《05-Single_the prize》.doc

The Prize Julie Garwood Chapter One ?????England, 1066???He never knew what hit him.???One minute Baron Royce was wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his leather-covered arm, and the next he was flat on his back on the ground.???She had knocked him off his feet. Literally. Shed waited until he took his helmet off. Then shed swung the narrow strip of leather in a circle high above her head. The small stone nestled in the center of her makeshift sling had gathered speed until it wasnt visible to the naked eye. The sound as the leather sliced through the air was like that of a disgruntled beast, half snarl, half whistle. Her prey had been too far away to hear the noise, though, for she stood in the frigid morning shadows of the walkway at the top of the wall, and he stood down below, nearly fifty feet away by her measure, at the base of the wooden drawbridge.???The giant Norman had made an easy target. The fact that he was also the leader of the infidels who were out to steal her familys holding had sweetened her concentration, too. In her mind, the giant had become Goliath.???And she was his David.???But unlike the saintly hero of ancient stories, she hadnt meant to kill her adversary. She would have aimed for the side of his temple if that had been her goal. No, she had wanted only to stun him. For that reason, shed chosen his forehead. God willing, shed given him a mark to carry for the rest of his days, a reminder, she hoped, of the atrocity hed committed on this dark day of victory.???The Normans were winning this battle. In another hour or two they would breach the inner sanctuary.???It was inevitable, she knew. Her Saxon soldiers were hopelessly outnumbered now. Retreat was the only logical alternative. Yes, it was inevitable, but damn galling, too.???This Norman giant was the fourth challenger the bastard William of Normandy had sent to take her holding in the past three weeks.???The first three had fought like boys. She and her brot