Roman - The Fall of Britannia Read Online Free PDF Page A

the gate, he turned his horse
for the last time and peered into the distance, making sure Gwenno
could see the bow in his hand. She joined him alongside his horse,
taking hold of the harness.
    ‘ Who
are you looking for?’ she asked, following the boy’s
stare.
    ‘ Cornovii warriors!’ he said.
    Gwenno looked
startled.
    ‘ Cornovii!’ she said. ‘Are we being attacked?’
    ‘ They may have followed us and it is my job to make sure the
clan is safe.’
    They both stared
in silence.
    ‘ Are
you coming in?’ asked Gwenno.
    ‘ Not
yet, I am the Cefn, it is my job to protect the tribe,’ he
answered.
    ‘ Tell me, Gwydion,’ said Gwenno, ‘how many warriors do the
Cornovii have?’
    ‘ Hundreds, perhaps even thousands,’ said Gwydion, his stare
unrelenting.
    ‘ What would you do if they appeared now?’
    ‘ Attack them,’ he said, sitting slightly higher on his horse
in self-importance.
    ‘ Then, I think you should come in for a while.’
    He frowned and
looked down at the girl. She had a wicked grin on her
face.
    ‘ Why
would I do that?’ he asked.
    ‘ You
are going to need a few more arrows,’ she laughed and pointed at
his quiver.
    In his efforts
to impress the girl, the quiver had tipped forward and emptied his
arrows silently onto the bracken.
    ‘ Oh
no!’ he gasped, frantically looking around to check that no one had
seen. He jumped down from his horse and dropped to his knees,
repacking his quiver as quickly as he could.
    Gwenno joined
him, trying her best not to laugh He counted the arrows
furiously.
    ‘ Eleven,’ he said. ‘There is one missing.’
    ‘ Is
there?’ asked Gwenno, a look of innocence on her face.
    ‘ Have you got it, Gwenno?’ asked Gwydion. ‘What’s behind your
back?’
    She walked
backwards, a smile on her face.
    ‘ Gwenno, give it here,’ he said and reached out to grab
her.
    She skipped out
of his reach, revealing the goose-fletched arrow she had been
hiding.
    ‘ Make me!’ she said mischievously.
    ‘ Gwenno,’ he hissed, ‘someone might see.’
    ‘ So
let them see. I don’t care.’
    ‘ Gwenno, please,’ he repeated, ‘it is not good to lose a
weapon. If your father finds out, he won’t let me go again. You
won’t tell him, will you?’
    Gwenno stopped,
and walked toward him.
    ‘ What is it worth?’ she asked, suddenly serious.
    ‘ What?’
    ‘ Make it worth my while.’
    ‘ How?’
    ‘ A
kiss,’ she said suddenly, shocked at her own audacity.
    ‘ A
kiss?’ he asked incredulously, ‘I can’t do that!’
    ‘ Why
not?’ she asked. ‘No one will know.’
    ‘ Gwenno,’ he said, ‘If your father finds out, he will have me
whipped.’
    ‘ I
won’t tell if you don’t,’ she said, blushing.
    ‘ I
can’t’ he repeated, ‘I daren’t.’
    ‘ Huh,’ she snapped, ‘you’re afraid of a little whipping, and
you call yourself a warrior? What good would you be against the
Cornovii?’
    ‘ I
am not afraid of anyone,’ scowled Gwydion.
    ‘ Don’t you like me anymore?’
    ‘ Of
course, I do, Gwenno,’ he pleaded, ‘but Erwyn is my leader. I will
not disrespect him.’
    ‘ Not
even for me?’ she asked. ‘Just one little kiss on the
cheek.’
    Gwydion wanted
nothing more than to kiss this beautiful girl, but even though he
was a Deceangli, he had been brought up with strict Catuvellauni
honour. Just after his birth fifteen years earlier, Gwydion had
been fostered out to a different family, as was the tradition in
his people. However, in his case, he had not been given to a family
within his own clan, or even his own tribe, but had been sent many
miles to the east in a conciliatory gesture to seal an uneasy truce
between Deceangli and Catuvellauni. Similarly, a Catuvellauni baby
had taken his place at the hearth of his own family, and both boys
had returned to the clans of their birth at the age of
fourteen.
    Gwydion had been
lucky enough to have been fostered to a family close to the now
dead King, Cunobelinus. As well as becoming an