Unbroken in Time by Sarah Woodbury

Author:Sarah Woodbury
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: medieval, middle ages, arthurian, king arthur, wales, king of england, king of france, teen, young adult, alternate history, alternative history, change history
Publisher: The Morgan-Stanwood Publishing Group
Published: 2020-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-two

Day Two

Cassie

Morning had come, but an assault had not.

“The question is why they haven’t attacked.” Cassie covered her yawn with a hand. Like everyone else, it had been after four in the morning when she’d fallen asleep, and now it was nine. Not an awful deprivation, but not enough sleep either. “They know we took their master weapon. They have to.”

“They’re waiting for approval from a higher authority.” Hugh poured himself a cup of wine and picked up a pastry. Though in Cassie’s opinion it was a little early for drinking, she had to admit that, even in the thirteenth century, the French knew how to mix butter and flour and come up with something delicious.

“Wouldn’t Paris have sent a pigeon?” Bridget asked.

She and Peter had spent the last six months living with Cassie and Callum, in much the same way Bronwen and Ieuan lived with Lili and David. While Peter had been acting as Callum’s lieutenant, Bridget had been manning the short-wave radio, in between nursing their three-month-old daughter, Elspeth.

Cassie and Callum’s son, Gareth, had just turned two, so he was fully capable of eating by himself. Even so, he was managing to shred one of the rolls across half the table. Cassie leaned over and systematically put the pieces that could be rescued back on his plate.

“Pigeons can go astray.” Hugh ate half of the pastry in one bite and spoke around a full mouth.

Callum sipped his cup of tea, which he took with a teaspoon of sugar, homegrown here in Aquitaine in their up-and-coming sugar beet industry. It was still in its early stages, and thus expensive, but if any moment called for a little expending of resources, this was it. “Cassie’s point is well taken, Hugh. Robert d’Artois would know David was to have surrendered Aquitaine tonight, not last night. We have his Avalonian weapon, yes, but he has five thousand men. Why not attack? Why wait for the official moment, given the distances involved?”

“Maybe he knows what awaits him on the battlement,” Cassie said. “Thanks to Christopher, we know about George. He could have told Artois about all sorts of things.”

Hugh pursed his lips. “He does not appear to be afraid. If he was afraid, he would retreat.”

“But he might be wary.” Cassie waggled her head back and forth. “Maybe Artois is waiting to hear that David not only gave up Aquitaine but has signed the order commanding us to surrender. Not that we would do it, especially after last night, but Nogaret might think he loses nothing by waiting a day and might gain a great deal.”

Callum scoffed. “That being Aquitaine without a fight.”

“What did King David say?” The fact that Hugh had waited this long to ask showed either remarkable patience or reluctance to engage more than necessary with what had to be a disconcerting—and perhaps frightening—technology.

“He agrees with our assessment that the fact they haven’t yet attacked us or retaliated after the incident last night indicates the limits of their communication network.

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