Page 74 of Raven's Rise
Goswin was screaming, “Over there, over there!” as Rafe rushed past her and rode on to something beyond her.
Angelet turned to look, but didn’t see anything more than the hazy wash of green leaves comprising the edge of the woods by the road. She blinked, trying to clear her eyes. What was the matter with them? Her vision wavered as if she was crying, and why would she be crying?
She took a deep breath, and felt a strange heat all over the front of her body. Then she looked down and saw why. The back half of a crossbow bolt stuck out of her chest. The warmth she’d felt was fresh blood, now soaking through the wool of her gown. “Oh.”
She put her hand to the protruding bolt, more in wonder than in fear.How very, very strange, she thought, her mind still rather hazy.This is something Rafe would have an opinion on.
“Rafe?” she called out. Only a rush of breathy air made it out, and the name was only a whisper.
She tried again. “Rafe?” A little louder that time. What was he up to?
Hoofbeats pounded in her ears. Someone rushed up to her, reining in at the last moment.
“Got him,” Rafe said, gripping his sword in his right hand, the blade looking red in the light. “I don’t know how the hell he got this close to us, but he’s never…”
Rafe stopped talking when he inched forward and got a look at her. His face went white. “You were hit.”
She tried to nod, but her head suddenly felt very heavy, and she slumped forward, lost her balance, and fell.
Chapter 22
As soon as Rafe heardGoswin yell, he cursed in frustration. The moment he turned his back, something bad happened. He knew it.
The boy was waving his arms frantically, urging Rafe to hurry. Angelet had ridden a few paces to the south, and now faced away from Rafe. She was seemingly unconcerned by Goswin’s behavior. That was a little odd in itself. From the moment she saw Goswin, she took to him as if she had been charged with his care. Rafe had chalked it up to her missing her own child and wanting to help another in his place. But now she didn’t even look over at Goswin.
Rafe spurred his horse and covered the distance in no time.
“What is it?” he asked Goswin.
“Over there, over there!” he shrieked, pointing to a spot in the woods. “Someone shot at us! I saw the bolt fly right past my nose!”
Following the line of Goswin’s outstretched finger, he peered into the trees.
“I’ll find them!” Goswin shouted. His pony was already in motion, riding down the road parallel to the trees.
“Goswin!” Rafe shouted. “Don’t! Stay back here with Angelet!”
The boy ignored his order.
Cursing again, Rafe rode directly into the trees along the line the boy had indicated.
Branches whipped out at him as he plunged into the newly-green woods. Seconds later, Rafe spotted a big man who was fully armed and ready to fight, based on the fact that he held a sword in one hand and a long dagger in the other. Several feet behind him, a crossbow lay on the ground.
That was all Rafe needed to know.
He howled a challenge even as he drew his own sword. It was not fair that Rafe was mounted while his opponent was on foot, but then again, it wasn’t fair that the man shot at an unarmed woman. Thus, Rafe felt absolutely no compunction about holding the advantage. He intended to give the other man no quarter at all.
The other man didn’t ask for any. He braced himself against the wide trunk of a tree and yelled a few insults about the unsavory sexual habits of Rafe’s mother. As it happened, those insults had no effect on Rafe, because he had no idea what sort of person his mother was.
So his mind was clear and cold when he charged the man’s position. The man seemed as though he was going to stand his ground, but Rafe had long since learned to read body language, and he was unsurprised when his opponent skittered over to the other side of the tree, hoping to block Rafe’s right-handed attack.
At a distance of twenty paces, he subtly angled his horse’s path slightly away from the tree, he swapped his sword into his left hand, and swept it in a wide flat circle just about level with the man’s chest.
The mercenary raised his own sword to block the stroke, and a tremendously loud clang rang out when the two blades connected.
The man grunted, and Rafe knew why. His arm would be numb with pain right now, having taken much more of the impact of the blow than Rafe had. Rafe pulled hard on the reins to circle around the tree. He then switched the sword back to his right arm, which was perfectly sound.
The other man sensed Rafe coming, and turned to face him again. But Rafe now not only had the advantage of height, he also had a strong sword arm and more experience.
