Free Once We Were Kings (Young Adult Fantasy) (The Sojourner Saga) by Ian Alexander, Joshua Graham Page B

sending pebbles and dust into Kaine's face.  The loud clang echoed in his head.  He leapt to his feet and spun his own broadsword around his head and pointed it forward.
    "Had I not been so charitable, Master Kaine, you would have stood a head shorter."
    Kaine laughed nervously. "Not your charity, but my speed." 
    Pale beams from a very full moon painted the walls and floor of the courtyard, illuminating a vulnerable position on Mooregaard's left.  With both hands, Kaine swung his broadsword for a swift cut at his opponent's forearms, sure to relieve the black knight of at least one of his hands. 
    If only things went as expected.
    In an instant, Mooregaard parried the attack with such force it knocked Kaine off his feet and onto his side, then flat on his back. 
    Again. 
    Barely enough time to react, he felt the wind of a blade thrusting down into his face.  A brutal way to die.  He shut his eyes even as the blade came smashing down, crushing, piercing.
    Mooregaard scoffed.  "So much for speed!" 
     Kaine touched his forehead, felt around for the blade that must be impaling it.  But the absences of wet, sticky blood and pain permitted him to open his eyes.  He turned his face upon his left check and felt the rough stone surface of the floor as well as something cold and smooth.  All he could see was the reflection of his own eyes in the sword, still wobbling as it stood stabbing the stone brick on the ground.
    Sir Mooregaard grabbed Kaine by the wrist and pulled him to his feet with such force Kaine feared his arm would dislodge.  "As I said, young squire," Mooregaard said, laughing heartily, "Charity."
     "Considering you twice nearly relieved me of my head, I'll agree."  Kaine bent down and retrieved his sword and sheathed it at his side.  "But at this rate, your charity will be the only way I will ever become a knight."
    "And you know this based upon what point of reference?" Mooregaard came over and put his arm over Kaine's shoulder.  He thought he might collapse under the weight of his mentor's arm.  "How long have you been training?"
    "A month or so."
    "Have I any other students in my court?"
    "Well, Sir, I...No, you do not."  He wondered about Render, Stewan and Folen.  So engrossed in his training, Kaine had only now thought of his brother and the twins.
    "Have you ever tested your mettle against another?"
    "I have not."
    "Then all you know is that you are not superior to me."  At last, Mooregaard took back his arm.  He then clapped Kaine on the back, nearly tripping him face-first onto the ground.  "Do you think it coincidence that you are my sole pupil?"
    "The Lady Volfoncé said that it was because of my age."
    "And what does age have to do with it?"
    He didn't know, never thought to question it.  Kaine shrugged.
    "Your deductive facilities concern me more than your combat skills." Mooregard, who towered over Kaine, gestured to the fire pit in the center of the courtyard.  To the fire he followed the Don, the chief knight of The Order of the Scarlet Pendragon.  The knight's formidable shadow, cast from the dancing flames, took a strange form which barely resembled its owner.  Kaine rubbed his eyes and blinked.  But it stretched out of sight.  He stopped at the fire and waved Kaine over with impatience.
    "You exhibit the qualities of a fine leader in the army of the High King.  Even so, you must prove your worth.  Your loyalty.  You must know all that is at stake before you commit to so noble an enterprise."
    "And now, Master Kaine," Mooregaard grasped his shoulders, just as Kaine had imagined his own father might have.  Mooregaard swelled with pride and gazed straight into his yes.  "You are ready to know the truth."
     
     

 
    CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
     
     
     
    A cold bead of sweat crept down Render's back.  Someone or something lurked in the room, of that there could be no doubt.  A scraping sound caused the hairs on his neck to stand.  If it were a rat, it must be of a