Chapter 70: Chapter Eleven

ADA

This was it. I was all by myself now. I was the only one who would be able to warn Cayden and the others. As I ran up the hill, two of the men caught up to me.

One of them got ahold of my leg and I fell onto the ground. I knew he would try to climb on top of me, so I grabbed my shield and swung it around to meet his head.

He fell over my legs. I was unable to move and the other man slowly crawled next to me. He cocked his fist back to punch me in the face.

As his hand met my head, I took my dagger and stabbed him in the neck. The last thing I heard before going unconscious was his body hitting the ground next to me.

***

I woke up some time later to find it was the middle of the day. The sounds of swords clanging together and battle cries could be heard in the distance.

“Cayden,” I said weakly, dazed. I looked at the bodies littering the ground near me. “Cayden?”

But no, my husband was in the battle, I realized as my senses came back to me. All I could think was that I was too late. What if they already had killed Cayden? My heart ached for him.

My head was pounding, but I needed to carry out my task. With all my might, I pushed the dead man’s body off my legs and crawled up to the top of the hill.

Two waves of men were already fighting, meaning the third would join at any time. I predicted Rankin’s men would attack during the fourth wave; the wave we were supposed to have led.

My legs felt weak, but I could see a few horses at the base of the hill. I scaled down the hillside and leapt onto one of the horses.

With my shield in one hand and my sword in the other, I rode into the battle, searching for Cayden.

The horse carried me into the center of the battlefield. I looked around for Cayden but could not see him. Gosta spotted me just as someone knocked me off the horse.

There was no chance to speak as a man challenged me. We began to fight, but my sword-skill was more advanced than his. I maneuvered to the left, which he tried to follow, exposing his right side.

I swung and shoved my sword into his torso. Gosta gave me a smile, realizing I had not needed his help after all. I followed him, keeping an eye on everyone around me.

All of a sudden, Cayden came through the crowd of warriors, an incredible force. I was mesmerized, as were most of the men around us. Effortlessly, he took down five men as he made his way toward me.

“How did you find me?” I asked, so relieved to see him.

“It was easy. You are the only bonny lass to ride a horse into battle,” he said looking around. “Where are the others?”

“It was a trap. I came to tell you Rankin and Silas are working together.”

He looked at me with complete fear for a moment, and I knew he was wondering where his brother and friend were.

“They’re okay,” I said, pivoting out of the way as a man lunged in for the attack. Cayden took him out with a quick thrust of his sword.

I continued, “Egil took your brother back to camp after he was struck by an arrow.”

Cayden nodded. “We need to pull back and warn my father.”

We made our way through the field, fighting whoever came our way. We were close enough to Barra that he could hear us, and Cayden began calling out to his father.

As Barra searched the crowd for Cayden, we watched Rankin walk up behind him, stabbing him from behind. Confusion marred Barra’s face until he looked around.

Rankin lowered his body to the ground and whispered something into his ear. I looked over to Cayden, who stood frozen a few feet away from me.

It must have been planned, because I turned to see Weylin running toward Cayden.

I moved as fast as I could to meet him, but Weylin got there first. He hit him in the head, causing Cayden to fall to the ground.

I had missed the first blow but stopped the second, which would have been a sword through Cayden’s chest. Weylin was much stronger than me, but all I needed to do was stop his sword.

That would give Cayden enough time to rise to his feet to fight Weylin himself. Rankin’s betrayal had been the signal for the rest of ~his~ men to begin fighting against our own people.

If this continued, Silas would surely win. With the odds stacked against us, I knew what my fate was in that moment.

The only way to stop this bloodshed was to kill Silas. Then I would be in command of Oranmore’s army.

I broke away from Weylin once Cayden found his feet again, but he didn’t question me as I moved away; his focus was solely on his traitorous cousin.

I ran through the crowd yelling Silas’s name. I could hear Gosta yelling my name behind me, but I felt untouchable as I made my way toward the middle of battle.

I saw him on horseback on the outskirts of the fight, being the coward he was. We locked eyes as I pointed my sword at him, shouting his name again.

He rode his horse toward me, holding a spear in one hand. Men began to clear a line between us, knowing this fight was our own.

His horse began to pick up pace, and he flung the spear at me. I could see it flying at me and was unsure what to do.

At the very last moment, I blocked it from going through my head, and it destroyed my shield instead. I could see Silas was still coming at me on horseback, while Gosta was shouting at me to move.

He was caught in a fight inches away from me, unable to advance any closer.

I took the end of the spear that remained in my shield, and with all my strength, swung it around, throwing it in Silas’s direction. Silas fell to the ground as the spear made contact with his body.

He rose to his feet and our sword fight began. I was advancing on him with my swings. He could keep up with my agility and skill. He ordered one of his men nearby to help him.

The man looked ashamed, but did as he was told, starting to attack me, distracting me from Silas. I alternated between the two of them for as long as I could.

After a few minutes, Silas was able to catch my leg with the edge of his sword.

I fell to the ground for a brief moment, giving him all the time he needed to hit me in the face with the handle of his sword. My weapon fell to the ground, leaving me defenseless.

Silas knelt down to finish me off. He raised his sword over my body with both of his hands, pausing to say something to me.

“Long live the queen,” he said, his voice hoarse and out of breath.

My hand grasped the dagger Myrna had given me, and before his sentence was finished, I forced it into his chest, then into his neck, and back into his chest again.

Silas’s body fell over as his blood spewed onto me. I sat there for a second, staring at him. Gosta made it to my side, plunging his sword through Silas’s soldier.

It took me a few seconds to accept that it was over, that I would be able to call off the battle. Gosta severed Silas’s head from his body and handed it to me.

Though I was completely repulsed, I knew what I had to do. Scrambling to his horse, I mounted it, and with my last shred of energy, I began shouting to all the men.

“Retreat! Men of Oranmore, retreat,” I shouted, riding throughout the field, holding Silas’s head up high. “Silas is dead! Listen to me. I am your queen. Retreat!”

The men ran back, leaving the Vikings to fight one another. I looked among them for Cayden, hoping he had survived the fight with Weylin. As I drew closer, I could see it still raged on.

I felt helpless, knowing this was not my battle, and I could not interfere. I dismounted, running toward the fight, seeing that Rankin had also joined in.

Many of the Vikings had stopped fighting one another once they saw the Irish had retreated, for they saw the foolishness in killing one another.

Cayden’s face was covered in blood—his uncle and cousin were overpowering him. It was not fair, and I wished to help him.

Caxton stopped me from almost running into the circle that had formed around the fight.