Warriors of Camlann Read Online Free PDF Page B

a Raven – the other lot who brought you here are Aenglisc or something. We have to take the Raven with us.’
    Bryn appeared to be wiping his face. There was a pause, then he said, ‘I think they’re preparing some sort of ceremony – they are taking things to the grove of trees near this place. I don’t know, but by the way they looked at me – I don’t think I’ll see the spring.’
    Bryn had something of Kai’s black humour. Ursulaearnestly wished that Bryn had stayed with Kai, in Macsen’s land. She trusted Kai – he would have cared for him and ensured that he stood as good a chance as any of reaching adulthood. Now, the odds on him living that long were severely lengthened. It was up to her to keep both of them alive.
    â€˜Hey, Larcius! My friend here thinks we might be used as part of a ceremony. What do you think – do these Aenglisc go in for that kind of thing?’ She spoke in good soldier’s Latin; it was the only kind she knew. Larcius’s version was different but still comprehensible. Anyway his groan told her as much as his words.
    â€˜Sometimes they sacrifice victims for auguries – most of them are pagans.’ He spat his contempt. That surprised Ursula. All the Ravens she had met before were pagans too. She wondered what he meant, but had more pressing things on her mind.
    â€˜We’ll have to be ready to make a run for it when they take us outside. Larcius, you’re going to have to stand up – I’ll support you all I can but we’ll only have one chance!’
    The man grunted what might have been an affirmative. She switched languages – Bryn’s Latin was rudimentary. ‘Bryn, you’ll know something of battle wounds – see if you can do anything with Larcius. Be gentle, we don’t
know
that he’s a bad Raven – call him a Roman if it helps, you know, like Rufinus who helped King Macsen.’
    Ursula returned to the corpses by the wall. She had not checked them for weapons. She steeled herself against the gruesomeness of her task. Their captors had been careless – she took that as a good omen – they’d left two other belt knives – short but sharp and serviceable.
    She would have liked to have a plan but, ignorant of where they were held, the lie of the land and the number of their enemies, they would have to improvise. But before that they would have to wait. She had always hated waiting. Her muscles knotted and it was by force of will alone that she stayed calm and outwardly controlled. Larcius and Bryn didn’t have a hope in hell without her.
    Bryn had bound Larcius’s wound so tightly that the man had cursed, which was unfortunate as Bryn was at least familiar with all the Latin expletives. Only Ursula’s swift intervention prevented Bryn from punching his patient. When she had calmed them both down she questioned Larcius closely. With what she could glean, she managed to piece together a picture of their situation.
    They were in a coastal settlement that had recently been established by the Saxons or the Aenglisc as they called themselves. The Combrogi were fighting to keep the Aenglisc from gaining more territory. Oddly, Larcius seemed to regard himself as Combrogi, though he couldn’t understand Bryn at all. Ursula concludedthat the word must mean something different to Larcius, as to Ursula the word ‘Combrogi’ described the Celtic tribes she had fought with in Macsen’s world, her own adopted people. It was clear that some considerable time had elapsed since Macsen’s reign. Exactly how long it was impossible for her to ascertain, but it was time enough for the distinction between the Combrogi and their old enemies to have blurred. Anyway, it wasn’t relevant to their escape – she would worry about the wider world when she was no longer imprisoned and when Bryn was safe.
    It was hard to gauge time in the dark but it