Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 14

He had Marion show him a spot from which Luke could watch the castle and remain hidden. He then told Cecilia and Marion to get back to Lincoln and stay there until Luke sent for them. Cecilia was good with this, Marion wasn't. Eventually it was agreed that Cecilia would travel to Lincoln with Lucy and Marion would help Luke. The ladies hugged each other when Cecilia set off with Lucy. Luke and Marion had given almost all their money to Cecilia and Lucy. Luke had told Lucy that she should find some business to invest in. That way she could keep making money and would have a secure future.

Luke now had to face the problem that he didn't know what Richard looked like. Yes, he could shoot Richard from a long way off, but he had to know what Richard looked like first. Marion couldn't take Luke to show him Richard, because too many people in the castle knew Marion. Then he hit on a solution. Luke would go into the castle, claiming to be a Scottish mercenary looking for a new job.

"How are you going to do that?" asked Marion "You're not Scottish."

"Something I haven't mentioned to you, my family name is MacDougall, and I've spent enough time in Scotland to fake the accent good enough. Just have to hope that Richard doesn't have any other MacDougall's around."

"Darın it Luke, how many more secrets do you have?"

"If you're afraid of the answer then you probably shouldn't ask the question my dear. On the plus side, you already know my biggest one. The rest aren't too bad."

Marion just gave him the stink eye.

"I should only be gone for a couple of days. If I'm not back by sunset four days from now, get out of here as fast as you can and never look back."

Marion was starting to argue, but Luke wasn't having any of it.

"Damn it Marion, think with your head and not your pussy. We can't launch an attack without knowing what all Richard has going on inside and you are too well known to go in. That leaves me, plus I have a military background so I know what to look for"

Again, Marion was gearing up for a fight, when she suddenly drew in her breath. She had realized that once again Luke was right and that if she tried to go in, she would be caught before the sun had gone done. "Ok, Luke. Get going, just be careful and remember that I love you."

"I love you too, Marion. Remember if I'm no back by sunset four days from now get out of here, and take all my gear with you." With that, Luke mounted his horse and started riding toward the family of York's castle.

CHAPTER XII

Getting inside the castle was a pain for Luke, for he was searched multiple times. Finally, he managed to get through the guards.

Once inside, Luke was amazed at how destitute the place was.

Everywhere it seemed there were people hanging at the end of ropes or in stocks.

The air was thick with flies, but the remaining people didn't seem to even notice.

He seen some desperate people actually walk up behind someone in stocks and carve a big piece of flesh from them. A number of the people hanging

appeared to be merchants and craftsmen which amazed Luke;

after all what kind of idiot ruler would go after the very people who earned the money to pay the taxes. Of course, three answers came to Luke's mind.

Evil despot rulers, socialist, and communist and usually the evil despot rulers were brightest of the three. Their end goal was always the same just dressed up in different ways; power for themselves and their supporters. Luke didn't even have to look for an inn because there were so many abandoned homes to pick from but first Luke had to get a meeting with this Richard idiot.

This actually proved to be very easy. Luke just walked right up to the main castle doors and told the guard that he was a mercenary looking for a job. Luke looked the part too with two swords, an impressive collection of knives, and a large shield that he had bought while in Lincoln. When Luke finally met the Earl Richard for the first time Luke almost fell to the floor laughing. This guy had some serious man Issues. For starters he was hideously ugly. Marion of course had told his this, but Luke had never pictured something this ugly. Another thing was Richard was extremely short, even for the era. Luke estimated him to be no more then four foot nine or ten. Finally, the guy had some kind of speech problem which for normal people wasn't a problem, but for people who thought of themselves masters of the world, this was a major problem.

"So, I hear that you want a job as one of my soldiers?"

"Yes sir, that is correct." Stated Luke with his slight Scottish accent. He could have laid it on thicker but figured that keeping things light would help convince Richard that Luke was really a very experienced soldier.

"Why?"

"Why not. I need a job and I heard that you sir are hiring."

"Well, let us see what you can do."

"David, Matt, John. Test this man's metal." Richard set back to enjoy the entertainment. He was going to enjoy watching his best man whittle this giant down to size. The three of then approached Luke spaced out evenly around him. Luke waited until the last possible second, then stuck. Using the same method that he had used on William; Luke sidestepped David's strike, grabbed his right wrist with one hand and broke is elbow with his other. Luke then moved and snapped David's neck. This pissed the other two men off for all three were very close. With new fury they moved on Luke who was still calm as ever. This time he drew his swords. These were hand and a half swords, but in Luke's hands they became single handed swords. With longer swords and much more strength, Luke quickly forced the other two knights back. Finally, Matt managed to get past Luke's swords and deliver a blow to Luke. This blow was normally a fatal blow, but Luke just shrugged it off. Before Matt could get out of the way, Luke hit him between his eyes with the pommel of one of his swords. Matt's skull shattered with the blow causing everyone around to cringe. Now it was one to one and John was not only in a rage, but was also fearful. He had seen both his best friends killed before his eyes and this giant had received a usually fatal blow from Matt. Yet it barely seemed to affect him. Luke now went on an all-out attack on John. It was all John could do to keep Luke's blades off of him. If John didn't do something fast, he would be killed too. Finally, John had an opening and he took it. Problem was that Luke had purposely let his have that opening and taking it proved to be a fatal mistake for John. As John delivered what he hoped would be at least a debilitating blow on Luke, Luke trapped John's sword and pulled John to him. Close in, Luke dropped his swords, picked up John, tumed him over, and drove him head first into the floor. This completely crushed John's head. It was so bad that you couldn't even tell that it had been a head. Luke the casually picked his swords up and sheathed them. He then started to return to in front of Richard who was sitting in his chair with is mouth open. He had never seen someone win a three to one fight so fast. As Luke got back to where he had started, he heard the unmistakable sound of a bow being drawn. As quick as lighting, Luke drew a throwing knife and let it fly. It stuck the bowman in the throat, killing him instantly. Luke walked over, kicked his knife loose of the man's neck, wiped it off on the man's uniform, and returned the knife to Its place. By now the look of fear was in every face of the room, including Richard's. It was obvious to all that this man was not one to be messed around with.