Page 37

“W hat are you looking at?”

The question came from Elisiana as she stood inside the merchant’s stall, looking at some durable fabric that she was considering using for a garment for her baby. But Athdara was standing in the doorway, looking over at the Black Cock.

“Athdara?” Elisiana said again. “What is it?”

Athdara shook her head vaguely. “A lot of men.”

“Where?”

“The Black Cock.”

Elisiana came away from the fabric and stuck her head out of the stall, seeing what Athdara was seeing. There were, indeed, dozens of men outside of the Black Cock. A small army, essentially, of men neither of them recognized.

Elisiana frowned.

“Where did they come from?” she asked.

“The road from the east,” Athdara said. “I heard them, but I thought it was thunder. Did you not hear them a few minutes ago?”

Elisiana shook her head. “I did not,” she said. “But who would bring an army so close to Blackchurch? Surely the gatehouse guards see them.”

Athdara suddenly ducked back into the stall, taking Elisiana with her. “What if it is that pirate that the men are speaking of?” she said. “Bloody Maude’s son, the one who disappeared. What if he’s returned with an army?”

Elisiana’s trepidation grew. “And Bloody Maude is at the Black Cock.”

“With Astria.”

They could no longer control their fear after that.

Athdara handed Elisiana her daughter, the child that was permanently attached to her hip.

“I must go for help,” she said urgently.

“But you must hide. If those really are pirates, they are going to come to this stall because of all of the merchandise. Go hide with the smithy down the road. They won’t raid his stall. ”

Elisiana took the little girl, who started to whine for her mother. “I will,” she said bravely. “And I’ll tell the merchant to take all of his most valuable things and hide them.”

Athdara nodded quickly. “Hurry,” she said. “I’ll go for help.”

“Be careful!”

As Elisiana dashed to the rear of the stall with the children, Athdara went to the front and peered from the front door again.

Somehow, she was going to make it across the road without being seen, and her best chance of that would be to move down to the end of the avenue and dash across it into the trees.

Through that bank of trees, she could get to the road that led to Blackchurch, but she’d be completely visible once she got onto the road.

She had to hope she could run to Blackchurch faster than those at the Black Cock when they realized there was a lone woman on the road.

And a lone woman was vulnerable.

But she had to go.

Slipping into the back as Elisiana had done and hearing her daughter crying as Elisiana carried her away from the merchant stall, toward the town smithy’s, Athdara paused a moment before heading off to her right, in the direction of the Black Cock.

She thought she might be able to see Astria and possibly get her away from any danger.

As she drew closer, slinking along a small alleyway that ended in the livery area of the Black Cock, she suddenly caught sight of someone. But it wasn’t Astria.

It was Hobbes.

“Hobbes!” Athdara whisper-yelled, waving at the man. “ Hobbes! ”

Hobbes had been standing just inside the alleyway as it led from the livery yard, watching the tavern, but he heard Athdara’s hissing.

Quickly, he made his way over to her.

“Hobbes, who are those men?” Athdara demanded, grasping the man’s hand. “What are they doing?”

Hobbes was distressed. “It’s Payne’s brother,” he said. “I recognized him because he stayed here for a few days. He’s come back and he’s brought someone who knows Lady Lismore. There’s going to be a battle, my lady. Everyone is armed. I must go to Blackchurch and tell them!”

“Nay,” Athdara said quickly. “I will go. Get your wife and servants out of the tavern. Get anyone you can out of the tavern. I will run to Blackchurch and tell them.”

“Very well,” Hobbes said, relieved that a young woman was willing to run, because he wasn’t in the best of health. “You must hurry!”

Athdara simply nodded and ran back the way she’d come.

She ran past the merchant’s stall, in the direction of the smithy’s, only she stopped short of reaching the area that smelled of fire and hot steel.

This was the easiest place to cross the road, so she made sure it was clear before making her break to the other side.

By the time she hit the trees, she was flying, sailing through the foliage, scratching her legs and arms. But she continued to run.

At one point, she stumbled in a hole, but she picked herself up and continued on until she was paralleling the road that led to the main Blackchurch gatehouse.

The trees were thick here, so she couldn’t run very fast, which meant she had to get out onto the road.

Where she could be seen.

But she burst out of the trees and started running at top speed.

She was afraid the men at the tavern would see her and, being that they were on horseback, catch up to her before she could reach Blackchurch’s gatehouse.

She ran the mile as fast as she could, and given she had long legs and was generally athletic, it wasn’t too difficult for her.

But she was terrified the entire time. The closer she came to the gatehouse, the more relief she felt.

Safety was just a few feet away.

In fact, she could see the gatehouse guards coming out of the gate, watching her run.

A few of them were coming out to meet her, so by the time she reached them, they grabbed hold of her so she wouldn’t collapse in an exhausted heap.

One of the men, an old sergeant who had served St. Denis’ grandfather, had her by the arm.

“What’s amiss, Lady Munro?” he asked with great concern. “You just left here. Where are the other ladies?”

