Dark Under the Cover of Night (The Kingdom of the East Angles Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

company; perhaps that was why he had married so late in life.
    They
retraced their steps from two days earlier, weaving in and out of sheltering
woodland. As the day wore on, the sky darkened and the first fat drops of rain
fell. Raedwyn watched the drops splash onto her hands and peered up at the
ominous sky. Moments later, the heavens opened and rain pelted down on the
travelers.
    Soon they
were all soaked through. Rivulets of cold water ran down Raedwyn’s face and
down the back of her neck. Miserable, she hunched low in the saddle under her
fur cloak.
    Gradually
the rain lessened to a drizzle and a wet mist settled over the land. The
thickets of trees were gradually becoming sparser and would soon give way
entirely to wide heathland. The closer they got to the sea, the stronger the
wind became, and its icy bite made Raedwyn’s fingers and feet numb with cold.
    Raedwyn
was blowing on her chilled fingers in a futile attempt to warm them when the
unmistakable twang of a bowstring cut through the air.
    Directly
ahead of her, Raedwyn watched a feathered arrow embed itself in Cynric’s side
with a meaty thud. Cynric grunted and collapsed against his horse’s neck as
another arrow struck his side. 
    Cynric the
Bold slid off his horse and collapsed on the sodden ground.
    Suddenly
the air was thick with flying arrows and axes. An axe caught the warrior, who
had ridden next to Cynric, in the neck and he toppled off his horse. The
warriors behind Raedwyn charged forward to protect her, drawing their swords as
they did so.
    Terrified,
the cold and rain forgotten, Raedwyn crouched down in the saddle. Then, acting
on instinct, she turned her mare sharply back in the direction she had come.
The mare pivoted on her haunches and bolted. Clinging on as the horse flattened
out into a wild gallop, Raedwyn could hear shouts and the sounds of a battle
behind her. The clash of swords rang out through the mist and the thunder of
horses’ hooves gradually grew louder. 
    They were
chasing her.
    Panic
seized Raedwyn. If she followed the riverbank they would be sure to catch her.
She turned her horse into the trees and dug her heels into the mare’s slick
sides. Wispy shrouds of mist made visibility poor in the thickly wooded copse.
Raedwyn grabbed hold of the mare’s bristly mane and flattened herself against
her neck. The frightened horse stumbled over tree roots, dodged tree trunks and
ripped through undergrowth. Raedwyn rode, clinging to her mount and praying the
mare would not break a leg on the uneven footing.
    Then,
Raedwyn chanced a glance over her shoulder – and that was her mistake. For in
turning in the saddle to see that she had outrun her pursuers, she failed to
spy the low-hanging branch looming before her. 
    A large,
solid object hit the side of her head and ripped her from the saddle.
     
    ***
    The hand
that slapped her across the face was hard and calloused, bringing Raedwyn
violently back to her senses. Her cheek stung from the slap and her head
throbbed from the collision with the tree branch. Raedwyn looked up into the
leering face of a bearded man with wild dark hair who loomed over her. 
    Once again
acting on instinct, Raedwyn brought her knee sharply up. Her aim was dead-on
and her knee connected with his groin. The man gave a strangled yell and fell
to one side. Raedwyn scrambled away, her long skirts and cloak catching on
brambles. She had barely managed a few yards when a hand fastened around her
ankle and pulled her back.
    “Little
bitch!” the man was no longer leering. “I’ll teach you some manners wench!” He
hit her hard across the face and threw her on to her back.
    It seemed
Raedwyn had not kneed the man hard enough to damage him, for he was pulling up
his tunic and attempting to free his manhood from his breeches with one hand
while pulling up Raedwyn’s skirts with the other. She still had a dull ache
between her legs after Cynric’s attentions. The thought of another man using
her, filled