Free The Great Bear: The Adarna chronicles - Book 3 by Jason K. Lewis

about like this.”
    Just behind her, her twin brothers bore identical smirks on their faces; they exchanged glances and rolled their eyes derisively.  
    Conlan had learnt quite quickly to tell the Felix twins apart. They were very similar, but Ursus seemed broader and carried a little more weight than his elder brother, and his movements were slower somehow, more measured.
    “Come on, Sis,” Accipiter called.
    “Yes,” Ursus echoed, looking towards the Southern horizon. “This is serious business, Lissa. We can’t mess about here.”
    “Oh shut up, the pair of you!” she snapped in reply.
    “Is there a problem here, my lady?” Conlan called over as he trotted his horse towards them.
    Elissa’s head snapped around, her eyes alight. When she noticed Conlan her back straightened and her head dropped. He thought, perhaps, that her cheeks flushed.
    “Father Conlan,” she said, her tone mild. “Proctor Villius tells me that I must go with the cavalry... that we must withdraw.”
    “Those are your father’s orders, miss,” Villius answered, tugging gently on the reigns of her horse.  
    “I told you to stop that!” Elissa snapped, her eyes lighting up again.
    Conlan looked towards the south; they had precious little time for delays. There is no time for his. He sought for a solution. Every fibre of his being wanted to grab the reigns of her horse and drag her from danger. It is not safe for you to stay, he wanted to shout at her. Then a thought struck him. What would Martius do? “Proctor Villius,” he said, amazed by how calm his voice sounded, how controlled. “Can you please escort Accipiter and Ursus to the rear? I would like to have a chat with the lady Elissa.”
    Accipiter snorted aloud, a huge grin splitting his face. Beside him, Ursus smirked and raised an eyebrow in a passable impression of his father.
    Villius gave Conlan a look of profound relief and released the reigns of Elissa’s horse. “Gentlemen,” he addressed the twins. “If you would be so good as to follow me, please?”
    The three trotted away. Accipiter glanced back over his shoulder, a mischievous glint in his eyes, but said nothing.
    Conlan brought his horse up beside Elissa’s. He forced down the urge to do as Villius had done, to grab the reigns and force obedience. He knew this would only lead to conflict. “Elissa,” he pitched his voice low, deliberately dropping any attempt at formality, conscious as he did that this was the first time he had really spoken to her. “We are in significant danger.” They were an island of tranquillity amongst the roiling waves that flowed around them as the legion moved to battle readiness. “Your father has ordered that you should go with the cavalry.”
    Elissa looked up at him. Her eyes were moist, her cheeks red, but her face remained stern.
    Conlan took a breath and waited for a reply; none came. “You will be safe at the rear. We think the Wicklander horde may be approaching. They do not have cavalry as we do–”
    “I will not abandon my mother!” she snapped.
    Conlan rocked back in his saddle, the force of her words buffeting him like a gale.
    “I will not stand by whilst she is in danger.” Elissa glared, wide eyed.
    “My lady.” He leaned towards her, pity and understanding rising. “We will look after–”
    “I can fight! Why can’t I stay?” She gestured around at the soldiers scurrying by. “Not one of you is as good with a bow as I am, not one!”
    Conlan raised his right hand and gently patted her horse’s neck. Perhaps if the beast was calm the girl would follow. “That may be so, my lady, but your father has given his orders. They must be obeyed.”
    She stared into his eyes and he returned her gaze, determined not to be the first to break. Just as he thought she would beat him, her eyelids dropped and her shoulders slumped.
    “I should not be sent away like a piece of baggage,” she said softly, all signs of her previous ire evaporating like the