so deep blue?
“Lay down. Let me see the wound.”
Luke shook his head. “Not here. We must get out of this clearing. If more of his men…” Luke knew he wasn’t going anywhere. He couldn’t stand without the world tilting. Even now, the sky looked to be on its side. It was a moment later that he realized he was laying down, his cheek pressed into the dirt and leaves.
Nessa was lifting his gambeson to peer at his cut. Luke managed to shift his hand. His fingers and palm were covered with blood. This wasn’t good. His hand shook as he stared and he clenched it. He couldn’t even save a woman. He never could. His mother had died because he was weak. What would his father think? What would Lord Tristan think? He couldn’t save his daughter. His one duty, the protection of Lord Tristan’s daughters.
A sharp bright stab of white hot pain dotted his vision. Nessa was speaking. He heard the soft, gentle tone and wanted to close his eyes and dream of her.
“Luke!”
His eyes opened wide.
She took his bloodied hand and put it against his side. “Press down.”
Yes. Press down. He did what he could. Nessa disappeared from his view. He wanted to call out to her, to warn her not to leave his side. But then, he chuckled. What good was he? What good had he ever been? His own father had called him worthless and had shipped him off to a lesser lord for squiring.
She reappeared in a moment, shoving his hand aside and putting something on the cut. It stung, but did little to make Luke’s mind clear.
Still, he was glad she was back. He could feel her moving around beside him, tending his wound. He should tell her to run, but that wouldn’t be good. Not alone in the forest. He closed his eyes and thought of how he had come upon her, running away. “You never needed rescuing.” She didn’t respond and he opened his eyes to see if she were still there. To his surprise, she was laying on the ground, facing him. Her eyelashes were clumped together and streaks of wet ran from her eyes to the ground, as if she were crying. He couldn’t stand to see her crying. “Nessa.”
“It’s pretty bad, Luke. I’m not a physician.”
Luke chuckled and closed his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll save you.” And then, the darkness refused to be banished.
Nessa stared at him. The rising sun bathed the smooth lines of his face in a red kiss. She didn’t know what to do. She had gathered some yarrow and placed it on the wound, but it was bleeding heavily. She kept a hand pressed against it, in the hopes to hold the blood in his body. She didn’t know what to do. She was going to lose him. Her heart squeezed tight. A lump rose in her throat and she blinked back tears. Mel was going to be so angry with her! But more than that, she would never see the way his thick, black hair curled at the back of his neck. Or when he smiled, the way his eyes lit up. No. She wiped at her eyes with determination. She would not sit by and watch him die. Not when he was the only one who had come to rescue her.
She sat up.
A noise sounded from the forest. Nessa stiffened. Was it one of Urien’s men? She climbed to her feet, looking for some weapon she could fight the intruder off with. Her gaze happened on Luke’s sword lying on the forest floor. She quickly picked up the handle. It was heavy and she could barely lift it; the tip dragged in the dirt.
The leaves of a nearby bush shifted and rustled. Nessa tensed. Suddenly, the little girl burst forward, holding the black and white cat in her arms. “I found her!”
The sword had been too heavy for Nessa to lift, but upon seeing the girl, her shoulders sagged with relief and a small sob escaped her lips. Nessa released the sword and rushed to the girl. She grabbed her shoulders. “My friend has been hurt.” The girl’s gaze shifted to Luke. “Do you know anyone who can help?”
The cat squirmed in her hands.
Nessa squeezed the girl’s shoulders. “Please,” she begged, desperate.
The girl scowled and then nodded. “I’ll bring my Papa back.”
For a moment, Nessa couldn’t release her. Hope, despair, disbelief all welled inside of her. “Will he help?”
The little girl nodded her head so enthusiastically that a strand of her brown hair fell into her eyes. When Nessa released her, she backed away.
“I’ll be back,” the girl promised.
Nessa watched the child race off through the woods, holding the cat in her arms. If the cat escaped her hold, the child would forget Luke and run after the animal. Nessa wasn’t certain the little girl would return. She had no other option. She put all her trust in a child. And if the girl didn’t come back, Luke would die.