Radiance (Wraith Kings Book 1)(66)
Ildiko pivoted in time to see a horse and armored rider gallop past her to take down the third hound with a sword.
“Highness, are you all right?”
Still clutching the sword, Ildiko turned toward the familiar voice. “Serovek?”
He strode toward her, lightly armored and carrying a bow. He’d been the one to kill two of the dogs, his soldier the third. His gaze assessed her for injuries, and he gave an approving nod at the sight of her clutching one of Anhuset’s swords.
A half dozen more mounted Beladine warriors emerged from the trees across the clearing, one leading a riderless horse. Anhuset’s own mount whickered a greeting as they surrounded Ildiko and the fallen Kai woman.
Ildiko held onto the sword and refused to budge from Anhuset’s side. The part of her brain that still functioned on reason assured her that if Serovek had ordered this attack, it wouldn’t have failed. Still, her muscles quivered and her heart thundered as the Beladine lord drew closer.
He knelt before Anhuset who watched him with narrowed eyes gone from glowing gold to muddy yellow. He glanced at Ildiko. “We tried to reach you at the bridge. Too late. We killed the two handlers following the dogs, but expect more dogs, more raiders. You’ve crossed into my territory. They’ll think themselves safe here. More fool them.” He motioned to one of his men who dismounted and handed him an axe similar in size to the one she’d seen Brishen carry.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He removed the blade guard. “We’ll travel easier if I can cut down the arrow shafts sticking out of her ladyship here.”
Poisoned and immobilized, Anhuset still managed enough movement to curl her fingers and take a weak swipe at Serovek. One claw caught a fold in his breeches near the knee and neatly split it open. “Don’t touch me, Beladine pig,” she mumbled.
Serovek sighed, and quicker than Ildiko could blink, snapped his knuckles against Anhuset’s chin. Her head jerked before her eyes closed, and she went completely limp.
Ildiko gasped. “She’ll kill you for that when she wakes up.”
Serovek winked and took a flat rock one of his soldiers handed to him, along with a folded blanket. “No she won’t. I’ll tell her you did it.”
He braced the blanket, with the stone on top, against her back. The arrow in her shoulder was lodged between two of the armor plates sewn to the gambeson. Ildiko flinched when Serovek brought the ax down on the shaft, shortening it to the length of a small spoon handle. Quick, efficient, and steady, he did the same with the arrow at her hip. The unconscious Anhuset jerked but didn’t waken.
Serovek stroked her silver hair with a big hand. “Easy, my beauty. I’m done.” He looked to Ildiko. “Can you control her mount?”
“Yes.” The shock of facing certain, brutal death only to be rescued by the sudden appearance of Serovek and his men, left her lightheaded and unable to utter more than monosyllabic responses.
If the Beladine lord noticed, he didn’t remark on it. “Good. Anhuset will ride with me.” He scooped the Kai woman into his arms, his features darkening as he slowly lifted her. He staggered and exhaled a harsh breath. “Damn Kai,” he said in a strained voice. “Heavier than a sack of wet bricks.”
His reaction to lifting Anhuset confirmed what Ildiko had guessed. There was no possible way she could have moved her wounded companion or gotten her back on her horse.
Serovek made his way to the one horse with no rider. Bigger than the others, it snorted in protest and laid back its ears as its master mounted with his burden. Their party gathered supplies. One of the Beladine soldiers retrieved Anhuset’s second sword where it lay in the grass and gently pried the other from Ildiko’s stiff fingers. “Do you need help onto the gelding, Your Highness?”
She shook her head. She wasn’t much good with blades, but she could at least swing into a saddle by herself.
Serovek eyed her as she rode up next to him. “Whose blood stains your hands? It isn’t Anhuset’s, and I see no wound on you.”
“We were attacked in the woods. I stabbed one of them when he tried to pull me off the horse.”
A flicker of amusement softened Serovek’s somber face. “Soft Gauri noblewomen with hidden savagery.” He kneed his horse forward. “I should visit Pricid one day.”
Free from the forest’s labyrinthine darkness, Ildiko had regained her sense of direction and a choking panic that blackened the edges of her vision. They were riding away from Saggara and help!
She trotted next up to Serovek and wheeled Anhuset’s horse in front of his mount’s to block their path. Serovek’s horse snorted when his rider hauled back on the reins to keep from plowing into the other horse.
She ignored Serovek’s scowl. “We have to go back to the bridge. Now. Help Brishen and the others! We can’t just leave them there.”
Serovek’s expression softened. “That battle is long over by now, Highness. You need to trust me that what I’m doing will help Brishen.” He pointed to an unseen path somewhere within the trees. “There’s a hidden sanctuary not far from here, an old temple bound by magic to confuse the dogs. We’ll stay there for now. I sent messengers to Saggara. If my guess is right, we’ll have my men and more of the Kai here by morning.” He gently adjusted the unconscious Anhuset in his arms. “Did you see what happened to the herceges?”