She took a deep breath, contemplating her response. “I once believed in the sovereignty of Rome. When I arrived on the frontier, with my own eyes I witnessed the injustices to which you refer. Here in Gododdin you are not subject to Roman rule as you would be if you were south of the Wall. Is that not enough?”
“And wait for their raiding parties to attack and pillage Dunpelder?”
Betha leaned forward. “The Picts have already driven them back from the Antonine Wall. We fear they will take until there is nothing left to give.”
“Exactly!” Oisean boomed. “The Romans tried to invade our lands, and they’ll do it again until we drive them out of Britannia.”
Valeria delicately bit into her bread.
“The sentry reported they’re calling it the Barbaric Conspiracy. Bloody right. I conspired with me enemies to drive them out and I’d do it again to ensure our freedom.”
Valeria raised her tankard. “I’ve perceived the Picts to be quite civilized. The term barbarian is misused and your people are misunderstood.”
The king’s eyes bore through her for a moment. Uneasy, she set down her mead and ran her hands over her hair to ensure she didn’t have a stray lock sticking out.
He picked up his dirk and stabbed it into a leg of pork. “Ye are observant.”
The hum of the crowd clipped to silence when the eerie sound of a Pictish carnyx trumpeted from the castle walls above. With a gasp, Valeria’s eyes shot to Oisean. Again the bronze carnyx sounded. Oisean jumped to his feet. “Battle stations!”
Benches scraped across the wooden floor. A Pictish sentry rushed in, sword in hand. “Sire.” He inhaled deeply to catch his breath. “ʼTis the Attacotti with a hundred men or more.”
“Light the fires and man the mangonel catapults. We’ll send the bastards to their graves this night.”
In seconds, the hall was awash in a flurry of activity. Swords ripped from their scabbards, helmets and shields were donned. Valeria stood and clutched her arms around her shoulders. Shouts and screams erupted from the mayhem while men and women both armed themselves.
Shoving his helmet over his head, Greum grabbed Valeria’s shoulders. “Ye must hide in yer chamber, m’lady. Runan could be coming for ye.”
She nodded.
“I’ll escort ye.”
“No. Man your station. I shall find Pia and Manas.”
Greum hesitated.
“Go. I’ll be fine.” She rose up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Fight well and live.”
“Bolt the door and open it for no one.”
In a flash, Greum raced out of the hall. Valeria headed to the kitchen, pushing through the mass of people. She fought against the flow. Shoulders and bodies bumped into her. A shove from the side sent her crashing into the table. Her gaze met with a leg of roast pork impaled by a dirk with a handle of bone. She reached for the knife, yanked it free and slipped it into her belt.
Oisean stood on the dais, roaring orders as the hall began to empty. The nightmare had begun. Dunpelder was under attack. Valeria wanted to retch. The Pict’s most powerful warriors were on a diplomatic tour of the countryside.
“Pia,” Valeria cried when she pushed into the kitchen.
The slave appeared from behind her. “There you are!”
Valeria’s gaze scanned the room. “Where’s Manas?”
The scene in the kitchen was in as much mayhem as the hall. Morag wore a Pictish helmet over her wimple, brandishing a sword, shouting orders. “Take yer arse up to the wall-walk and help the men arm the catapults.”
Through the mass of running bodies, Valeria caught a glimpse of a small body crouched beside the hearth. She pushed her way to the lad. “Manas, come with me.”
His wide eyes were full of fear as he hugged himself, paralyzed.
Valeria grasped his shoulders and looked him square in the eye. “I need you to protect me.” She prayed her words would pull him out of his trance.
The boy bobbed his head and stood. He grabbed the poker from the hearth.
“Come.”
Valeria grasped his hand and pushed back through the kitchen. Morag jumped into her path. “What are ye doing?”
“Greum told us to hide in the chamber.”
“With the boy?”
“Yes. He’ll be safer up there.”
Morag glared. She blocked the passage and grasped her sword at her side like a misshapen Amazon.
Valeria stepped within an inch her nose, eyes focused, unwavering. “Let us pass.”
