Knight of Darkness Read Free

caught between the two most powerful forces on earth.
    If one stood in the northernmost tower of the abbey or the Tor, they could glimpse the division of the lands. To the left was the curtain of light and color that delineated Avalon. To the right was the dark gray world that was Morgen’s Camelot.
    It should be easy to cross the line of demarcation. But looks were definitely deceiving. To the soulless and damned beings who lived in Camelot, the light of Avalon was truly painful. It burned so much that only a small handful of them could bear it.
    For those who lived in Avalon, the darkness was something to fear. It was said that any who dared to venture to it would be consumed by it. To live in darkness was to surrender all that was good inside you. The Dark was a vicious mistress who demanded the sacrifice of morals and decency.
    And in the middle of those two lands was this one. Banished to eternal night, there was no color here, any more than there was in Camelot. The sky fluctuated from black to a drab gray. Days blurred together as the townsfolk tried to find any solace from their fate that they could.
    But there wasn’t much to be had.
    And just like the inhabitants of Camelot, they, too, despised those who lived in Avalon.
    At one time Merewyn of Mercia had lived in the realm of the light. Not in Avalon itself, for that was something she’d never even known existed. No, she’d lived in the land of Mercia as a princess. More beautiful even than Helen of Troy, she’d been the most sought after girl of her time and had been forced to watch men kill one another just for a chance to see her smile.
    She’d hated every minute of it. And when her father had told her that the time had come for her to marry a man who saw nothing more than her beauty, she’d summoned one of the creatures that called the darkness home. With magick best left untouched, she’d conjured one of the Adoni—an elfin race so cruel that even demons feared them.
    In the light of a full moon, Merewyn had made a bargain that had haunted her ever since. She’d traded her beauty for freedom, or so she thought. A sore bargain that, for Merewyn had had no idea of the repercussions that would come.
    Now she was in the abbey, hidden behind a wall with her mistress—the very being who’d stolen her beauty and enslaved her.
    She ached to know what they were doing here in the bar, but didn’t dare ask. Her mistress didn’t tolerate questions. Then again, her mistress tolerated very little.
    With an envious eye, she stared at her mistress’slong, curly, blond hair. All of the Adoni were beautiful, but even by their exceptional standards Narishka stood out. Petite and curvy, she was what every man dreamed of touching and what every woman dreamed of being. Except for the blackness of her soul, which was only matched by that of her heart.
    “Get me more wine, worm.”
    Merewyn blinked at the unexpected order. That delayed reaction cost her as Narishka backhanded her.
    “Are you deaf as well as ugly, chit? Move!”
    Her cheek stinging, Merewyn grabbed the goblet from in front of Narishka and scurried away before her mistress struck her again. She hated her limping gait that was caused by one leg being shorter than the other—an accident that had happened the only time she’d ever tried to escape her cruel mistress.
    She glanced back through the wall to see if Narishka was watching her, but she couldn’t tell. The wall completely concealed Narishka’s presence.
    “Watch where you’re going, hag!”
    She stiffened at the harsh words of the knight she’d almost brushed against in her haste. “Beg pardon, sir.”
    Still he shoved her away from him, into the back of another man. Turning, the man cursed and screwed his features up in distaste as he saw her hideously pockmarked face and matted hair.
    “Get off me, you heinous gorgon.”
    Then he, too, shoved her away, into a table where a group of men were dicing. This time her collision caused drink to