Vikings battle Zeppelins while forbidden desires spark! (Swords Versus Tanks Book 2) by M Harold Page Page B
Authors: M Harold Page
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voice. "But do not think that I have made my choice. I am nobody’s lady, as yet."
"What’s the matter, big guy?" asked Jasmine. "Not sure you can handle the competition?"
#
Lady Maud bounded up the spiral steps ahead of Ranulph, stockinged ankles flashing marble white in the candlelight.
He raced after her, banging his shoulders on the narrow stairwell. Really, he should be angry or disgusted. Instead, he kept seeing her bright eyes as she offered herself to him back in the Archbishop’s dungeons.
With a sob of laughter, she halted at the top and pressed her back to the wall.
Ranulph closed in, eyes locked with hers, head tilted to kiss her mouth.
She dimpled. "Aren't you going to open the door for me?" she said.
Ranulph flushed. He shoved open the heavy cross-braced door onto the battlements. "Why her?"
Lady Maud brushed past him. "Because I wanted to."
Ranulph drew in his cloak and joined her on the battlements. Three disgruntled Islanders kept watch in the lee of a tarpaulined springald. Ranulph exchanged a nod with them and ushered the sorceress to a corner out of earshot. "She is an enemy," he said.
"That made it all the more exciting." She leaned out between the crenellations and looked back at him over her shoulder. "Besides, you wanted to."
Ranulph's cheeks warmed. " I would have been safe."
"Really?"
From below came a shouted order and the creak of hinges. Heavy boots thudding, Jasmine and Lord Lowenstein marched out over the moonlit drawbridge. They turned off the road and set out east for what looked like a giant bucket. The device stood on the moor just outside springald range. There was nothing ladylike in Jasmine’s gait as she negotiated the clumps of heather, but she didn’t walk like a man either.
"She moves like a cat," said Lady Maud.
"Or a mountain lion," said Ranulph, then frowned. They were both admiring the same woman for the same reasons.
"Do you recall the Dream of Piers?" asked Lady Maud.
"Pardon?" Ranulph laughed. "Yes," he said, glad to change the subject. "The version I know is somewhat bawdy."
"Well…" began Lady Maud. As she talked, the grey-liveried Invaders faded into the heather, becoming just a flicker of movement in the dark.
The giant canvas bucket rocked – somebody had climbed inside.
Ranulph held up his hand. "Enough, Milady! Before my head aches. An army from the Future. I believe you." He drew in his borrowed cloak and squinted into dark.
A red streak whooshed up from the bucket. Then unearthly lights garlanded the handle. A beehive humming broke the silence.
"There!" Lady Maud pointed. The breeze caught her trailing sleeve making it billow.
An object hung low in the western sky like the Moon’s dark twin. It seemed to change shape, swelling and stretching, until it showed itself to be one of the Invader’s black airships, steering for the source of the firework. It grew larger, filling the sky.
"God's teeth!" said Ranulph. "No wonder we haven’t seen their necromancers – they're still recovering from whatever spell transported this monster."
Maud laughed. "They have no magic! I had not seen anybody look quite so surprised as Jasmine when I used my invisibility charm…" She dimpled. "Not until I saw your face when you interrupted us."
Ranulph turned and stared at the red-haired sorceress. In an odd way, it would be good to believe that she had been whoring herself for intelligence, but her whimsical smile said otherwise. "If they really do not have magic, perhaps the Lesser Runes will be enough."
"Look!" she cried.
The buzzing became a continuous rattle. A light winked on the airship's underside, then revealed itself to be fastened to the end of a cable. This slowly payed out until the light was just above ground level.
"How many men did it take to craft your armour?" asked Lady Maud, a little louder.
"My armour is… inherited," said Ranulph. As Prince Hjalti would say, some secrets were not his to share.
"And yet appears so fashionable.
"What’s the matter, big guy?" asked Jasmine. "Not sure you can handle the competition?"
#
Lady Maud bounded up the spiral steps ahead of Ranulph, stockinged ankles flashing marble white in the candlelight.
He raced after her, banging his shoulders on the narrow stairwell. Really, he should be angry or disgusted. Instead, he kept seeing her bright eyes as she offered herself to him back in the Archbishop’s dungeons.
With a sob of laughter, she halted at the top and pressed her back to the wall.
Ranulph closed in, eyes locked with hers, head tilted to kiss her mouth.
She dimpled. "Aren't you going to open the door for me?" she said.
Ranulph flushed. He shoved open the heavy cross-braced door onto the battlements. "Why her?"
Lady Maud brushed past him. "Because I wanted to."
Ranulph drew in his cloak and joined her on the battlements. Three disgruntled Islanders kept watch in the lee of a tarpaulined springald. Ranulph exchanged a nod with them and ushered the sorceress to a corner out of earshot. "She is an enemy," he said.
"That made it all the more exciting." She leaned out between the crenellations and looked back at him over her shoulder. "Besides, you wanted to."
Ranulph's cheeks warmed. " I would have been safe."
"Really?"
From below came a shouted order and the creak of hinges. Heavy boots thudding, Jasmine and Lord Lowenstein marched out over the moonlit drawbridge. They turned off the road and set out east for what looked like a giant bucket. The device stood on the moor just outside springald range. There was nothing ladylike in Jasmine’s gait as she negotiated the clumps of heather, but she didn’t walk like a man either.
"She moves like a cat," said Lady Maud.
"Or a mountain lion," said Ranulph, then frowned. They were both admiring the same woman for the same reasons.
"Do you recall the Dream of Piers?" asked Lady Maud.
"Pardon?" Ranulph laughed. "Yes," he said, glad to change the subject. "The version I know is somewhat bawdy."
"Well…" began Lady Maud. As she talked, the grey-liveried Invaders faded into the heather, becoming just a flicker of movement in the dark.
The giant canvas bucket rocked – somebody had climbed inside.
Ranulph held up his hand. "Enough, Milady! Before my head aches. An army from the Future. I believe you." He drew in his borrowed cloak and squinted into dark.
A red streak whooshed up from the bucket. Then unearthly lights garlanded the handle. A beehive humming broke the silence.
"There!" Lady Maud pointed. The breeze caught her trailing sleeve making it billow.
An object hung low in the western sky like the Moon’s dark twin. It seemed to change shape, swelling and stretching, until it showed itself to be one of the Invader’s black airships, steering for the source of the firework. It grew larger, filling the sky.
"God's teeth!" said Ranulph. "No wonder we haven’t seen their necromancers – they're still recovering from whatever spell transported this monster."
Maud laughed. "They have no magic! I had not seen anybody look quite so surprised as Jasmine when I used my invisibility charm…" She dimpled. "Not until I saw your face when you interrupted us."
Ranulph turned and stared at the red-haired sorceress. In an odd way, it would be good to believe that she had been whoring herself for intelligence, but her whimsical smile said otherwise. "If they really do not have magic, perhaps the Lesser Runes will be enough."
"Look!" she cried.
The buzzing became a continuous rattle. A light winked on the airship's underside, then revealed itself to be fastened to the end of a cable. This slowly payed out until the light was just above ground level.
"How many men did it take to craft your armour?" asked Lady Maud, a little louder.
"My armour is… inherited," said Ranulph. As Prince Hjalti would say, some secrets were not his to share.
"And yet appears so fashionable.
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