Ladyhawke by Joan D. Vinge

THE SPELL OF VENGEANCE

Had been cast upon Etienne Navarre, Captain of the Guard, and the beautiful Lady Isabeau by the evil Bishop of Aquila. Etienne and Isabeau must wander the wilderness, always together yet always apart she a hawk by day and restored to herself only with the setting of each day’s sun; he a wolf by night, transformed once more into human form at break of each day’s dawn. This eternal spell is their punishment for daring to love after the evil Bishop had already chosen Isabeau for his own.

Then, suddenly, Etienne receives an unexpected sign of hope in the person of Phillipe, a young and cunning thief . . . and Navarre knows he must seize this fearful opportunity to free them from the Bishop’s diabolical spell or bring them death . . .

Phillipe sat back on his knees, gaping at this unexpected rescuer, with his fierce, golden-eyed hawk and his magnificent black war-horse. He held a gleaming broadsword in his free hand, and the cold blue eyes that shone in his shadowed face were as distant and threatening as the land of Death. Phillipe tore his gaze away from the silent figure and looked back over his shoulder at the guardsmen who’d been pursuing him.

The two men sat on their horses, momentarily frozen with awe. At last one roused himself and said, “Clear the bridge. The man’s an escaped prisoner. We’re taking him in.”

“On whose authority?” the stranger asked at last.

“His Grace, the Bishop of Aquila.”

Only Phillipe saw the fleeting, involuntary twitch of the stranger’s mouth that might have been a smile. Then the war-horse lunged forward, the hawk rose shrieking into the air.........