“Your sister must have had a very important reason for denying your attendance at the picnic.”
He puffed out his lower lip. “She wanted to go home.”
“Then you should have listened to her.”
Adam bobbed his head and his brow furrowed. “She’s mad at me now,” he whispered. “She probably never wants to see me again.”
Aurora dropped to her knees before Adam, placing her hands on his shoulders. “That’s not true. She loves you. She only wants what’s best for you. Imagine how hard it must be on her. To take all that responsibility for you, and for her, on her own shoulders.”
“I try to help her.” Adam looked down at the ground.
“I know you do.” She pulled Adam into her embrace, hugging him tightly. Poor child. He and his sister were arguing, and she wished she could do something to help the both of them, but Justina seemed not to want her help.
Suddenly, a large group of birds exploded from the trees on the other side of the clearing. Aurora turned her head. They rose like a black blanket into the sky. Silence settled across the clearing. The guards and the ladies all paused and looked toward the birds.
One of the guards said something and motioned back toward the forest. No one moved at first.
Aurora rose slowly to her feet. Unease spread through her like a drip of water. The silence that spread through the clearing was eerie.
One of her ladies, Lady Elaine, took one step back toward the forest.
Horses exploded through the trees, racing across the clearing toward them. The men on the horses were screaming, swords raised in the air, reflecting sunlight in their polished silver. Their long hair rippled behind them, their bodies covered with animal pelts.
Hungars!
The guards drew their swords, but Aurora knew they would be no match for the men on horses. Some of her ladies screamed; all of them turned and ran toward the forest, leaving the picnic blankets and most of the baskets on the ground. Lady Cathleen still carried one of the baskets as she ran toward the forest.
Aurora took a step toward them, her arms outstretched. Terror mingled with fear inside of her. The horses were going to reach them before they made it to the forest. Panic tightened in her chest. She signaled them to hurry with frantic waves of her arm. These women were her responsibility. Her friends. Her cousin. “Hurry!”
The horses charged across the clearing. One of her guards raced forward to intercept the intruders, his sword held high.
The man on horseback barely slowed as he slashed his sword across the guard’s throat. The guard spun in a circle, a plume of red spurting from his wound as he toppled to the ground.
Aurora gasped. The scene played out horrifically. She was stunned into immobility at the brutality.
The guards positioned themselves to protect the fleeing women as the horses thundered down on them.
Shouts of excitement from the Hungars mingled with the screams of Aurora’s ladies.
“Lady Aurora,” Adam whispered, slipping his hand into hers.
She barely felt his tug, hypnotized by the graphic horror playing out before her. The horses trampled the soldiers as if they were nothing more than a row of flowers. Some of the guards fell; one horse reared and toppled to the side with a whinny.
Aurora stepped protectively in front of Adam. “Run,” she whispered to him.
Megan had picked up her blue velvet skirts and was running as fast as she could. She passed Lady Elaine.
One and then another guard fell trying to fight off the barbarians.
One of the horses closed on Lady Elaine. The barbarian leapt from his steed, knocking her to the ground. He stood over her for a moment, a wicked grin on his face. She screamed as he dropped on top of her, ripping at her dress.
Adam tugged on Aurora’s arm. “This way.”
“Run,” Aurora whispered half in prayer, half statement. She watched her cousin run, the fear and desperation creased into the lines of her young face.
The leader’s horse came up behind Megan and he swung his blade, hitting her in the back of the head. She fell, and he rounded his horse on her, sliding from the animal to approach her.
Aurora couldn’t move, paralyzed with agonized fear. Megan! She jerked forward to go to her aid. But something was holding her back, pulling on her arm. Shocked and horrified, she looked down. Adam held her hand, squeezing his small hand tightly into hers.
