andysprettylady: Thanks so much for the kind review!
Back at the wagons, Arian's whistle pierced the air like the warring screech of a bird of prey. Kynan interpreted the message and screeched back to the others.
"The horses are in danger!"
Already, Llyr was jumping from the wagon seat and Mother grabbed Gryn and pushed him inside the second wagon, before climbing in after him herself. Fercos, the other driver, pulled out his sword from under the wagon seat and ran to lasso his old Andalusian. Fercos was a good rider, but Llyr wasn't. He grabbed Gryn's horse and tried to haul himself into the saddle, but the gelding tossed his head and danced away. Kynan, Ffanci, Fercos and Father formed a ring around the rest of the horses and drew their respective weapons, ready to defend their herd. Mother spotted Ffanci and yelled.
"Ffanci—get in the wagon now!"
"No!" Ffanci shouted back. "Not while there's someone who wants to take our horses!"
Fercos threw Ffanci a quick sideways glance. While she and Kynan could be immature at times, they were invaluable when most needed. He only hoped Arian would show a little common sense—wherever she was. The oldest girl had little attachment to her family and Fercos knew it was only a matter of time until she severed all bonds of kinship.
Arian saw the riders on the hill and prayed they were Saxons or something equally menacing that would get the woads' attention off her. She decided, on a bold note, to ride toward them. If they were Saxons, she would draw the woads toward them. If they were Romans, well, they might hold a grudge against the native savages.
Misty snorted and arched her neck as she charged up the gentlest part of the slope. The footing was a mix of sand and gravel since during heavy rains the water rushed downhill and kept the grass from growing. The gravel pinged downhill, startling the mount of the only woad who attempted to follow her. The rest of the blue warriors were charging toward the strange riders, who waited until they were halfway up the hill before drawing swords and charging down to meet them.
Misty was breathing hard when she reached the top. Arian galloped to the highest part of the hill before pulling her to a halt. She smiled. From this vantage point, she had a clear view of the battle. Finding her bow, she rained arrow after arrow down on the woads.
She noticed one of the strange riders had dismounted and was grappling with one warrior when another ran up behind him. Arian hurriedly fitted her arrow to the string and loosed it just as the woad raised his battle axe. By sheer luck, it struck the woad in the neck and Arian thanked God for His provision that day. Not only had she managed to warn her family and save their horses, but she had created a successful diversion, been saved by strange riders and somehow managed to not look like a fool in front of them.
The rider finished off the woad he'd been dueling and looked at her for a split second before engaging another enemy. Arian couldn't see much of him from where she was, but she thought he had long blondish hair.
She fitted another arrow to the string and aimed it a woad that was running toward the leader's gray horse. It missed by a long shot and nearly hit the rider instead. Arian bit her lip in embarrassment, then could not help but laugh as she saw the rider stick the woad and turn around to see who'd nearly killed him. Arian tried to look as inconspicuous as possible by looking down at another arrow she was stringing.
An arrow whizzed by and struck the ground approximately four feet to the right Misty. The horse stayed still, her ears flicking back and forth. Arian realized she presented a rather significant target on horseback up on the hill, but loosed her arrow at the woad who had the bow before slipping off and slapping Misty's rump.
"Go on girl."
The horse snorted, not quite able to believe her mistress would be able to handle these savages entirely on her own. Arian sighed and then chuckled.
"Alright. Lie down then." She bent and tapped the mare's knee with her bow. Misty shook her short mane, then dropped to her knees and laid down. Arian straddled her and used up a few more arrows before she realized she only had two left.
"That's not good," she muttered to herself.
Glancing up, however, she saw the woads were beginning to retreat. The two riders who had been fighting on foot remounted and chased the woads back to the woods.
Arian looked down at her bow and saw the polished wood had taken a nasty gash sometime during her wild ride. It was a wonder it still worked. She shook her head in disgust. It wasn't her fault that her father always gave her brothers and Llyr the best bows. Ffanci, the artistic one, had also managed to create a nice one, but Arian didn't have the time or patience for that, so she always got left with whatever no one else wanted. After today though, she concluded she would have to ask to help her find a better one.
A thundering of hooves told Arian the riders were returning. She squinted at them as they galloped up the hill. They didn't look like Saxons, but they didn't really resemble Romans either. She clucked to Misty, nudging her with her boot and the mare stood up under her. Arian tucked her broken bow away behind her and gathered the reins in case she would need to fly from these people too.
The one on the light gray nodded to her as they approached. "I am Arthur Castus."
Arian didn't reply, her gaze shifting to the men at his back.
"And these are the Sarmatian knights."
Arian shrugged. "So?"
"We are from Hadrian's wall, about two miles to the south of here. Are you traveling alone?"
Arian eyed Arthur suspiciously. "Maybe."
Tristan spoke up unexpectedly. "No, she isn't."
Arian glared at him. "How do you know?"
"You carry no supplies." The Sarmatian with the longest hair spoke up. "And you haven't used that bow before. Else you would have replaced it with a better one."
Arian let Misty sidle up to the two Sarmatian horses.
She leaned forward and lowered her voice to make it as threatening as she could. "I don't like any man who makes a liar out of me."
A dark haired Sarmatian on a gray Andalusian snorted.
"You did that yourself."
Misty flattened her ears and snapped at the other horses, making them back off nervously.
Arthur spoke up again. "We only want to help you. Do you have family?"
"Help?" Arian snorted, mimicking the Sarmatian who'd mocked her. "I was doing fine until you came along."
Arthur sighed and his companion, whom Arian noticed carried double swords, spoke up wryly.
"I see you know nothing of woads, m'lady. They don't give up. Unless they're dead, or beaten."
"I had them pretty beat."
"Show us the way by which you came," Arthur directed. "The woads may have withdrawn only to target a more vulnerable force."
Arian opened her mouth, then closed it again. How did these men know so much?
She swung her horse toward the woods.
Well, I was going to make this longer, but I already wrote over 12 pages to another (original) story of mine today, so my fingers are tired. :)