Free The Silver Knight by Kate Cotoner

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The Silver Knight
by Kate Cotoner
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Erotica/Romance
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    Torquere Press
www.torquerepress.com
    Copyright ©2010 by Kate Cotoner
    First published in www.torquerepress.com, 2010

     
    NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
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    The Silver Knight
    by Kate Cotoner
    Halfway through the wood, Sufyan turned his horse back to face the way he'd come. The old chestnut gelding shook out its mane in complaint and snorted. Sufyan checked it, pulling on the bridle to make the horse stand still. It did so reluctantly, head nodding. Not for the first time, the animal's antics reminded him of a camel, the herd animals of his youth that grumbled if separated from their stable-mates or if turned from a well-trodden path.
    The road through the wood twisted sharply beneath the ancient oaks, its worn surface sun-dappled with fading gold as sunset drew on. Shadows lengthened, the light muted beneath the trees to blur details into darkness. Within the half-hour, he knew all color would be leeched from this pleasant stretch of woodland to leave skeletal black branches poking up at the deepening blue of the sky.
    All woods were dangerous after dark, especially this far north where the border was little more than a line marked on a map. He'd seen one such map laid out on a great table in the bishop's palace, and had studied it carefully. He knew where kingdoms ended and where disputed territory lay, but he also knew men cared nothing for such divisions when they could make a profit.
    Sufyan stared through the haze of encroaching twilight, scanning the road for the man who'd shadowed him so closely for the last few hours. He couldn't remember where exactly he'd noticed his tail. The roads along the Northumbrian coast were mostly open and desolate, any travelers upon them visible by puffs of summer dust long before they approached, but still Sufyan hadn't seen his pursuer until these past twenty miles.
    A knight on horseback followed him at a discreet interval, far enough away not to offer a threat but close enough to intrude upon his thoughts. Sufyan had traveled the length and breadth of Europe and understood the rules of the road. Not all men wished for companionship on their journey, but if they did not want it, they were obliged by manners to keep back and not seem to harry the footsteps of a fellow traveler.
    Sufyan felt harried by the knight. He'd tried galloping a short way before slowing his pace, but every time he glanced over his shoulder, the knight seemed to be just behind him, always at the same distance.
    Sufyan had never encountered anything like it. He crossed his hands over the neck of his horse and waited for the knight to show himself. Perhaps the knight would not follow into the wood; perhaps a border had been crossed somewhere, an old border marked not on maps but in men's memories. Perhaps then he could continue his journey alone without the niggling sensation of being watched all the time.
    That hope vanished when he heard the steady clip-clop of horse's hooves. Through the trees came a slender figure in silver armor, mounted on a huge, black destrier caparisoned in scarlet and gold.
    Sufyan touched his heels to the belly of his gelding. It stepped forward, ears flicked back as a sign of its caution as it spied the black warhorse.
    The knight reined in the destrier and sat motionless. The waning sunlight burned lines and curves along his armor and touched the long, heavy sword carried at the knight's side.
    Sufyan gave an inward snort. An old-fashioned weapon, a crusader's sword, it looked so antique it would probably