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

Raedwyn with cold fear.
    Panicked,
Raedwyn kicked and struggled, bit and punched, oblivious to his blows.
Eventually her skirts were up around her hips while her attacker was trying, in
vain, to rip open the front of her tunic. Her linen tunic fitted her snugly and
a thick wool sleeveless overdress covered it. Her mother had designed this
outfit for traveling; it was near impossible to rip with bare hands. Finally,
realizing he was getting nowhere, the man pulled out a knife and raised it to
Raedwyn’s face.
    “You’re
almost too much trouble,” he hissed, “but I’m going to have you now or I’ll cut
you up!”
    Raedwyn
stared up at his maddened face in horror. She was sure he would cut her throat.
She had to decide whether letting him use her was better or worse than death.
    Fate
spared her the decision.
    “Hengist!”
An angry male voice cut through the close air. Raedwyn’s attacker froze in the
midst of parting Raedwyn’s thighs. His face blanched.
    A figure
loomed out of the mist and hauled Hengist off her. The knife tumbled into the
undergrowth and fists flew. Moments later, Raedwyn’s would-be rapist was
cringing on the ground, winded. A tall man, wrapped in a dark cloak, stood over
him. A large cowl shrouded his face but Raedwyn could feel his gaze burning
into her. For a moment, she stared back at him, before remembering she lay in
the undergrowth naked from the waist down with her legs spread.    
    Mortification
flooded through her. She yanked her skirts down and dived for the knife that
lay an arm’s length away. The stranger was too fast for her. He kicked the
knife out of reach and pulled her to her feet, pinning her arms to her sides.
    “Quiet now
milady,” he admonished as Raedwyn attempted to twist free. “I mean you no harm
but you will injure yourself if you continue to fight me.”
    “You mean
me no harm?” Raedwyn’s voice was shrill with hysteria. “You ambush us and kill
my husband, before one of you tries to rape me! You mean me no harm? Someone
should cut off your lying tongue!”
    The
cloaked man did not respond to her scorn. Instead, he turned to the groaning
man who was picking himself up off the ground.
    “Touch her
again Hengist and I’ll cut your hands off. My father wants her unharmed and
unspoiled.”
    “Your
father is welcome to her,” Hengist spat. “Vicious bitch!”
    “Come,
Lady Raedwyn.” The cloaked man pushed her ahead of him, back in the direction
of the river. “You have an audience with Ceolwulf the Exiled.”

Chapter Three
     
     
    Raedwyn
emerged from the copse, accompanied by her captors, into a torrential downpour.
Within seconds, she was soaked. Water streamed down her face and bounced off
the muddy track. Clutching her cloak tightly around her, Raedwyn struggled
through the mud, to where two bedraggled horses stood tied to a tree, patiently
awaiting their masters’ return. Hengist mounted his beast while his companion
hoisted Raedwyn up into his horse’s saddle. Now that her anger had worn off, a
numb chill settled over Raedwyn. She meekly sat atop the horse, shivering as
the rain pelted against her. 
    Hengist
rode ahead while the cloaked man walked next to Raedwyn. They retraced their
steps to the site of the ambush. Upon seeing the dead bodies of her husband and
escorts, riddled with arrows and sprawled across the path, Raedwyn’s stomach
roiled. She struggled off the horse and tried to squeeze past her cloaked
captor.
    “Wait
milady.” His hand fastened around her forearm like an iron band and halted her.
    “I must go
to my husband!” Raedwyn ripped her arm free. “Let me be!” 
    Raedwyn
pushed against him and this time he stood back to let her pass. A crowd of
bloodied and mud-splattered men stood around and watched Raedwyn pick her way
across the mud, to where Cynric the Bold lay face down. Reaching him, she knelt
next to his inert body and rolled him over. He was indeed dead. His body had a
heaviness that live flesh did not