With a harrumph, she yielded, yelling over Valeria’s shoulder. “Leda, move yer arse above stairs!”
Valeria clamored up the stairwell, following women with their children. She glanced over her shoulder. Some women were clad in armor, heading for the wall-walk, while others rushed for the safety of the upper chambers. She wondered why some women were allowed to take part in the battle, but this was no time to ask. She would be more than happy to man a catapult, but she had no training and her first priority was to protect Pia and Manas from harm.
Once inside, Valeria slid the bolt across the chamber door.
The ramming started.
Enemy voices rose above the booms. “Heave” followed a crashing thud. The hardwood gates to Dunpelder were three-foot thick, but they wouldn’t stand up to the ramming-rod forever.
“Archers. Fire!” The command came from the wall.
The springing twang of a catapult reverberated above with a resultant roar from beyond. The cry of battle intensified and Valeria looked at Pia through the haze of the chamber lit by a solitary candle. She pulled the long knife out of her belt. “We have this dirk and Manas brought the fire poker from the kitchen.”
The boy held up his weapon.
Pia pulled off her leather belt and snapped it straight between her hands. “This can strangle a man as sure as I am standing.”
“All right then. If the worst should come, we are armed.”
Valeria crouched on the straw mattress. Pia and Manas joined her on either side and she bowed her head.
“Let us pray. Dear Lord, please give our Pict friends the strength to stand up to their enemies and defend their home.” She reached for her companions’ hands. “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want…Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil…”
Pia joined in as they recited the words to the Twenty-third Psalm. The trembling in Manas’ hand eased as the prayer continued. When it ended, Valeria sat contemplatively while the bellows of men and the clash of swords jarred her nerves.
They have breached the wall.
Valeria reached her arms around her two dearest friends and held them tight. The warmth of their bodies gave her strength, but her mind flashed back to the night her father died and to the savage Attacotti who stripped her away from everything familiar. They were a formidable foe. A shiver snaked up her spine. Runan was coming for her.
Chapter Fifteen
The night wore on as Valeria clung to the two souls who quaked beside her in the dimly lit, tiny chamber. It seemed the fighting would never end. The violent sounds of battle continued to increase in volume. Men bellowed, swords clashed, women screamed. The Attacotti were closing in on the keep.
All three jolted when a loud bang resounded from below. Oisean’s voice roared above the tumult. “I will send ye to yer end!”
The clang of iron striking iron grated between Valeria’s ears. Her trembling fingers clasped around the dirk.
“I cannot take it anymore.” Manas jumped up and ran toward the door.
Valeria caught his arm. “No.”
He turned and faced her, defiant fists on his hips. “I must fight.”
“Yes, but fighting with your head is about knowing when to raise your sword and when to wait. If you charge into the hall now, who will be here to defend me when the enemy pounds on this door?”
“But Picts are out there dying just like me da. I need to be with them.”
Pia stepped
forward. “You are not yet a man.”
“I’m near enough to it.” Manas puffed out his little chest and affected a fierce snarl that looked like a baby cub trying to impress his mother.
Valeria folded her arms. “Of course you are, but it takes training to be a swordsman, just like riding a horse. You cannot run head-on with the likes of Runan and expect to live. If you want to fight, you need to learn to wield a sword.”
“But how can I learn? I have no father.”
Valeria shuddered at a high-pitched wail that screeched like death. I must keep Manas here. “I’ve no doubt Greum would take you on now he has seen you ride.”
Below, footsteps pounded, furniture scraped the floorboards. Iron clashed. Every grunt and bellow needled into Valeria’s shoulders, her tension near erupting. A blood-curdling roar echoed from the stairwell. She pulled the dirk from her belt, nodding at Pia and the boy. “Stand your ground, they’re close.”
Runan’s voice roared in his imperceptible tongue. Valeria shuddered. She twitched with the creak of every hinge as the doors along the corridor were breached. Together, they stood firmly against the back wall as the door of their chamber bowed with a deafening thud. There was no mistaking it. A battle-axe hacked at the wood.
