Page 81 of The Quest for Excalibur
“Wait for the signal.”
“Archers only first. Rest of you stay hidden.”
From where I stood, the only thing I could see was the tail end of the Saxon column vanishing rapidly into the dip as though in a run, but still holding formation. What was the front end doing? More war horns sounded.
If only I could see.
Merlin. He could show me.
“Let them get halfway up the hill,” Cadwy shouted, all need for silence gone. The Saxons wouldn’t hear him now. “Wait for my order.”
At least he didn’t seem to have any treachery planned. At the back of my mind a tiny nub of doubt had been festering that he might do the thing we feared Cerdic might do– and come down on the side of his mother’s people.
Shouts rose in the distance, snatched by the wind. Were they from Llacheu’s men or from Saxons stuck with arrows? I couldn’t tell.
The archers in our front line were having great trouble keeping their eager horses under control.
Time ticked past, so slowly I wanted to scream. More shouts, the familiar sounds of battle, made worse by the howl of the wind and not being able to see. Or was that better? I couldn’t tell. More strident battle horns. The light flashed on the brow again.
“Archers away!” Cadwy shouted.
They shot forward like the hare out of the trap at a greyhound race, galloping full tilt toward the unseen road, silent but for the thud of hooves on turf.
“I need to see,” I hissed at Merlin, as the rows of men in front of us fought to keep their horses under control, and Alezan swung around in pirouettes worthy of an Olympic dressage horse. “You need to show me.”
He shook his head, brow furrowed in irritation, but eyes flashing with the excitement any warrior feels before a battle. My guards mirrored his expression, their horses prancing on the spot in their eagerness to join in.
Was Llacheu safe? I looked wildly to right and left, but my guards were keeping close around me. Merlin must have guessed my thought. He reached out and caught Alezan’s rein near her bit. “No. Stay here where you’re safe.” He knew me all too well.
“Then show me,” I hissed, my voice rising. “Show me again what you can see.”
From up on the hill came the sound of British war horns.
I put my reins into one hand and grabbed Merlin’s arm. “Show me!”
At the front, Cadwy raised his voice in a shout. “Forward in close formation. Spread out to doubles. Charge!”
His war horns sounded, loud and close. Thunder crashed overhead in the boiling clouds. The gloom of semi-darkness filled the beech wood as the branches whipped and screamed. I yanked Alezan’s head to turn her in a circle, away from the warriors.
As for them, all they needed to do was release the hold they had on the tightly coiled springs that were their mounts. Like the start of the Grand National, the horses leapt forward straight from halt to gallop. Their riders, howling war cries at the tops of their voices, fighting to keep their side-by-side formation, thundered across the turf toward the unseen left flank of the enemy, the line widening as the riders spread out.
For a minute I had to concentrate on preventing Alezan from joining them.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Even with bothhands on Alezan’s reins, I struggled to prevent her from galloping after Cadwy’s charging cavalry. She snaked her head down, yanking me forward to get more rein, but I jammed my legs forward and hauled her back up then turned her in a circle, keeping her head facing away from the road. Cold rain scalded my face. Beside me, Merlin and our guards were having the same trouble. Horses, being herd animals, have an instinct to stay together, especially if some of them go galloping off.
“Hold hard!” Merlin shouted, as one of our guards lost his fight, and his horse galloped after Cadwy’s cavalry. “Look to the Queen.”
I fought Alezan to a halt, her head up, ears pricked, and body quivering with tension. The smell of hot, excited horse rose around us in a fug.
From having been sightless at the rear, now we had an unimpeded view of the approach to the battlefield and of Cadwy’s cavalry as they disappeared over the brow of the hill. More thunder crashed overhead, and lightning lit the dark sky, drowning out the sounds of battle.
Merlin brought his horse in beside me. “Back inside the wood. We don’t want to be seen.”
I glared at him. “I need to see this battle. He’s myhusband. And Iknowyou can show me. You have to.”
For a moment, confusion filled his eyes, swiftly followed by realization. “Yousaw?”
