I was barely aware of the hounds now; all I could feel, all I could hear, was the river. The Severn whispered to me of the hills, of the moon, and of its journey to the wide, open sea. The hounds were mere flashes of white, as were the pockets of moon reflected on the bubbling water’s surface that tugged ever more forcefully around the bodies of our horses. The current rushed by my legs, the drag pulling at the horses. Soon we all would be gone, taken by that current, washed away, lost in the darkness…
Until it suddenly wasn’t there anymore. We stood in the middle of the rushing, foaming river, yet where we were had quietened to the glassiness of a pond. It was all still, so still.
We were fewer now. Not everyone had made it to the waiting stillness. The hounds were now nearly impossible to see as they slipped into the river. There were fewer of us left to fight them off as we stood motionless and vulnerable in the water. And then all of a sudden a roar came towards us, a boom exploding upriver, a surge of water, and high on the surface of the river was a wave, endlessly frozen in an almost cresting state, coming straight for us, many feet high in the air. It would surely take us all, drown every last man and beast beneath its foaming wash, but from nowhere came a certainty that it wouldn’t. I slipped off the back of Callum’s horse.
Calm, I was calm to my very soul, and the Severn was grateful for the power I had given it yesterday, welcoming of the magic I had drawn and then released, given back, to the water. Now, I stood in the icy depths and closed my eyes, savouring the purity of the exchange.
The colossal wave whooshed by us, the heavy surge of the water going against the natural flow of the stream, and suddenly the hounds were tumbling and thrashing in the white water as its icy grip surged and pushed and sucked the vile beasts down, down into its depths. And then all of them gone. Gone. In moments.
And the roar continued north, against the stream, carrying the beasts with it.
Silence descended once more as the warriors scanned the banks. We were alone.
“City girl.” Gideon said no more as he reached his hand down to pull me up and out of the freezing water.
I blinked. It was over. The taut, pale faces of the warriors who remained circling us stared down at me. The river had saved us. I was cold and incredibly tired.
I clasped Gideon’s wrist, and he hooked me out of the river and sat me in front of him in one fluid motion, leaving me sitting sideways rather than astride.
We had survived.
Three men had been lost though, taken by the river. But the river would take care of them, I knew. She would take them into the depths or return them to shore.
I rested my head on Gideon’s chest as he pulled his cloak about me. My clothes were wet and heavy against my icy skin. He smelled of cedar and the leather of his moulded body armour. My eyelids felt so heavy and I let go…
When I woke, it was to find myself stretched out on the ground in front of a fire, my cloak still wrapped around me. My clothes were dry, though I could still smell the tang of the river on them. Callum. His talents were with fire and air.
I felt bone-tired.
Marcus lay stretched behind me, his warmth against my back, and Gideon’s long legs stretched out to the fire at my feet. I followed them back to find him sitting up, contemplating me. Did he never sleep?
“Are they gone?”
He shrugged. “There has been no further sight of them.”
I looked over to the dark huddled shapes of the York troops.
“What happens now?”
“Callum and his men are going to escort us as far as Castle Dinas Brân, and then he is going to York to tell my father of your miraculous return.”
“What?” Why would he betray me like that?
“Callum was given a clear objective to find Marcus and his girlfriend and take them to York and there is no reason he can’t follow through on that,” Gideon explained in answer to my dismay. “However, re-routing Marcus and his city girlfriend away from Cymru and taking them to York is one thing, but forcing the returned Lady of the Lake to do so… Well, I convinced Callum that that would perhaps not be the wisest course of action. If you want to continue deeper into Cymru, the price is revealing your identity.”
“There has to be another way.” I wasn’t ready, wasn’t even close to ready. I had barely absorbed the news of my new status myself, but if Callum and Gideon’s reaction was anything to go by then as soon as this news got out…
They would know. Everyone would know. That was what he was telling me. No more hiding. I wasn’t entirely sure I was ready to face the expectations that came with the title; I wasn’t sure I was prepared for any of it, especially as my magic was a long way from being something over which I had control.
Bird calls were starting to chirp through the darkness, heralding the dawn. It was a new day. We had survived the night and I was going to meet Devyn, and telling my truth would allow us to do that. So, the truth they would have. Anyway, it would take a while for the news to arrive in York and spread. Maybe by then I would be ready to face it.
Callum and his remaining warriors rode with us for most of the day, only turning back just before we reached Devyn’s father’s home, where Callum assured me they would not be assured of a welcome.
Callum had chosen not to tell the troop who I was; this was
