The Knight and the Seer by Ruth Langan Page A

spun gold, and a sprinkling of stardust at her feet. She paused and he thought she was looking up at him. Could almost feel the warmth of her touch as it slid ever-so-softly over him.
    Had he imagined that touch? If so, why did the warmth linger on his flesh?
    Stepping back, he watched until she disappeared beneath the balcony and stepped into the abbey.
    The ledgers were forgotten. What he wanted, what he craved more than life itself at this moment, was to hear her voice. To see her face. To touch her.
    Aye. He needed to touch her. Now. This very moment.
    He strode from the room and descended the great stairs. When he reached the main level he never paused, but was drawn along the hallway until he stopped in front of the open doorway leading to the ancient library.
    He stepped inside, his eyes adjusting to the gloom. What he saw had his heart stopping. Gwenellen was hanging by her fingertips from the very top shelf, just beneath the rafters.
    He was across the room in quick strides. His voice, when he finally found it, was gruff, but he was determined to hide his fear from her, lest it make things worse. “Fancy finding you here, my lady.”
    Gwenellen looked down, eyes wild, voice little more than a breathy whisper. “Thank heaven you’re here. Can you help me? I fear I can’t hold on any longer.”
    He glanced around, hoping for a ladder. Seeing none, he sighed in frustration. “How did you get up there?”
    “I tried one of my spells. It seems to have…gone awry.”
    “I see. Why not try another and get yourself down from there?”
    “I’m afraid I might find myself in even graver peril than I am now.”
    “For once you seem to have shown a bit of wisdom.” In a glance he gauged the distance, the danger, then planted his feet. “Let go, my lady, and I’ll catch you.”
    “I can’t.”
    “You must.”
    She shook her head, and even that simple movement brought her to the very edge of the shelf. She scrambled for a better grasp, but could feel herself slipping. “From this distance I’m likely to kill us both.”
    “I’ll just have to take that chance. Let go, my lady.” His tone hardened. “Now.”
    Gwenellen had no choice. At that very moment she felt herself slipping free and falling, falling. She waited for the crash, the pain. Instead, just before she hit the floor, she was caught in arms of steel and engulfed in warmth.
    Andrew held her close and pressed his lips to her temple, willing his heartbeat to steady. He’d thought, in that one terrible moment before impact, that he’d misjudged, and would drop her. He’d seen, in his mind’s eye, the look of her, dashed upon the stone floor and shattered like a helpless bird. It had wrenched his heart as nothing else could have.
    He masked his fear with anger. “Little fool. What were you thinking?”
    Feeling the sting of his hot breath on her cheek, Gwenellen was awash in so many emotions. Shame. Fear. And a great welling of relief that she’d been saved from her own folly.
    When at last she found her voice, she managed to whisper, “There was a book. On the highest shelf.”
    “A book?” Still holding her in his arms, he waved a hand. “There are hundreds of them. Why did you have to choose one that posed such risk?”
    “It was different. All light and shimmering. It…called to me.”
    “It called to you?” He looked down at this woman in his arms, wondering if his heart would ever stop thundering. It was a miracle it didn’t burst clean through his chest. “It would appear, my lady, that you are in need of a keeper, for you seem determined to harm yourself.”
    Stung, she pushed free of his arms. Though her legs trembled she stood her ground. “And I suppose you see yourself as so much wiser.”
    “Wise enough not to attempt to fly. If you’d been meant for such things, you’d have been given wings.” Without thinking he dragged her close. In his eyes was a dark, almost frightening look. “Sweet heaven, you could have been