Shadow of the King by Helen Hollick Read Free Book Online Page A

with Euric, not Rome!” He dug
    his heels into the horse’s flanks and galloped off. Remembering, too late, that
    his ornate parade helmet lay on the floor of Arthur’s tent.
    Nine
    Arthur stood beyond his tent, watching the splendours of the
    sunset fade into the purple of approaching night. Evening was different
    here in Less Britain, quicker, more vibrant. Back home, the coming of night
    seemed to settle with a gentle, softening sigh. Here, it shouted at you.
    He wondered if the day had been as hot in Britain. Or was it raining there?
    Almost he could smell the pleasing, fresh dampness of the Summer Land, the
    scent of damp earth and water, the approach of a low-lying mist. Here, every-
    thing was dry, brown, beneath the arid scent of sun baked heat. Another sigh.
    In the name of all the gods, he should not have come!
    He heard Gwenhwyfar’s voice—seeming so close he almost felt that were he
    to turn around she would be there, behind him, her copper hair tossing, her
    green, tawny-flecked eyes flashing. Why must you go?
    The men were preparing for night, shaking out their blankets, finishing
    supper, heading for the latrine ditch.
    I need to aid Less Britain, it is as much a part of my kingdom as the lands of Geraint’s
    Dumnonia or your brother’s Gwynedd. I am the Supreme Lord; I swore to protect, to
    keep peace.
    Had she been angry with him because she had seen the whole thing was a slaugh-
    terhouse mess of disguised half-truths, deceptions, and hollow fabrications?
    He looked again around the sprawling camp, the rows of tents, across at the
    picketed horses, the smith’s bothy, the grain tent: the paraphernalia that accom-
    panied a king’s army. Looked at his men, his Artoriani, trained, disciplined,
    professional men. Almost four hundred had accompanied him, twelve turmae
    of his best. Volunteers. He had not demanded of any of them although they had
    all wanted to come. He had answered this urgent—huh, where was the urgency
    now?—plea for help from the Emperor with the proviso that he would bring
    no more than half of his Artoriani. He could not bleed Britain dry, not—for all
    the agreed treaties of peace—with so many of the Saex settled along the coasts
    3 4 H e l e n H o l l i c k
    and rivers. Not when Ambrosius Aurelianus, his uncle and a pro-Roman, was
    so much more popular with Council than himself. And not with an ex-wife
    determined to see her son wearing the Pendragon’s royal torque around his own
    neck one day.
    Not that the last mattered with Cerdic gone, out of her reach. There
    needed to be some secure, loyal force left behind, some stabilising deter-
    rent. Someone to keep care of Gwenhwyfar and their daughter if something
    happened to him.
    I have to add British weight to the counter-defensive. His argument had sounded
    reasonable enough back at Caer Cadan, even knowing that Ambrosius just
    might get enough of a taste for ruling to not want to give it up if he came back
    after this campaign.
    Arthur swore silently to himself, started walking towards the horse lines. He
    would see the animals were settled before seeking his bed. If he came back , what
    in the Bull’s name was wrong with him this night?
    The men seemed cheerful as he strode past the tents, some of them calling out
    in good humour, sharing lewd remarks about the local womenfolk, exchanging
    jests and comments with him. They all seemed happy enough to be here. But
    they had come expecting a fight. That was what they were trained for, what
    they lived for. They were brothers, comrades, men who lived and fought and
    died as one family. His family. And he had told them Less Britain and Gaul
    were in danger from Euric and his rabble; that his people, their people, were
    threatened, as once, not so very long ago the people of Britain had been threat-
    ened. The men had answered that they were willing to join with those allied to
    Rome against these Goths. To fight.
    Some of the horses were already dozing, their heads