Darkwalker on Moonshae - Douglas Niles [120]
His company preceded the combined army of Grunnarch and Raag Hammerstaad down the Corwell Road. Ostensibly, the Bloodriders would scout for pockets of enemy resistance and engage the rearguard of the retreating Ffolk. Laric had his own priorities, however, and the sustenance of his company was highest among them. Thus, the Riders let the Ffolk retreat unmolested, and Laric remained confident that the enemy would not again offer battle until they reached the imagined safety of Caer Corwell.
So, instead of scouting during this long day of riding, the Bloodriders found nourishment, and grew mightier.
*****
Tristan finally caught up with the wagons and carts carrying the wounded to Corwell. Cantering beside the road, he passed a large wagon, thinly padded with hay, carrying nearly a score of bloody Ffolk. The wounded warriors, men and women both, sat or lay listlessly while their transport jolted along, pulled by six massive oxen.
Several similar wagons preceded this one, but he finally reached a small cart pulled by a single horse. Here, stretched on a bed of hay, lay Aileen, the sister knight. Robyn sat beside her.
“How is she?” The knight’s slender face was exceptionally pale from beneath the woolen blanket. Her eyes were closed.
“She suffers horribly. The wound is not deep, but it festers unnaturally – like those horsemen themselves.”
“The Riders on black horses – are they the scourge you sensed, in Cantrev Myrrdale?” asked the prince.
“Yes. They leave a trail of corruption in the earth, wherever they pass. It is very easy for me to see. It seems that others have more difficulty.” Robyn answered quietly, as if she were concealing some deeper emotion.
“Could these Riders be the evil warned against by the prophecy?”
“I don’t think so. They are more like a spawn of some great evil.” Robyn looked him squarely in the eyes. “I accompanied the knights when they buried Carina, and I heard how she died. Why weren’t you there?”
The prince could not meet her gaze. “There were too many things to attend… I was looking for Canthus…” he trailed off, appalled at having neglected such a duty.
“She died to save your life!”
“I know that!” he snapped.
“Don’t you feel anything? Did you see how many of our people died in that field?”
“Of course I feel! But we fought – and won – a battle. The dead are the price of that vic -”
“Price? Now you’re talking about them like pieces of gold!” Robyn’s anger brought a flush of color to her cheeks. Her green eyes bored into his mercilessly.
“You may be able to fight a battle, but being a prince is more than that!” Robyn stopped, suddenly. She bent over Aileen and mopped the sister knight’s forehead with a soft cloth, before turning back to the prince. “Tristan, you can lead these people through a war, I think. But you must be worthy of leading them in peace, as well. You must care!”
The prince cleared his throat, feeling suddenly very responsible for the bad things that had happened this day. He thought of Carina’s heroic death – of the farmer and his wife who had fallen trying to close the breach at the ditch. And of a hundred other pairs of eyes that would never again see the light of the sun.
“Robyn, I do care. It’s hard for me to show that, but I want very much to be a prince and a man you can be proud of.” He could think of nothing else to add, and so rode quietly behind the wagon for several minutes.
Suddenly, a clamor of noise attracted their attention to the west. The prince could see a rider, galloping beside the road toward them. With a sudden eagerness, he realized that the man might bring news from home.
“Take me with you,” called Robyn, reaching out. Avalon trotted to the wagon, and the young woman slipped nimbly onto the broad back of the horse. Together, they raced the stallion up the long road.
Tristan saw a haggard rider, feebly lashing a foam flecked horse. With a start, he recognized Owen, a castle guardsman.
“My prince!” cried the messenger, reining in at Avalon’s approach.
“What is it?” he asked, fearing the answer.
“Northmen raiders! They have landed at Corwell.