Dark Destroyer by Kathryn Le Veque

refuse?”
    Gates met her intense gaze with intensity of his own. “I hope you will not.”
    “If I do?”
    “Then I have been ordered to bring you home by any means necessary.”
    So he revealed his true determination that she should come with him. She smiled thinly. “Then all of this politeness from you was a ruse,” she said. “You are going to take me whether or not I comply with your requests. Why not tell me that from the start?”
    “Because I was hoping I would not have to.”
    Kathalin opened her mouth to reply when a Welsh raider, evidently fleeing English pursuers, suddenly bolted in through the door. Kathalin screamed at the sight of him and Gates, spurred by her scream, acted on his training; quick as a flash, he threw his big shoulder against the door, slamming the Welshman between the door jamb and the door panel, hitting him so hard that the Welshman hit his head on the door itself. It was enough to stun him so that the two English soldiers chasing him were able to grab the man and haul him, dazed, away.
    Kathalin stood there, hand to her mouth in fright, as Gates watched his soldiers drag the man off. He also passed a practiced eye over The Garth, noting that nearly all of the Welsh had been commanded to sit on the muddy ground whilst his men corralled them. Stephan, astride his big, red war horse, was ordering the wounded gathered in one spot. After several moments of watching the activity, Gates finally returned his attention to Kathalin.
    “Well, my lady?” he asked. “Will you come peacefully or will you and I have to slug it out? The choice is yours.”
    Shaken by the abrupt appearance of the errant Welshman, Kathalin struggled to appear as if she wasn’t shaken in the least. But it was more than that; when de Wolfe had charged the door and thrown his weight against it to disable the man, she could see in that brief moment exactly how powerful the knight was. He was unstoppable, as strong as a bull, and she could only imagine his skill with a blade was equal. He was not one to be trifled with and her fear of him made a return.
    It was strength that could be turned against her.
    Still, it didn’t lessen her determination not to go with him. She had been unable to reason her way out of it and it was obvious he had no compassion about her position. He would essentially be dragging her out of her home, taking her to strangers who had control over her life. Strangers who had discarded her at a very young age. Knowing reason or brute strength would be no good against the knight, she had to be more clever than he was. A battle of wits was her last defense against him.
    She had to try because, Sweet Jesus, she truly did not wish to leave St. Milburga’s.
    She didn’t want to go.
    “I wish to speak with the Mother Prioress,” she said. “Is that too much to ask?”
    Gates shook his head. “Not at all, my lady,” he said, smiling to give her a glimpse of those de Wolfe dimples. It was a calculated move on his part, hoping to dazzle her a bit. “You and I will go and find her together, although I cannot imagine where she would be in the midst of this mess. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?”
    Kathalin wasn’t particularly moved by the dimples, although it made the handsome man ever more handsome. She was too caught up in her own turmoil to appreciate the glorious gesture. Moreover, she wasn’t sure where the Prioress was but she intended to hunt the woman down. There was a very specific question she wanted to ask her, the woman who had been more of a mother to her than her own ever was. She wasn’t going to leave without seeing the woman one last time and pleading for her intervention. At this point, it was Kathalin’s last hope.
    Will you offer me sanctuary, Mother Benedicta, so I may remain at St. Milburga’s?
    Aye, it was a calculated question. Silently, she left the kitchen with Gates right behind her, quite possibly tailing her closely so that in case she decided to run, he