Page 64 of The Captive Knight
Once again the boy froze at the sight of blood blossoming, those black eyes going wide. With one sharp kick, Jehan knocked Laurent off the pivot of his knee. The breath came out of him as Laurent sprawled on the ground.
Jehan pointed his sword above the hollow of the boy’s throat, where blood pooled from the cut on his jaw.
He shouted, “Yield.”
The boy gritted the words, “I will not.”
“Yield.”
Jehan pressed the tip against the boy’s throat. Laurent’s sword lay upon the ground, close enough to grab.
“You fought well,” Jehan said. “Honor is served.”
“Mine perhaps. Not my sister’s.”
Jehan’s nostrils flared. He lifted his gaze to the ramparts. She leaned half over the wall, her hair flying wild, her pale face full of pleading.
There could be only one end to this. This boy would accept no conclusion but death—Jehan’s or his own.
Yet…perhaps there was one way Jehan could keep her heart.
He held Aliénor’s gaze long enough to give the boy courage to move, and the boy did not hesitate to seize the advantage. With the steel of his arm brace, Laurent knocked away the sword pointed at his throat and made Jehan’s sword arm fly wide. Jehan loosened his grip so the weapon arced out of his reach. The boy thrust up his own sword while rolling to his feet. The blade clattered against the hem of Jehan’s chain-mail shirt. Jehan grunted as it sliced a new wound across the last one on his thigh.
He hardly felt the pain. He faced the boy, pulled his dagger out of its sheath, and flipped it away so that the knife buried itself to the hilt in the mud beyond his reach.
Then Jehan spread his arms wide.
The boy paused, heaving, his sword raised, confusion rippling across his face.
“I’m unarmed.” Jehan flicked his fingers, welcoming him close. “This is what you came for, Laurent de Tournan.”
Laurent shifted his weight from his good leg to his bad and then back again. The boy’s gaze darted to the ramparts, where his sister watched.
“Ah,” Jehan murmured. “So you finally understand.”
“Understandwhat?”
“She won’t forgive you.”
“I’m doing this forher.”
“Are you?”
The boy’s face darkened. He flexed his elbows and bent his knees, grasping his sword tighter.
“Go ahead.” Jehan spread his arms wide. “Go ahead and kill me.”
