Prince of Time Read Online Free PDF

it.”
    “Guarded, of course,” I said.
    “Of course. He apologized for not being able to encourage the guards to over-drink as he had the men at the postern gate.”
    “There’s nothing to draw these away from their post either,” I said.
    “Unfortunately not,” Dafydd agreed.
    “We may have to kill them,” I said.
    “Let me try to talk our way past, first,” Dafydd said. “Dead bodies will give Falkes more reason to come after us.”
    “Agreed,” I said, albeit reluctantly. The longer we were in England, the more anxious I was to get my lord home, by whatever means necessary. Killing, at least, was efficient.
    Two torches lit the wooden bridge that spanned the river, held in sconces designed for that purpose. I fell back, letting Dafydd take the lead as he’d asked. I swung my quiver onto my back, tightened the strap across my chest, and tugged my bow from its rest. I held it down at my side so as not to appear threatening.
    Dafydd shot a wicked look back at me. Before I could worry about what he was up to (again), he straightened in the saddle and began to sing:
     
     
    “Ohhhh, the cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn,
    Oh, the cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn,
    Oh, the cow kicked Nelly in the belly in the barn
    And the doctor said it wouldn’t do any harm.
    Second verse! Same as the first! A little bit louder and a little bit worse! ”
     
     
    His deep voice echoed through the trees. The song was ridiculous and dreadful. He could have been pissing his pants in fear, and instead, he sang. As Dafydd launched into the third verse, he reached the guards, who’d dropped their pikes and stood, one with his hand on his hip, the other pushing back his helmet to scratch his head. The guard on the left was a hefty fellow with a thick brown beard, which was all I could see of him in the darkness that the torchlight couldn’t penetrate.
    He interrupted Dafydd in the middle of a note. In response, Dafydd laughed and spoke. He gestured with one hand to me. I held up my hand in greeting and the guard nodded. Without questioning my lord further, the men raised their pikes and waved us through. Dafydd was whistling the song as he reached the end of the bridge and by then I’d encouraged Llywd to catch him. We trotted down the road on the other side of the Eden together.
    “What did you say to them?” I said.
    “I told them I was escorting you to your wedding at the behest of Sir John de Falkes,” Dafydd said.
    “My wedding!”
    “One of the men asked why I was drunk instead of you and I told him that I’d met the girl and you hadn’t.”
    I shook my head. I never knew what was going to come out of his mouth next.Dafydd, however, was no longer laughing. “Do you know where to go from here?”
    “North and west,” I said. “As quickly as we possibly can.”
    “Agreed. Hopefully, when Falkes notices our absence, he’ll dismiss us, realizing we’re unimportant in the long run. His charge is to defend against the Scots, not Welshmen.”
    “That would be my hope as well,” I said.
    “Hey!”
    I glanced over my shoulder. A man on a horse leaned down to confer with one of the guards who was looking in our direction and pointing.
    “Ride!” Dafydd said.
     
    * * * * *
     
    To evade our pursuers, we rode hard for nearly five miles, and then trotted our horses off the main road. We then proceeded to spend the entire day and into the evening leading our horses through the trees. Now, my lord Dafydd and I crouched near a trail, our horses tethered a few feet from us. Not knowing the region at all, I’d been pleased to discover that the terrain became much more wooded a few miles from Carlisle.
    I was, quite frankly, astonished that Falkes had put this much effort into finding us. With his King dead, he surely had much greater concerns than a young boy from Chester and his servant. Unless, of course, he’d discovered that Dafydd was the Prince, after all? I dismissed the idea. Perhaps Falkes