Radiance (Wraith Kings Book 1)(9)
She yelped as a hand pushed her to the ground. “Stay down, Your Highness!” a female voice commanded.
Ildiko didn’t protest as a chorus of twangs broke from the trees, followed by a volley of black splinters that arced into the lightening sky before falling toward them. She crouched, covering her head with her arms. Metal rang on metal as arrow points struck shield faces.
They were under attack, and what very little she could see from her lowered position behind the barricade of Kai protectors, they were pinned in place, unable to flee or even engage the enemies who sheltered in the trees.
That soon changed. Horse’s hooves echoed from the forest depths. They were joined by battle cries and screams of pain.
The road where they stood exploded into chaos. Men dressed for secrecy and ambush bolted into the open, pursued by newly arrived Kai cavalry in support of their brothers and sisters. The shield circle around Ildiko broke. She was jerked to her feet and came face to face with one of the Kai women she’d seen at the wedding. Brishen had introduced her as his cousin Anhuset. Those nacreous eyes stared at her unblinking. “Follow me, Highness. Step lively.”
Ildiko recognized the voice—and its authority—and sprinted alongside the woman until they reached the supply wagon.
Anhuset tugged her down. “Under the wagon, Highness. Stay out of sight and don’t move.”
She didn’t give Ildiko a chance to argue but bodily shoved her beneath the wagon frame. Ildiko dropped to her stomach. From her flattened vantage point, she saw mostly running feet. The Kai woman stayed close and was soon joined by three more of her compatriots.
Ildiko searched for Brishen in the melee as their party, no longer outnumbered, clashed with their attackers. She glimpsed him fighting back to back with another Kai warrior. They faced a group of bandits. Brishen’s partner fought with sword and shield. Brishen, however, fought as no Gauri nobleman ever would.
He wielded a small bearded axe in one hand and a hunting knife in the other. The knife’s blunt side was braced against the line of his forearm, the sharpened edge faced out. Brishen moved as all his kind did, quick and nimble as a cat. He slashed and stabbed with the knife, cut and cleaved with the axe, using the beard to hook his opponent off his feet.
Ildiko prayed for his safety, for all their safety. She abruptly lost sight of him as a wave of bandits rushed her guardians. Anhuset answered with an eerie war cry. She and her companions leapt at their attackers. Ildiko huddled behind one of the wagon wheels and peered between the spokes.
She wanted to help, but she knew nothing of combat and was already a hindrance to those who would guard her. Except for her eating knife tucked into her belt pouch, she was weaponless. The best she could do was follow Anhuset’s instructions: stay out of sight and out of the way.
Her heart pounded in her ribs, and she tasted the bitter flavor of fear on her tongue. She gasped when something grabbed her ankle and yanked. Ildiko clutched the spokes and stared over her shoulder. She screamed at the sight of a bandit, filthy, bedraggled and splashed with blood, clawing his way up her skirts.
She kicked at him, managing to clip him in the chin. He jerked back with a howl before lunging at her a second time. Ildiko scuttled on her backside and elbows from the wagon’s compromised shelter.
She stumbled to her feet and found herself standing in the middle of the battle. Her Kai protectors fought and wrestled with the enemy, unaware Ildiko’s hiding spot had been discovered. She lifted her hem, prepared to run, though she had no idea which way she’d go. The bandit who had attacked her made the decision for her when he rounded the wagon and stalked her, waving a knife and sporting a leer that promised a gruesome death.
Ildiko pivoted on her heel to flee in the opposite direction. She never got the chance. A draft of air buffeted the side of her face and fluttered strands of her hair. A dull crack sounded behind her, and she turned to watch her stalker fall to his knees, an axe blade sunk deep in his forehead. His eyes were wide—fixed—as if he didn’t quite believe Death had found him so suddenly, before he fell backward and lay still in the dirt.
Ildiko whipped around to find Brishen running toward her. He grabbed her one-armed around the waist and lifted her off her feet, never breaking stride as he ran for safety. “Not the wedding present I intended for you, wife,” he said on shortened breaths. “I’ll make it up to you later.”
CHAPTER SIX
They lost only three in the attack. Brishen considered it three too many, and the sorrow over their deaths weighed heavily on his mind. The first, Kroshag, had been the middle son of the royal family’s steward and one of the first to volunteer under Brishen’s command. Neima, the second to fall beneath a fatal arrow shot, had obsessed all the way from Haradis to Pricid over the challenge of dowering twin daughters. Her children would marry without their mother’s presence now.
Brishen grieved hardest for Talumey. Young, eager to show his worth, loyal to a fault, he’d nearly turned himself inside out with excitement at being chosen as part of the prince’s personal escort to the Gauri capital. Brishen promised himself he’d personally deliver Talumey’s mortem light to his mother.
He abandoned his melancholy thoughts when Anhuset approached him. The spread of a blinding dawn backlit her form and bathed the dead behind her in citrine light.
Anhuset’s mouth was set in a tight line, and she stared at him with narrowed eyes. Brishen leapt back, shocked when she fell to her knees before him. The activity in the road camp ceased. All fell silent.