Cywen slipped from her saddle and ran to him, knew instantly that something was wrong. He was trembling, eyes rolling white. Then she saw the arrow buried in his flank. He whickered as she reached him, nuzzled his head against her, his coat drenched with sweat, salt-stained. She waved flies from his wound, touched the arrow shaft and he shuddered.
‘This’ll have to come out, boy,’ she murmured, stroking his flank, trying to soothe him. Drust was draped upon the horse’s back, an arrow sticking from his side too; he had one foot still stuck in a stirrup. She heaved him off and he groaned as he hit the ground. Still alive, then.
He looked at her, lips moving but only a whisper coming out. She stared back at him sullenly. You are Owain’s man; you helped to storm Dun Carreg. Buddai sniffed the fallen warrior and whined. Cywen remembered how the warrior had saved Buddai so she took a water skin from Shield’s saddle and, kneeling beside Drust, trickled some water into his mouth.
‘Thank you,’ Drust said, his red hair plastered dark to his face, and for an instant he reminded her of Ronan, red-haired, freckled – or Ronan as he might have been, if he had lived longer. She pursed her lips, making a decision.
‘Take my horse,’ Cywen said. ‘Owain is finished, will be hunted down before the day is out, so do not follow him. Ride south if you want to join the resistance against Rhin.’
‘You are forgetting: I am from Narvon; I fought for Owain against Ardan.’
Cywen snorted. ‘Owain is as good as dead. Rhin is the enemy now, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Pendathran will be leading the resistance – you’ll find him in the marshes about Dun Crin. If you get that far tell him my name. If he doesn’t kill you straight away you’ll be all right.’
Drust coughed, held his arm to his side.
‘If not, you must ride north, back to Narvon, but Rhin rules there now, so I don’t know what you’ll find.’
‘You should come with me, girl. There’s nothing for you here, now.’
‘I’m heading south,’ she said, ‘but Shield’s not fit to travel. I need to deal with this arrow.’
‘I’ll help you.’
‘You’ve an arrow in your side. And, besides, won’t be long before these woods are crawling with Rhin’s men. Me, I’m nobody. They’ll kill you as quick as breathing.’
He frowned, wavering.
‘Maybe I’ll catch you up, if you do choose to go south.’
He nodded to her and she fetched her mare. Drust had the water skin between his teeth, both hands gripping the arrow shaft in his side. With a grunt he tensed, snapping the shaft, and half collapsed back onto the ground.
Cywen heard the sound of riders, quickly growing louder. She ducked behind a tree, with Drust lying hidden from view beside her. Warriors rode into the glade and she saw them through the foliage and tensed. It was Evnis. Her hand reached for the knife stuffed in her belt. She had a clear view of him, only twenty paces away. She knew she could make the throw, bury her knife to the hilt in his back. Her fingers twitched. He betrayed us all. Caused the death of my da, Brenin, the loss of mam, Corban, Gar. All that has happened is because of him. Silently she pulled the knife free, rolled her thumb over it, readying for the throw.
Drust groaned, eyes flickering.
If I kill Evnis they’ll find us – kill me, kill Drust, probably leave Shield with an arrow in his flank that’ll fester and kill him.
Buddai pressed close against her legs, his hackles a ridge on his back.
And you, they’ll kill you, too. I don’t care if I die, as long as Evnis goes first. But . . . She stared at them, horse, hound and warrior, realizing that she did not want their deaths on her hands. With a wrench of will she shoved the knife back in her belt and watched as Evnis and his men disappeared after Owain and his surviving warband.
She waited a while after they had disappeared from sight, then bent to Drust, roused him and helped him into the saddle of her dun mare.
‘I should take Shield,’ he said.
‘That’d be taking my kindness too far,’ she replied. ‘Shield stays with me.’
He shrugged, bent in the saddle with pain, then turned the mare and rode into the shadows. Southwards.
Cywen set to cleaning Shield’s wound, frowning as she realized how deep the arrow had bitten. How am I going to get this out?
She didn’t notice Buddai growling, so intent was she, but then the growl turned to a snarl and she turned to see Conall running through the trees towards her. Buddai leaped at him, connecting with a thud, his teeth snapping. Conall grunted and fell, man and hound rolling on the ground. Conall managed to roll and throw Buddai off, climbing to his feet and drawing his sword.