Valeria’s heart pummeled her chest, her breathing shallow. Focused on the hacking strikes to the door, she couldn’t blink. With one final wood-splitting crack, the timbers shattered. She gasped, staring into the crazed, hateful eyes of Runan himself.
Kicking the timbers, he didn’t rush in. Savoring his prize, he took his time sauntering up to her, battle-axe in his right hand, round shield in his left. His lips smirked, framed by a grizzly black beard. “Val-e-r-ia.”
She rued having told him her name. It sounded sick, foreign rolling off his tongue. Holding the dirk in both hands to quell her trembling, she pointed it at his heart.
With an evil chuckle, he raised his battle-axe.
Manas lunged in front of her, brandishing the iron poker as it quivered in his hands.
Valeria tried to reach for his shoulder. “Manas, no!”
Runan threw back his head and roared with laughter. He swiped his shield across his body and smashed it into the boy’s side. Manas crashed into the wall like a bag of grain.
Valeria shrieked and dashed across the floor, but Runan caught her by the hair, the battle-axe inches from her eye.
“You. Mine.”
Valeria’s hand flew to her head to protect his handful of locks from being pulled out from their roots. She eyed him and steeled her resolve. This could be her only chance. She twisted around the axe and swung the dirk at his face. “Release me, you brute!”
Runan deflected the blow with his shield. The knife skidded across the floorboards. Grunting, he yanked her hair and pulled her against his body. As fast as an arrow, his axe pressed over her heart. Valeria screamed and struggled, but his arm clutched her like the squeezing of a constrictor.
Pia slunk behind. She sprang with swift dexterity and wrapped the belt around his throat. His grip released. The axe clattered to the floor. His hand flew to his neck. Valeria dove for the weapon, wrapping her fingers around the wooden shaft.
Runan twisted to Pia and wrapped his hands around her throat. Valeria bared her teeth and roared. With every ounce of strength in her body, she swung the axe. The sickening squelch of flesh and crushing bone filled the chamber as it collided with his back. Gore spurted across the room and splattered her gown.
Blood streaming from his mouth, he whipped around and faced her. Staggering forward, he clutched Valeria’s dress. She slapped his hands away and backed against the wall.
Manas pushed between them, brandishing the dirk with both hands over his head. Before she could blink, the boy slammed the knife into Runan’s heart.
The savage recoiled, stunned, mouth agape. Runan’s knees buckled beneath him, his eyes rolled back. A gurgling breath of air wheezed past his lips and he crashed to his face.
Dead.
Valeria’s hands shook. Stunned, she stared at the monster, his blood pooling over the chamber floor. She felt detached, as if watching the aftermath from the rafters above. Pia and Manas threw their arms around her.
“We killed him,” her voice uttered like it was in a tunnel. Valeria cast her eyes at the trembling mop of brown curls beside her. “Manas, you saved us.”
A tear dribbled down her cheek.
Footsteps pounded through the passageway.
ʼTis not over?
Valeria forgot to breathe.
Sword in hand, bloodied from battle, Taran pushed through the door, his face stricken. His eyes darted across the scene. Dropping his weapon, he dashed to Valeria and buried her in his arms. “Thank Atar ye are alive.”
An onset of tears filled her eyes. Taran’s gentle lips brushed her forehead. She tried to speak but her shuddering voice was imperceptible. Filled with worry, his blue eyes gazed down at her. He bent down and kissed the tears on each cheek. “ʼTis all right, lass.”
He lifted her chin with the crux of his finger, his lips inches from hers. But more, his intense stare expressed a hundred words, showing the depth of his concern. He inched closer, his gaze dropping to her lips. Valeria’s heart fluttered. When Taran’s mouth met hers, she closed her eyes, instantly transported to a place of peace and solitude. His tender kiss sent a calming heat through to her soul. She melted in his arms. Closing her eyes, she welcomed his tongue as it possessively parted her lips. Spice and powerful warrior claimed her. Valeria yielded, not caring for the consequences. He entwined his tongue with hers. If only this moment would never end. If only she could fuse her body to his. In his arms she was safe, loved, protected.
