Warden of Time (The After Cilmeri Series Book 8) by Sarah Woodbury

Author:Sarah Woodbury [Woodbury, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Morgan-Stanwood Publishing Group
Published: 2014-10-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

We left the castle. The fire was almost out, and the people were dispersing throughout Canterbury. Morning would bring enough work to keep everyone occupied for many days and weeks to come. I left a small guard—the bulk of the normal castle garrison—to watch over what remained. With the barracks still intact, along with the gatehouse where Sir Thomas’s quarters were, they had a place to lay their heads if they took it in shifts. The bodies of Mike and Noah still lay in their room in the barracks. Sir Thomas said he’d speak to the priest at St. Mildred’s about a burial.

The rest of us rode along the same street that led to the Archbishop’s Palace on which I’d traveled yesterday. The circumstances were so dramatically different, it was hard to believe the town itself remained unchanged, barring the dust from the castle that had settled on everything.

As we passed under the gatehouse at the town gate, onlookers made way for us. Despite the early hour, townspeople were lining up to cross the drawbridge going the other way, to get a look at the fallen castle and to help put out the flames. As I passed, people pressed in around my horse, patting my leg and the horse’s withers, expressing their relief that I lived. After the incident with the heretic, I hadn’t been entirely sure what my standing might be with them, but there was nothing like a crisis to bring people together in support of their leader. Wars had always been good for that. And, apparently, so were exploded castles.

Justin edged up on my right while Ieuan buttressed me on the left, both uncomfortable with the people getting so close. If I hadn’t been so tired, I might have protested, but I also knew that the threat against me was real. My companions were only trying to keep me alive. Still, with more enthusiasm than I’d shown yesterday, I raised a hand to people hanging out of upper story windows.

“Perfect.” Cassie spoke from behind me, and I turned to look at her, my expression questioning. She pointed towards the sky. “It’s starting to rain.”

I let out a laugh, more in relief than genuine humor. It was perfect. We needed the rain. Still, I was grateful it didn’t start in earnest until we were within a few yards of the Archbishop’s palace. This time, the gate was already open when we reached it, and we rode straight under the gatehouse and across the cobbles to the front door. I slid off Cadfan, and took a moment to rest my forehead against his withers.

“This way, David.” Callum nudged my elbow.

“Coming.” But I didn’t move. In the time it had taken to dismount, the events of the day had overwhelmed me. My heart was pounding out of my ears, and my breath was suddenly coming so fast it wasn’t doing my lungs any good. I shut my eyes, trying to get a grip on myself. I was clenching my fists so tightly my fingernails were cutting into the palms of my hands.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.