Warwolfe (de Wolfe Pack Book 0)(89)

But it was a short flurry. When the arrows stopped flying, Gaetan leapt to his feet and pulled Ghislaine up with him, fully intending to make it to his broadsword, which was sheathed on his saddle. Around him, he could see his men unsheathing swords and daggers that were on their bodies, preparing for a fight, as the trees suddenly came alive with people.

But it wasn’t an organized army; dirty savages began to advance on them in groups, bows with arrows reloaded, pointing directly at them. Gaetan was handicapped with an injured woman to protect and he pushed her to the ground even as he stood up. He didn’t want her making herself a target for any further arrows that might come flying at them.

Quickly, Gaetan assessed the situation; arrows seemed to be their weapon of choice because he didn’t see any swords. But every man had a bow and arrow, and each knight under his command had at least five or six of them aimed straight at him. If those arrows let loose, it would take them all down. There would be no way to fight it.

Very quickly, he could see that they were in an extremely dire situation.

Gaetan had been a commander for many years and, as Normandy’s Warwolfe, it was recognized that he was the very best. Being a great commander meant that he knew when the odds were insurmountable and resistance was futile. This, unfortunately, was one of those times. They were cornered, all of them, and there was nothing they could do about it.

All they could do was surrender and pray the enemy would show mercy.

Jaw ticking with the sickening realization, he slowly lifted his hands to show that he had no weapons.

“Drop the swords,” he told his men, steadily. “Put them away unless you want to die in a hail of arrows.”

Du Reims, de Lara, de Winter, and de Reyne obeyed immediately. De Russe, de Moray, St. Hèver, and Wellesbourne were slower to respond. They were the battle beasts, men who refused to surrender even when it was the wise thing to do. Gaetan could see that they refused to relinquish and he barked at them.

“Drop your weapons!” he snapped.

Aramis dropped his, reluctantly, but the other three refused. The tension was growing as Gaetan had to give them the command yet again.

“I will not tell you again,” he growled. “If I make it over to you, I’ll break your bloody arms. The lady is without protection and every moment you refuse to lower your weapons jeopardizes her life. Now, drop your swords!”

After a moment’s hesitation, the remaining three surrendered, but they were exceedingly unhappy about it. Once the weapons were all down, there was a sense of relief on Gaetan’s part but also a sense of apprehension. Now, they would discover just how much mercy their attackers were willing to give.

Seated at Gaetan’s feet, Ghislaine was looking at the men coming out of the trees with great trepidation. Having never had any contact with the Tertium, she didn’t know if this was that tribe, but she suspected they might be. She watched warily as one man pushed through the others; he was dressed in what looked like a leather vest and he wore no trousers, but what looked like a short skirt made of leather strips. He was fair-haired and older, with some gray in his cropped hair. He had no bow and, in fact, looked as if he wasn’t carrying any weapon at all. As a horde of his men kept the nine knights, one priest, and one lady at bay, he walked right up to Téo.

There didn’t seem to be any hostility in his expression, merely curiosity. He was evidently quite interested in the mail and other things Téo was wearing. Téo stood stock-still as the man touched the mail, ran a finger over it, and even sniffed it. Then his gaze moved down to the broadsword at Téo’s feet. Téo had dropped it as ordered, but the man lifted it from the ground, holding it up, inspecting it from one end to the other. He seemed to like the weapon a great deal. As he was inspecting the hilt, Camulos wandered over to the man, wagging his tail.

The man eyed the very big dog, lowering the weapon at it as if to kill him. In a panic, Ghislaine shouted.

“You will not harm that dog!” she cried, struggling to her feet and wincing with her painful leg. “Cam! Come here!”

Tail still wagging, the dog rushed over to her and she grabbed it, holding it fearfully as the man looked at her as if only just noticing her. With the sword still in hand, he followed the path of the dog straight to Ghislaine.

Gaetan was still standing next to her and his body tensed as the man was lured to Ghislaine. He didn’t want to end up with ten arrows stuck in his body, but he didn’t like the interest the man was showing in Ghislaine. His protective instincts took over; he had no idea what the man’s intentions were but he knew what his intentions were. They were in a horribly precarious position but Gaetan had to take the chance – if the man got close enough, he was going to grab him. Surely the native men would lower their weapons if their leader was in danger.

At least, Gaetan hoped so. Either that, or they were all going to end up with a dozen arrows in them, like human pin cushions. He hoped it didn’t come to that.

He bided his time.

The man came right up on Ghislaine as she stood there holding the dog. He looked her up and down, clearly appreciating what he saw. Gaetan watched the situation, his heart pounding in his ears, waiting for his moment to strike.

It wasn’t long in coming.

When the man reached out to touch Ghislaine’s dark hair, Gaetan reached out and snatched the man by the arm, yanking him against him and throwing a massive arm across his throat. By his actions and the position of his arm, his intentions were obvious and the man grabbed hold of Gaetan’s arm, bracing himself so he wouldn’t be strangled. But Gaetan barred his teeth at the men with the bows, showing in action and in body language that he was ready to kill.