Warriors of Ethandun Read Online Free PDF

… Do you think I could go home now?’
    â€˜It’s not been long, love. What if you were to relapse? How would I get you back here on my own?’
    â€˜It’s fine, Mum. I’ve healed. There won’t be a relapse. Could you ask the doctors, please?’
    â€˜You do look better …’ Her mother stared at her face intently.
    Ursula had tied her hair back so it more nearly resembled the cropped hairstyle she’d had before entering the Veil. She knew that her face was flushed and her eyes over-bright after her meeting with Taliesin, but again her mother saw nothing amiss.
    â€˜I don’t want you to wear yourself out. You’re not strong, Ursula.’
    Ursula smothered a smile. Her mum had no idea. Now that Taliesin had restored her to health she was stronger than most men and, she knew, some way tougher. She stretched. It was good to be fit again. ‘Hey, Mum. Have you seen this? I think I might have to go shopping!’ She jumped out from under the covers to reveal that she had already dressed herself in her old jeans, which were now several sizes too big and had to be pinned with a safety pin to stop them falling down. She’d also put on her favourite men’s extra-large navy sweatshirt that effectively disguised her newly fit and toned body as well as it had her unfit one.
    â€˜Well, you have certainly lost weight. Are those reallyyour jeans? I might have brought the wrong pair. I’m worried, though. Darling, you mustn’t lose any more weight. You need to build yourself back up, Ursula, you’ve been so very ill.’ Her mother’s eyes filled with tears.
    â€˜Mum. I’m fine. Never better.’ Ursula put her arm round her mother’s shoulders. Her mother felt slight, delicate, like a porcelain doll. Ursula got her size from her rugby-playing father. She held her mother’s small hand in her own strong one. Her mother was as emotionally fragile as she was physically frail. Ursula could not hurt her by telling the truth. In all the pain and worry of battle and its aftermath, Ursula had forgotten how terrible it was to crave something she could never have. She had forgotten how exhausting it was to desire something so strongly. Physically she felt fine, bursting with energy, free of any twinge of pain. Even a few old injuries from earlier encounters were fully restored and free of scar tissue. But still the void within her ached like the empty socket of a lost tooth. Being home was not enough. She wanted the magic back. She had to battle to ignore it. Her mother patted her hand.
    â€˜Oh, I almost forgot. Silly me! Your father’s going to give us what I asked for – more money every month, and he’s backdated it. It was a pity it took nearly losing you to make him see sense. But it means we have a bit of a windfall. We can afford to go shopping and get you some new, prettier things!’ She looked at the navy sweatshirt with disdain. ‘I never did like that top!’
    Shopping was a bit of a nightmare. Ursula had forgottenhow much her mother complained about her father, about what he spent on his new wife and how his new baby, who was quite plain and not a bit like Ursula as a child, was dressed in designer clothes – she’d seen the labels for herself. How her dad had started dying his hair and lost at least a stone trying to keep up with that young floozy he’d taken up with.
    It was hard for Ursula to keep quiet. She had seen more of life than her mother now and she understood that things could be complicated. She had guilt of her own. Once, in Arturus’s world, she and Dan had abandoned an eight-year-old boy who was devoted to them, who’d risked his life for them and who was entirely their responsibility. They had taken their chances to try to escape from a place they did not want to be and had run. Ursula finally understood how her father could have made that same choice, though if his marriage