Gwenevere's Knights: The Complete Knights of Caerleon Trilogy by Jesikah Sundin & Claire Luana

Author:Jesikah Sundin & Claire Luana [Sundin, Jesikah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Forest Tales Publishing
Published: 2019-10-15T06:00:00+00:00

I SHIVERED UNDER the thin blankets, praying for sleep. We had used up all the firewood we could find in the common room, but none of us had wanted to brave the rain or the unsettling quiet of the city to venture out and look for more. So, the center fire pit was now dark and cold.

I had experienced worse, I reminded myself as I tried to unclench my frigid muscles enough to let sleep take me. One fighting season, when cattle raids were especially bad, the snow had come early. With nowhere to properly hide, I had slept under the boughs of an oak tree with only my cloak above me and a fellow fiann mate at my back. I worried endlessly about losing fingers and toes those two days, rubbing my limbs and digits regularly. The cold hard bed below me now was luxury compared to that near misadventure. Grasping at gratitude, I finally drifted to sleep.

But my sleep was as restless and as troubled as the hours leading up to the moment we huddled up for the night. I found myself back on the Scarlet Selkie, the swaying and undulating of the sea stealing my equilibrium and my dignity once more. The sky above the dream state Welsh longboat was roiling with storm clouds. A streak of lightning danced across the sky, followed by a crack of bellowing thunder. I stood and ducked out from beneath the protective burlap cloth. The rain slashed against my face, plastering my hair to my scalp. But I was alone. The crew, the captain, Arthur and the other knights, they were nowhere to be found. The sails cracked wildly in the wind, ropes like thrashing snakes twisting against my feet. I ran for a set of oars near the stern, plunging the paddles into the swirling ocean, trying to slow the ship’s wild movement. But I couldn’t. As lightning split the sky, whitening the deadly sea in my vision momentarily, my breath caught in my throat. A wave stood before me, tall as Arthur’s keep, impossible to avoid. I dove for the mast, wrapping my arms around the solid oak post. Clinging to the wood and ropes with all my strength. But when the wave hit me, the momentum was too powerful. The water hit with the force of a hundred tonnes, ripping my fingers from the mast and tossing me into the frigid, uncaring sea. Up was down, right was left. I fell into darkness. My chest screaming for air.

I bolted upright, my lungs gasping, as if they had truly been straining for their last breath. In the still blackness, my hand strayed to my forehead, where clammy sweat beaded on my brow. Ten frantic heartbeats passed before my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I realized where I was. No longer was I in Eiden’s Burgh. I was back home. In Aghanravel. I was in the bed that I shared with Aideen. I threw off the covers and biting cold air gnashed at the exposed skin of my face, neck, and hands.

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