William remained unconvinced, however.
‘The point is, though, I’m no fighter,’ he countered, his tone pessimistic. ‘An’ what kind ay soldier cannae fight?! You all saw how tha’ blacksmith’s son hammered the lights outta me the year before last when he found out I’d been rollin’ in the hay wi’ his fiancée. I didnae even put one scratch on that lad’s face, but he certainly gave mine a good rearrangin’, he did.’
All of them had a good chuckle at the recollection of that particular incident.
‘Aye, aye, the lad would ay killed you had Mikey an’ I no’ pulled him off ay you,’ Paul said, still chortling. ‘But Andy’s right. I cannae see any other way tha’ Aurora’s father will gi’ you his daughter’s hand. And being an officer isnae all about fightin’, Will. A man’s got tae be a good leader tae be an officer, an’ I cannae think ay a better leader among all the fellows I know than you. After all, we’ve all just declared our loyalty tae you!’
‘Aye, he’s right,’ said Michael, who had calmed down somewhat after slugging liberally on his fresh pitcher of ale. ‘We’d follow you anywhere, William. You’ve got that quality about yourself, an’ that’s exactly the kind ay quality an officer should have. And honestly Will, you’re the best horseman any of us have e’er seen, an’ tha’s no exaggeration. You’ll dae well in the cavalry, you will.’
‘I … I’m no’ sure what I should dae,’ William stammered, suddenly ensnared in the grip of a crippling indecisiveness. He had no desire to fight, especially not on a battlefield with cannons, muskets, swords and lances … but everything his friends had just said was beginning to push tendrils through his skin, shoots that crept through his veins and embedded their probing ends into his mind, feeding his brain with endless possibilities. His desire for Aurora was already fiery enough to motivate an elopement, and he was quite sure, with regards to her own fierce yearning for liberty and a life unconstrained by the bonds of societal norms, that she would go along with it. However, what Andrew had just suggested made a lot of sense as well. He knew that Aurora’s father was neither an understanding nor a forgiving man, and that he would indeed hunt down whoever made off with his daughter and punish them without mercy. An officer’s commission, especially one reached from the ranks, was a long shot. However, it seemed as if it may well be his only legitimate choice if he was to realise his dream of spending the rest of his days with his beloved. ‘I cannae believe I’m actually considering such a course ay action,’ he mumbled to himself under his breath.
Michael knocked back his mug of ale and drained it dry, let out a resounding belch, and then slammed the empty vessel down on the table.
‘If Will’s gonnae join the Lancers, so am I!’ he roared.
‘Wait, I didnae say I was gonnae—’ William stammered, but Paul had already jumped to his feet and tossed his own tankard over his shoulder, after downing its contents.
‘Well I cannae let the two ay yous run off an’ leave me here, can I?’ he exclaimed. ‘We’ve lost our jobs, and I’ve always wanted tae see the great wide world, and what better way than paid for by Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria, God bless her? By Jove, I’m joining the Lancers wi’ you lads!’
‘Wait, I—’ William protested, but now even the reticent Andrew was joining in, also swept up in the tornado of fraternal enthusiasm.
‘I’ll no’ let you lads leave me on my own here,’ Andrew declared with quiet determination. ‘I’m joining the 17th Lancers wi’ the rest ay yous!’
William swallowed the last mouthful of his pint and then set his pitcher down. A turbulent tempest of thoughts and emotions was raging within the chambers of his mind, swirling possibilities and dread and passion with the chaotic momentum of a charging horde of Bedouin cavalry, with bright robes of both hopes and fears billowing their flame-tongue streaks amidst a thunder of hooves, fighting through a sandstorm of anxiety and apprehension. He looked up from the rough table surface at which he had been staring, and fixed each of his friends with a piercing gaze, one by one.
‘If you lads are all so willing tae risk your lives fir mine, I cannae but dae the same fir all ay you. Brothers, we’re joining the 17th Lancers.’
***
November 1853. The waterfall of the River King
‘I can’t believe that you’ll be gone in a few hours,’ Aurora whimpered. Tears were running freely down her cheeks, and grief clouded her features. Beneath the bundle of heavy cloaks in which she and William had cocooned themselves against the biting chill of the November night, she wrapped her arms around his torso and squeezed him as hard as she could.
He sighed and returned her embrace, struggling to hold back his own tears; salty drops that stung with bitter ferocity at the corners of his eyes.
‘It doesnae feel like I’m leaving,’ he whispered to her. ‘All ay this, it’s all happened so quickly.’
She stared intently at him, her eyes red and glossy with wetness.
‘There’s still time to change your mind. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to…’
He stroked her hair and stared into her eyes with a soulful gaze.
‘You know why I’m daein’ this, my love. You know why I have tae dae it. There’s no other way. Yer father—’
‘Is a pitiless tyrant,’ she interrupted, her teary eyes now aflame with a frothing acidity. ‘He doesn’t know the first thing about love, not a thing at all! If he could only understand what you and I have, the depth of what we feel for each other, he’d allow us to marry in a heartbeat.’
‘But he doesnae know about it, love. He doesnae even