“Valeria.” Pia’s voice floated through the air as if a dream. “Valeria.” Blast, it was persistent. “Valeria.”
A wire-haired dog brushed against her, pushing her body even closer to Taran. Stag.
With a warm breath, Taran’s lips pulled away and he touched his forehead to hers.
She closed her eyes. “How did you come here so quickly?”
“We were on our return when we heard the call of the carnyx. But we didn’t arrive soon enough. Much blood has been shed.”
“Valeria,” Pia insisted. “ʼTis not proper.”
“Taran?”
They both turned their heads. Leda’s troubled face gazed from the doorway.
The moment fled as soon as his body pulled away from hers. Valeria’s hands covered her lips, still tingling from his kiss.
Taran strode to the doorway. “Leda, we must make haste to tend the wounded.” He turned back to Valeria and Pia. “We’ll need yer healing hands in the hall.”
Valeria’s eyes drifted to Runan’s corpse, her exhilaration replaced by a sick churning in the pit of her stomach. The hands at her lips held back an involuntary heave at the stench of hot blood wafting across the floorboards.
“Go to the hall now. The men will clean this.”
****
During his journey through Gododdin, Taran couldn’t erase Valeria’s face from his thoughts. Every time he blinked, he saw her infectious smile or the kindness reflected in her eyes. He’d remembered the bouquet of her hair when she shared his saddle. He’d remembered her petite figure, the way her supple breasts proudly stretched against her tunic and the fleeting connection they’d shared at the pond. He could think of nothing else but returning to Dunpelder and taking her away to a place where they could dwell without the pressure of Rome or the laws of the Picts to stifle their love.
When the carnyx trumpet resounded through the forest, Taran’s thoughts had first shot to Valeria. Consumed by the need to protect her, he’d spurred Blackie to a gallop, leaving Drust in his wake. In the midst of the bloody battle, the Attacotti had not recognized him as he shot through what remained of the gate, straight to the hall.
He hadn’t stopped to discern the carnage when he’d heard Runan’s voice booming from the stairwell. He’d barreled past clashing swordplay to face
him, but a mob of Runan’s men had held him back, challenging with their broadswords and battle-axes, wasting precious time. Taran had fought four at once, hacking with his sword like a madman. He was so crazed by the need to save her from the savage, nothing could have stopped him.
When he’d finally reached her chamber, the relief to see her beautiful face safe and unhurt had made his knees buckle. He’d acted with his heart, as if no one else were in the room. When he’d held Valeria’s warm body in his arms, her silken hair threading through his fingers, her breath against his chest, his stuttering heart had soared above Dunpelder upon powerful eagle’s wings.
Her mouth had melded with his melted his muscles into sweet-cream butter. She’d returned his passion with equal force. Without words, she’d shown him the depths of her own longing. But when Leda spoke his name, the reality of his world punched him in the gut, as if he’d been hit by the hilt of a sword.
The sound of Leda’s voice brought back the gravity of the battle that had been fought and the urgent work to be done. It would be a long night, cleaning the carnage and tending to the wounded.
Drust appeared in the corridor behind Leda and the other women. “Taran, come. Ye’re needed in the hall.”
Taran tensed and followed his cousin. Descending the stairs, he took quick inventory. Sickly blood of the dead Attacotti oozed across the floor. Hamish, the blacksmith, lay pinned to a table, lifeless, a sword pierced through his heart. Taran clenched his teeth and swallowed his bile. Hamish had been a friend, a good man, a husband.
At the far end of the hall, a crowd had gathered. An unmistakable wail sent chills up his spine. As he approached, the crowd parted to reveal his aunt kneeling beside the king.
“Oisean!” Taran rushed in and fell to his knees, grasping an icy-cold hand. He glanced down. Blood pooled beneath the king’s hips. He’d taken a brutal stab to the gut.
“Taran, ye’re here.” All color had drained from Oisean’s face and he struggled to speak taking great pain to swallow. “Now is yer time.”
Unforgettable Heroes II Boxed Set Page 73