Page 55 of The Robber Knight
As if one man, the fifteen on the meadowthrew their cloaks back, revealing long bows and quivers.
“Nock!”
The men put arrows to their strings andplaced the bows against the ground for leverage.
“Mark.”
The bows shifted slightly.
“Draw!”
Isenbard's voice was hard as stone, and justas unemotional. Fifteen bowstrings were drawn back at his command.Ayla's heart hammered as her gaze went back and forth betweenIsenbard's men and the mercenaries—the mercenaries whose eyeswidened at the sight of the weapons aimed at them.
“Hold...” Isenbard growled. “Hold...Hold...”
The riders gathered even more speed. Bloodgushed from the sides of their horses as they drove their spursinto the flesh in a desperate rush to close the distance.
“Loose!”
Like a dozen angry hawks, the arrows tookflight, splitting the air before them and heading straight fortheir targets. Quickly, Ayla ducked and closed her eyes. But shecould still hear the anguished cry of the first horse and the thumpas it stumbled and fell, smashing its rider into a bloody pulp.More cries erupted from all around her as other arrows found theirmark.
“Nock!Mark! Draw, and... loose!”[41]
A second volley erupted into the air with theswish of sudden death.
“Nock, mark, draw! Loose!”
And a third.
“Nock, mark, draw! Loose!”
And a fourth. And fifth, and sixth, andseventh.
All of it took not much more than a minute.Yet, for Ayla, it seemed like hours as she cowered behind thebarricade, listening to the sounds of men dying—dying for her.
No, not forme, she reminded herself.For allour freedom.
That didn't make her feel much better,though.
What am I doing? I camehere to be there for my people and now all I'm doing is coweringbehind a barricade. I have to face the enemy.
Finally, she gathered all her courage, stoodup, and turned to look past the barricade—just in time to see thelast rider yank his horse around and gallop back towards the safetyof the forest. The meadow was strewn with the bodies of men andhorses. The lush grass which had formerly been green was now dyedred. Ayla felt bile rise up in her throat from the violent sightand quickly turned away.
After a few moments, she felt someone's eyeson her. Looking up, she saw Isenbard studying her intently.Defiantly, she raised her chin and met his gaze. “Yes? What isit?”
“You had the courage to watch, Milady. At thevery end, you found it.”
To everybody else, it sounded like a simplestatement. Ayla, however, knew that it was more—much more.
She nodded thankfully.
“You want to see. To be there,” Isenbardcontinued.
It wasn't a question.
“I have to,” she said.
“And there's nothing I can say to dissuadeyou?”
