Chapter 69: Chapter Ten

ADA

Cayden shook his head, his words soft. “We will see each other again.”

“How can you be so sure?” I asked him, sitting up. It was only a matter of seconds before I would break down. I was unable to hold back from crying any longer.

Cayden leaned over and kissed me where each tear touched my face. His hand gently met my face and brought my lips to meet his.

I could not control my crying and tried my best to catch my breath between kisses. His hands were lifting my shirt over my head, and then he laid me back down to remove my pants.

I did not want him to stop kissing me, yanking him down just as he took his shirt off. I knew he was ready, but all I needed was him to hold me…to be near me.

Picking up on this, he continued to tenderly kiss me until I wanted more. We had lost all sense of time, and he finally got on his knees to finish undressing himself.

Then, grabbing my legs, he pulled my body toward him, feeling with his hands up my torso until I pulled his head up to meet mine. I kissed him hard, trying to deepen our kiss as much as I could.

As I wrapped my legs around him, I felt his hand reach down and guide himself into me. The way he kissed me, grabbed me, thrust into me was filled with more passion than I had ever felt.

There in our small little tent, I did not care how loud we were or who would hear us. We were trying so hard to work through the anticipatory grief that we might never see each other again.

***

The rain had stopped overnight, but the dark clouds still remained in the sky.

For the second time in the past two days, Cayden and I stood by the horses bidding farewell to our son as though we would never see him again.

I gave Kyra a hug, telling her I loved her and to take care of my child. She was crying so hard she could barely speak. I knew whatever happened, Kyra would protect him, and Padriac would protect her.

Padriac moved her back so Cayden and I could say goodbye to one another. Men were beginning to ride off, and soon it would be his turn. I looked at him with tears streaming down my face.

His arms wrapped around me and he started to kiss me all over my face, something I always loved, would always remember.

“Cayden, it is time,” Sayer said, placing a hand on his shoulder. I drew Cayden in for one last kiss before letting him go.

He turned to Sayer, giving him a hug, and just like that, he mounted his horse to ride away with the other men.

“We must go too.” Sayer patted me on the back. I looked over at my son one last time and followed Sayer into the forest.

We walked through the woods for what seemed like an hour or more. There was a group of about twenty men that Barra had ordered to go with us.

Sayer led the group, scouting out yards ahead of us. We made our way through the forest like a gentle wave washing over the shore, swiftly and silently.

As we neared our post, I noticed many of the men lagging behind, grouped together behind us. Sayer was too far ahead to notice this, but I ran up toward Egil.

“Egil! Something is off,” I said to him. He glanced behind us and started to walk a little faster. I did my best to follow. “Who are these men? I do not know them.”

“Most of them are Rankin’s men. Hurry, we must get to Sayer.”

We were almost running toward the hill now. I could see it through the clearing of the forest. The men behind us began to quicken their pace as well.

“Sayer,” Egil shouted. Sayer turned around, realizing ~we~ were under attack from Rankin’s men. With his bow in hand, he began shooting at anyone close, as the majority of men still trailed behind.

We made it safely to Sayer, taking cover behind a large rock.

“Why are they attacking us?” Sayer asked.

“Is it not apparent?” Egil asked, furious. “These are Rankin’s men. He means to kill us.”

“Why would my uncle have us killed?”

“He must be working with Silas. We saw Weylin speaking with an unknown person the other night. It must have been someone from Oranmore,” I said.

“That and Rankin will finally become chief of Dundalk,” Egil added. “You cannot deny that he has coveted that position.”

Sayer frowned. “Now is not the time to discuss family issues. We must prepare ourselves for this. If they are attacking us here, I have no doubt Rankin has bought other men on the battlefield.

“We must warn them. Ada, ~you~ must run and tell them. Egil and I will do our best to hold these ones off.”

I began running up the hill, but our enemy was closing in. I looked back and decided I could not leave my two friends alone.

In the distance, I could see a man on horseback riding in from the side, aiming his arrow at the two of them. Egil and Sayer did not notice him, being so focused on the men in front of them.

I sprinted down the hill and as the man was about to pass, I threw my shield at him. His body fell off the horse, and I ran up to him, taking my sword out and forcing it through his chest.

“Ada, behind you,” Sayer shouted. I turned around and met another man’s sword with my own. I was without a shield and at a disadvantage.

The man swung his shield at me, hoping it would knock me out. I had anticipated this though, ducking while plunging my sword into his thigh. The man cried out in pain, and I finished him off.

I felt the wind of an arrow pass by my face, watching it land in Sayer’s back. He fell to the ground, leaving him an easy target. I picked up my shield and sprinted to his side just in time.

The enemy was closing in, but he was in too much pain to stand up. Hovering over him, I did my best to hold off the men surrounding us until Egil was able to come to our aid.

He finished off the men, giving us a few minutes to decide what to do.

“He is not well, Egil. He needs help.”

Egil looked around. There were only a few men left and the horse. We both looked at the horse and then each other. As if hearing my thoughts, he began to shake his head in disagreement.

“I cannot leave you.”

“You must. You must save him. Kyra will know what to do. Muireann has trained her in healing.”

“Then you will take him.”

“You know it ~must~ be you. I will never be able to hold him and ride as fast as he needs.”

Sayer moaned in pain below us, which sealed the decision. I ran to bring the horse over to them and did my best to help him lift Sayer. The other men were surrounding us.

Egil yelled at me to run up the hill and took off back toward the camp. He stabbed one of the men as he rode away.