A Dishonorable Knight(42)
The man's eyes grew wide with fright and as he ducked his head he asked sheepishly, "Is there anything I can do for you while you're out riding, my lady?"
"Yes. You can try to sleep off your intoxication so you may be sober when I return." The servant obediently lay down and Elena marched resolutely to the great barn doors. Peering outside, she waited several minutes until the one nun in sight finished weeding a vegetable patch and went into one of the smaller buildings surrounding the main abbey. Pulling Breila behind her, Elena ran for the cover of the nearby forest. Once inside the protective darkness of the trees, she struggled into the saddle and turned her mount west in the direction Gareth and his friends had taken. Keeping to the shelter of the forest, she followed the direction of the road until the encroaching darkness prevented her from seeing where she was going in the thick woods. Rather than stopping, she cautiously made her way to the road, which was faintly illumined by a sliver of the new moon.
As Breila plodded confidently on, Elena finally reflected on the consequences of her rash actions. By riding to warn Gareth that Richard's men were on his trail, she was, in effect, aligning herself with Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. But did she support the Welshman's claim to the throne? Never before had Elena been posed with such a question. As a woman she simply had to accept the mandates of those in power. Never before had she been given the opportunity to affect the outcome of a political gambit. It was at once a frightening and heady feeling.
Suddenly a bird screeched overhead, startling Elena and sending all thoughts of kings and causes from her mind. What had possessed her to venture unescorted into the depths of Wales? She would no doubt end up dead and deservedly so for acting so stupidly. If wild animals did not eat her, she had no doubt highway men would strike her down. Roads in England, let alone Wales, were no place for unescorted women. Oh if only Gareth were here, he'd--Elena stopped in mid-thought. She didn't need Gareth. Any man would do, she merely needed an escort to discourage any predators, be they man or beast, from attacking her. And yet, a small voice inside her said, she had never felt as secure and protected as she had the night she and Gareth stumbled upon the group of mercenaries. Gareth had told her to escape, giving no thought to his own safety. Elena doubted any men of her acquaintance in Richard's court would ever be so selfless. Certainly not the foppish Edgeford. He more likely to call for his guards and then run for safety. As for her fiancé, although she scarcely knew him, she would not be surprised if Brackley offered to share her with the ruffians.
The later it grew and the colder Elena became, the more she wished she were nestled against Gareth's warm chest, as she had been that night in the cave. She did not feel well, not at all. What in the world was she doing out here?
Elena awoke with a start as Breila stumbled over a rock. How long had she been asleep? She looked up at the sky. The moon had set, but she had no idea how to read the stars. Suppose she had missed an important turn off? Elena reined in the huge mare.
"Now what do I do, Breila?" she asked her mount. The horse snorted softly in reply. "Well if you hadn't let me fall asleep I might have a better idea of where we are!" When Breila remained quiet, Elena relented. "Of course, I had no idea where we were when we began this journey so I don't know how staying awake would have helped." Elena reached down and patted her mount's neck. "You're forgiven, Breila."
"Who's that?" a rough voice called out from the trees to her right. Elena froze, her heart lodged in her throat preventing a reply. "I say, who's been foolish enough to pass our lair in the middle of the night?" When the question was followed by thrashing about in the underbrush, Elena wrapped both hands in Breila's mane and dug her heels into the horses sides as hard as she could.
"Run!" she screamed. The tired horse sprang into a gallop, quickly putting distance between them and the voice in the bushes. Elena dared a glance over her shoulder and saw three figures stumble onto the road.
"Get the horses!" one of them shouted. "There's only one!"
Elena turned her attention back to staying on her mount. As they ran, Elena realized she must have slept longer than she thought for the sky was lightening behind her. She reined in abruptly as Breila crested a peak. Below she could just make out the road which zig-zagged back and forth all the way down the mountain. Elena hesitated for a second before sending Breila off the road and straight down the mountain. The horse nearly sat on her haunches as she slid down the steep slope, creating a landslide of rocks and dirt. They reached the next level of road and again Elena urged Breila across the road and straight down the mountain. Her strategy worked three more times before the exhausted horse could not keep her feet under her any longer. Elena screamed as Breila's feet went out from under her and she and the horse tumbled down the mountain. Elena tried to protect her head and face as she slid, but she did not see Breila's hoof as it grazed the top of her head, knocking her unconscious.