Fallowblade by Cecilia Dart-Thornton Read Free Book Online Page A

ă thiel’s speech. ‘Of course I fully understand that you are invulnerable, Lady Maelstronnar; however, I direct you to remain here, for now. I am not willing to put you at risk of being captured.’
    Despite her yearnings, the damsel knew she must comply with the commands of her sovereign. To indicate acquiescence she bowed to him, somewhat stiffly. Inwardly, she seethed. Masking her frustration with the accomplishment of a true diplomat she asked, ‘How long will it be before Thorgild’s reinforcements reach us?’
    The king nodded to his eldest son, and William answered, ‘We estimate that if he can marshal his troops within a week, then make a forced march across country, he will arrive in the middle of Juyn.’
    ‘So late!’ Asr ă thiel cried in dismay.
    ‘By then we will have the victory,’ William’s brother Walter said a little too loudly, as if by sheer force of conviction he could overcome the formidable odds.
    ‘If not, we can, at least, hold out until then,’ William said resolutely. ‘We are on home ground. Our troops are familiar with the terrain, unlike the southern invaders. It is not merely by chance or necessity that we have chosen the Eldroth Fields to make our stand. We possess maps of the maze of ancient fridean delvings beneath the landscape. The largest of these tunnels and channels can be used for communications, and as fortified trenches for defence. Our nimblest raiders may suddenly appear in the midst of the foe, cause mayhem, then disappear, bringing down rockfalls behind them to seal the passageways. Ó Maoldúin knows nothing of this. The Fields of Eldroth will prove to be our allies.’
    ‘We need all the allies we can muster,’ Asr ă thiel said bitterly, picturing the noble Councillors of Ellenhall under lock and key. She addressed the king. ‘My liege, I beg you to allow me to go and meet Thorgild on the road so that I may protect him and his troops, in case Ó Maoldúin sends a swift vanguard to ambush him, or in case unseelie wights waylay them. I will not be at the battle front, yet I will be aiding your efforts.’
    The king pondered. ‘A splendid scheme,’ he answered presently. ‘Do so, Asr ă thiel, and choose any of my people to accompany you.’
    When Asr ă thiel looked up, her gaze locked with William’s. His expression said, Would that I could be numbered amongst your escort , but they both knew he could not leave his father’s side.
    ‘Gramercie, my liege,’ Asr ă thiel said, ‘but I need very little assistance and my aerostat is not capacious. I will take only my maid, if she is willing, for I have trained her to help with the take-off and landing of aircraft.’
    ‘What of the situation in the far north, at Silverton and the Harrowgate Fells?’ Prince Walter asked his father. ‘Is Narngalis to be pinched in the claws of baneful tongs, between weapons of steel and weapons of gramarye?’
    ‘According to the last report all remains tranquil throughout that region,’ replied the king. ‘The local shrievalties remain on alert, and sentinels have been posted in strategic locations to keep vigil, in case the unseelie slayings should recommence. For now, that danger sleeps. But enough of this talk! It is time to gird ourselves and hasten to defend the kingdom. Farewell, Asr ă thiel!’
    On Mai the twenty-second, a date Asr ă thiel used to celebrate as Highland Mai Day when she dwelled in the Mountain Ring, Uabhar and Chohrab crossed the border and entered Narngalis. Their armies in colours of blood-flame and sun-fire advanced into the north-kingdom, marching rapidly. Through blossoming fields they trampled—crushing the buttercups underfoot—and along muddy highways. The metal wheels of their supply wagons and ordnance carriages crushed the hedges bordering the roadsides; the hobnailed boots of the infantry clattered across bridges of wood and stone. Slender spears and pikes and standards surged like some storm-driven forest, and the cavalrymen