“My husband,” Athdara managed to say, breathing heavily. “Send for my husband immediately. Send for Sinclair and Payne!”

Soldiers were already running to the fields where the trainers were working for the day.

The old sergeant helped Athdara into the gatehouse, pushing her gently onto a chair that someone brought out from the guard room.

Word was already getting around that something was amiss in the village, and Athdara had only been sitting for a few minutes when she saw Tay coming down the road.

He was barreling toward her and, given the man’s size, it was like watching a runaway horse.

Athdara bolted out of her chair to meet him.

“Payne’s brother has returned,” she said when they came together. “He’s returned with dozens of armed men and he’s in the Black Cock, where Astria is. You must take men to help her!”

Tay had hold of his wife, horrified by what he was hearing.

Quickly, he moved to the open gates, dragging Athdara with him, trying to see down into the village.

It was far enough away that all he could make out was the village and rooftops, and little more, but he believed her. Athdara wasn’t the sort to panic.

He trusted her.

“Did you run all the way from the village, love?” he asked her.

She nodded, finally slowing enough so she could catch her breath.

“I did,” she said. “Lisi is there, too. We went to the village with Astria, but we went to the merchant’s stall while Astria went to the Black Cock to see Maude.

We saw the men ride in and I gave the baby to Lisi to take to safety.

She went to the smithy’s while I came back here to tell you. ”

Tay nodded, his manner grim. He began issuing orders, one of which was to secure the gatehouse.

By the time he turned around, Payne, Sinclair, Fox, Ming Tang, Cruz, and Creston were all heading in his direction.

Kristian was out on the lake this morning and Amir was with St. Denis, so the available trainers had come on the run.

And no one running faster than Payne.

“What’s happened?” he demanded. “Where is my wife?”

Tay answered. “Your brother has returned with a horde of armed men,” he said. “They are at the Black Cock, as are your wife and mother. I’ve sent for an armed force, Payne. How do you wish for us to handle it?”

Payne grunted angrily, realizing Declan had come back and Astria had been caught with his mother, in the village and without his protection. There was no telling what was going to happen.

“Damnation,” he growled. “That bastard. That goddamn bastard. I’m going tae cut his heart out.”

“Athdara?” Sinclair said, coming up behind Payne and trying to squeeze in to the huddle to hear what they were talking about. “Where is my wife?”

“She’s safe,” Athdara assured him. “She went to hide with the smithy. You know he will protect her, but she has your son and my daughter with her.”

Sinclair looked at Tay. “I must retrieve them,” he said. “I’ll take men with me. Payne, I’ll come to you after I’ve secured my wife and the children. I’m sorry, I must get to them first.”

Payne understood completely. “Go,” he said, putting his hand on the man’s arm and giving him a push. “Go and get them. Ye must take care of them.”

Sinclair was gone, pulling men with him as he went.

That left Tay and Payne and the other trainers, and Cruz and Creston were already gathering armed soldiers.

Even if the Blackchurch army didn’t see action too often, if at all, they still maintained a constant state of readiness, so there were gangs of armed men ready to charge into the village within minutes.

That was all it took.

Meanwhile, the trainers armed themselves as best they could.

The big armory, where most of their battle armor was stored, was toward the kitchens and the big dormitory, so they grabbed what they could from the smaller armory near the gatehouse that the soldiers used.

Mostly, they took swords and daggers, and all of them with the exception of Ming Tang were able to don mail coats or sleeves.

Ming Tang didn’t fight with any of that protection, as that wasn’t how he was trained, so for him, it was only daggers and a big iron spear.

That was all he required.

“Payne,” Ming Tang said as the group approached the gatehouse where the armed soldiers were gathering, “if you go charging down to the Black Cock and the women are inside, it may put them at risk. Whatever you do must be carefully thought out.”

Payne knew that. “I know,” he said. “And I have a plan in mind.”

“Good,” Ming Tang said. “How can I help?”

The Shaolin monk wasn’t a battle commander, so he wasn’t expected to direct troops. But he was the best soldier anyone of them had ever seen, so his help was crucial. Payne came to a halt as the others gathered around him.

“As Ming Tang has pointed out, and as we all know, we canna go charging intae the village,” he said. “Right now, my mother and wife are inside the Black Cock and my brother has decided tae return. I suspect they are in enough danger at the moment, so I dunna want—”

He was cut off when one of the sentries high on the gatehouse called down to them. “There’s a fight at the Black Cock!” he shouted. “Men came from the woods and swarmed the men who were in front of the tavern!”

A moment of confusion was replaced by a moment of terror. It took Payne that short a time to realize what had happened. Immediately, he turned to Tay and Fox, the men standing closest to him.

“My God,” he breathed. “Medusa’s Disciples.”

Tay grunted with the awareness. “They must have seen them and come out of their encampment,” he said. “Go. We must go !”

Leaving Athdara and the gatehouse sentries behind, the Blackchurch trainers and almost three hundred soldiers started running for the village.

It was an explosion of epic proportions.

And the ancillary damage could be deadly.