Free Darkest before Dawn (The Kingdom of Mercia Book 2) by Jayne Castel Page B

by the rain and plastered against her head and neck, she was
lovely.
    She was unsaddling her pony with practiced ease. He had
noted that she rode well and looked no more tired by the journey than his men. Despite
that this task irked him as much as it did the other Mercians, her toughness
pleased him. It was a long, uncomfortable journey south and if the princess did
not slow them down, they would be back in Tamworth all the sooner.
    Not that he had any reason to hurry back. This time,
there was no one awaiting his safe return. He would not even come back to a
king he respected. Paeda ruled southern Mercia now, and Maric struggled with the
idea of serving Penda’s treacherous son.
    Maric turned back to his horse and concentrated on
rubbing it down. He felt weary, body and soul, this evening. The Mercian defeat
at Winwaed had stripped him of much more than his honor – it had robbed him of
the pride he had felt at serving a lord he respected.
    Penda had been ruthless but he had known what honor and
duty were. His son did not.
     
    Night drew in and the rain returned. Only this time, the
travelers could take shelter under a wide awning made of weather-stained hide,
which Maric’s men had stretched out under the trees. There was no dry wood for
a fire, so the company had to make do with the warmth of their fur cloaks as
they sat upon the damp ground and ate bread, cheese and apples.
    Alchflaed perched upon the edge of a wood stump. She ate
quickly, her appetite returning for the first time since her father had
delivered his devastating orders. A day away from Bebbanburg, riding through
the wind and rain had made her ravenous. As she finished her meal, Alchflaed
observed the conversations taking place around her. She had barely spoken to
any of her escorts all day, and they had shown no interest in conversing with
her.
    The Mercians kept their distance from their charge. Some,
like their leader, were merely aloof, while others exuded hostility and
resentment. Alchflaed could not bring herself to blame them. However, if it
continued, the trip south would be a long and lonely one. She did not want to
be alone with her thoughts, to give rein to the dread that shadowed her from
dawn to dusk.
    Oblivious to her concerns, the men continued to ignore
her, talking quietly amongst themselves. The drumming rain on the hide canopy
above their heads made it impossible for Alchflaed to listen to their
conversations.
    Instead, her gaze alighted upon Maric. His handsome face
was shuttered, his clear blue gaze focused on the mid-distance as if he were
lost in memory. She had never before thought of a man as beautiful – but this
one was. The fine, sculpted lines of his cheekbones and chin, and the
sensitivity of his mouth mesmerized her.
    Sensing that someone was looking at him, the enigmatic
Mercian looked up. For a moment, their gazes met.
    Alchflaed’s cheeks flamed and, embarrassed at being
caught so blatantly staring, she looked away.
     
     

Chapter Nine
Arrival at Pons Aelius
     
     
    After a night attempting to sleep upon the damp ground,
with roots and stones digging into her side, Alchflaed faced the following
morning with ill humor. Perched upon a leather pack, while men packed up around
her, she chewed on a crust of bread and sipped a cup of broth. Her limbs ached
from the damp, and her clothes stuck uncomfortably to her skin.
    Dawn was just beginning to stain the eastern sky,
breaking through a curtain of grey, as the Mercian company prepared to ride
south. Mercifully, the rain had stopped some time during the night. Stifling a
yawn, Alchflaed rose to her feet and crossed to where one of Maric’s men had
just finished saddling her pony. The warrior handed her the reins with a curt
nod, before heading off to prepare his own horse for the day’s journey.
Alchflaed stroked her pony’s fury neck.
    “Another day, eh Briosa?”
    At least her father had let her keep the pony. She was
grateful that Briosa – Breeze – had come