Daughter of Time (Prequel to The After Cilmeri Series)

Daughter of Time (Chapter Seven)

Meg

Goronwy directed the men forward as we approached the gap. At this location, the road ran through a narrow crevasse, which Goronwy informed me led ultimately to the ford across the Eden. A young man named Bevyn who wasn't even old enough to shave remained beside me. He focused his eyes ahead, however, and I could tell he resented the duty of riding with me if it was going to keep him from the forefront of a fight.

As the hills rose up on either side, Goronwy suddenly signaled a stop. He glanced back at me and Bevyn and tipped his head.

"We must stay here, my lady," Bevyn said. "Get well back into the trees."

He and I dismounted and led our horses away from the road, Anna still high in the saddle, clutching the pommel with both hands. I could hardly believe how well she'd done these long hours of riding, but she seemed unfazed.

Bevyn tethered my horse to a tree but kept the reins of his horse, prepared to launch out of the woods to save his companions if he had to. With Anna on my hip, she and I found a higher spot from which to watch the road. The trees were bare of leaves, making hiding difficult but allowing me a better view of the road.

At first, our soldiers moved easily, though their shoulders were tense, waiting—for what, none of us know.

"This is the worst part," Bevyn said. "Before it happens."

"You've been in battle before?" I asked.

He turned to look at me before returning his gaze to the road below. "My father tells me this."

Then, a roar broke the silence, coming from the trees on our side of the road, but further south. Bevyn shoved me to my knees and I put out a hand to stop myself from toppling with Anna to the ground. The road became the definition of chaos, arrows flying at Goronwy's men and them struggling to return fire.

Goronwy's horse reared and he cursed. He managed to stay on her, while at the same time swinging his shield around to block any further arrows. A dozen of Goronwy's men turned towards the wood, urging their horses forward, but at the same instant, a host of men charged out of them, aided by the terrain which gave them the higher ground.

The two lines of horses crashed into each other and men on both sides went down. Beside me, Bevyn had mounted his horse, hardly able to contain himself. I pressed Anna's face against my shoulder while she cried at the noise and at my fear.

"Awn! Awn!" I said. Go! Go!

He went, crashing through the bracken and spurring his horse out of the trees and onto the road. He raised his sword arm sliced through one attacker and then another, neither of whom even had time to turn. He cut down one man who pressed on Goronwy, who'd lost his horse and now stood astride the body of another man.

I watched only Bevyn, too frightened to look away, praying with everything in me that he stayed upright; that he lived through this. His sword developed a coating of blood and it flashed as he moved it up and down, killing every enemy within reach.

And then Llywelyn came.

I couldn't see his face from this far away, but I could imagine his grimace, that teeth-bared look all the men had as he and Hywel galloped full-speed side-by-side down the opposite slope. Bevyn broke off from what he was doing and flowed into formation behind Llywelyn. The soldiers moved as a unit and I understood then that that was what Bevyn meant, more than the daily practice with wooden swords that I'd always imagined was standard for knights-in-training. It was the ability to work as a team, to trust that you didn't have to block that enemy's sword because the man beside you had already done it.