No one knew that Ian was traveling to port city that night.
Erich and the two Iseldan guards had slipped from the horses and drawn their swords, standing as a small shield between Ian and the incoming attackers.
While Ian appreciated their defensive maneuver, he did not need their protection when no one knew he was traveling here.
Perhaps Gareth was here for Robin. His letter that morning had expressed anger at the bandit attacks.
As another arrow flew past his head, Ian jumped from Rowena’s back. Sitting up so high would make him an easy target for any archer. He slapped his horse’s rear, and she broke into a run. She would wait for him down the road or find her way home. She was smart and had been trained for such an occurrence.
Robin’s two men, the ones who had appeared behind Erich, stood side by side with the Iseldan guards.
Ian heard the first sounds of metal meeting metal as the attackers pressed forward.
He stepped forward to help, as he did not want to get separated from his own men.
Gareth’s men far outnumbered his small group of four, and he doubted that Robin had more than two or three hidden bandits in the forest around them.
More arrows flew overhead, coming from multiple directions now. Ian hoped that Robin’s unseen comrades were covering them from the trees.
Gareth’s men poured around the small blockade that Erich and the Iseldan guards had made, approaching Ian.
Ian would not have time to reach Erich before they cut him off. He raised his sword, ready to defend himself.
The other one of Robin’s bandits, the one that had originally been holding the lantern, stepped to Ian’s side. He had replaced the lantern with a short flail, which he twirled menacingly.
Ian did not see Robin, but he had not had time to turn and look for her. Hopefully she had slipped into the forest to hide, though somehow he doubted that.
At least five men were nearly upon them. Drawing the sword around his body for momentum, Ian was preparing to make the first strike when the world around him went completely dark.
He swung his sword forward, hitting something in the darkness, and heard a panicked cry.
He blinked, pulling his sword back though he could not see it. Even with his eyes open, he could see nothing.
“You’re coming with me,” Robin’s voice said in his ear as an arm wrapped around his waist and yanked him backward.
For the second time that night, Ian found himself unable to breathe as all the air in his lungs was forced out of his body.
He landed on his backside but had enough presence of mind to roll and jump back into a standing position.
He had no time to decide whether Robin was helping him or harming him. So when she grabbed his hand in the darkness, he squeezed it back and followed her lead.
Chapter 5
Robin pulled Ian through the undergrowth for several steps. She could not see where she was going, but she knew the feeling of the ferns wrapping around her hips, and she kept a hand in front of her to avoid running into the solid trunks of trees.
Behind them, she could still hear the sounds of the fight—metal scraping against metal, the twang of bowstrings, and the grunting of focused combatants. But a heavy curtain of darkness blocked the scene from view. Rigelt had reacted perfectly.
“Erich!” Ian hissed behind her, pulling his hand free and turning back to the fight.
Robin threw herself after him, wrapping her arms around his chest to hold him back. “Ulli will keep him safe,” she said. “We need to get you out of here. Now.”
Ian still pulled away from her, likely too concerned with his brother’s safety to listen to her.
“Trust me.” Robin tightened her arms around him. He was tall and strong, and he could overpower her by size alone. But she was also tall, strong, and lithe from constant physical activity. She could hold her own and she knew it.
“I’ve gone blind!” a voice called out from the fray.
“Keep attacking!” another voice ordered. “It is just a trick.”
