With that, he slapped the rump of the horse to get it moving.
CHAPTER29
Eda’s insides screamed. She thought about sliding from the horse’s rump and returning to Roul, fighting alongside him the way they had planned, the way he would if it were her back there. But then the horses charging towards him split into two groups, half of them continuing towards Roul and the other half coming after them.
‘We have company,’ she told Tatum as she retrieved her bow.
The defender glanced over his shoulder. ‘Shit.’
Eda took aim at the rider closest to Roul. The angle of her body combined with the speed at which they were travelling made it difficult to keep her hand steady. Breathing out slowly, she released the first arrow. It struck the guard through the ribs. Wasting no time, she reloaded her bow and shot the next rider. Her aim dropped slightly upon release, but she still managed to hit his leg, which would make him easy prey for Roul.
One of the men pursuing them was getting closer, so Eda used the third arrow on him. Trees appeared around them, and a moment later, Roul was gone from sight. Panic rose in her. He would have to face the remaining riders alone.
She fired the final two arrows and missed completely as Tatum weaved left and right between the trunks. They emerged onto a leafy path. Eda could no longer see the guards, but she could hear the horses.
Eda hooked the bow over her head and pulled out the dagger she had tucked in her dress. She looked up at the low-hanging branches dashing overhead and had an idea. ‘I’m going to need you to circle around and come back.’
He looked at her, confused. ‘What?’
‘Just come back for me.’ Reaching up, she grabbed hold of the next branch and swung herself up onto it.
Tatum looked back, then, realising what she was doing, pulled hard on the right rein and disappeared into the trees.
A moment later, the guards rode into sight. She readied herself. When the first horse was a few strides away, she dropped from the branch, plunging her knife into the rider’s neck as she landed. She shoved the injured man off the horse, then moved onto the saddle and gathered the reins as she turned to face the second rider.
She was feeling good about her plan until horses appeared through the trees on either side of her. A blade came at her. She leaned so drastically in order to avoid it that she fell off the horse. Her back hit the ground. Her bow snapped, and the dagger flew from her hand. She was gasping for air as she crawled towards the knife.
‘On your feet, and hands where we can see them,’ said one of the men in a tone that suggested he was out of patience.
She was outnumbered with only a dagger to fight with—and the dagger was not even in her hand.
As she rose, Tatum chose that moment to return. He charged in, sword swinging. Eda used the opportunity to swoop down and snatch up the knife, throwing it at a nearby guard. It stuck. She ran to catch the sword as it fell from his hand. The horse spooked, almost trampling her as it fled. She turned, ready to fight, and found Tatum disarmed and surrounded by English soldiers.
‘Solid plan, by the way,’ Tatum said drily.
She looked around, knowing one sword was not enough. It would not have been enough for Roul either. Still, she would not lie down and die yet.
‘Tatum.’ She tossed the sword to him because she could not watch him die without a weapon. He caught it and looked around.
A guard came for Eda—to kill or capture, she had no idea. She would fight with her bare hands if that was all she had.
But she did not need to.
An arrow pierced the neck of the approaching man. The horses stirred, and the soldiers looked to the trees surrounding them.
Hiss.
Another rider was knocked from his mount by an arrow. Tatum used the opportunity to attack, taking off the hand of a nearby guard. Eda ran forwards and snatched up a weapon, but by the time she raised it, all the English guards were dead or bleeding on the ground around them. A man gurgled and writhed nearby. Tatum drove his sword through the man’s heart, and he fell still.
Another horse came through the trees, and the pair spun around, bracing for another fight. Eda’s eyes locked with Roul’s, and the sting of tears was instant.
He was alive.
Dismounting, he went to her, pulling her into his arms and holding so tightly she could barely draw breath. They were both covered in blood and sweat and mud, but it did not matter, because they were both alive.
‘Thank you for not dying,’ she said.
He smoothed down her filthy hair, then kissed it. ‘Thank you for making it an easier fight.’
