Page 39 of The Champion

“Well, I didn’t know you then.”

He laughed at that. “I have to admit that I rather like to see you flustered, my lady. Your pinkened cheeks do marvels for your eyes.”

“Are you complimenting me, sir?”

“If I were?”

“I think I would be flattered.”

“Then I am complimenting you.”

Warmth flooded her. How noble and kind of her kn...

Rowena swallowed as she realized the train of her thoughts. She’d almost considered him her knight. How untoward was that? She would never claim a man such as this. One who was known by how many men he’d killed.

It was unseemly and improper.

Wasn’t it?

Clearing her throat, she headed toward the castle. “Are you planning on following me about for the rest of the day?” she asked as he walked beside her.

“Until we find out more about this Saracen you saw, I think it wise.”

“And if I told you I was making it up, would you leave me in peace?”

“Nay, I would know you weren’t being truthful.”

“How so?”

“You intentionally threw yourself into my arms, my lady. Only the devil of a fright would have caused you to do such. Your terror was too real to be faked.”

“But surely in the castle⁠—"

“Cyril was in the middle of a camp of knights. Some of us are most light sleepers, and yet, someone crept into his tent and killed him while we were all about. That took a great deal of nerve and skill to accomplish.”

Rowena scowled. “You’re not telling me everything, are you?”

Again, his eyes darkened. “If it is what we suspect, nay. I dare not speak of it.”

A chill went over her at the note of warning in his voice.

He paused for a moment, before he continued. “I know of a Saracen called El Sahaar.”

She frowned as she recognized the term. “The Sorcerer?”

“You know Arabic?”

“Aye. My uncle’s physician swears by their medicine. He spent much of his youth studying it in Jerusalem, where he collected many books. After a great deal of coercion, I convinced him to teach me to read some of their stories.”

Stryder looked impressed. “You are quite remarkable.”

She smiled at his compliment. “You were telling me of this man? El Sahaar.”

“Aye. He was able to literally vanish into a cloud of smoke. Fast and lethal, he moved as if he were invisible and he told us stories of how his people trained assassins.”

“I don’t know that term.”

“They’re men trained to slay others silently. They come at you in the night, or even in the day, but always by surprise. Nassir... El Sahaar,” he added, “said that he had known of some who would walk up to men in the bazaars and knife them so quickly that no one could even begin to guess who the murderer was.”