Chapter 29

Mahala's rescue had gone much faster and better than anyone could have prayed. While Idalia was concerned for Bran's safety, especially given August's penchant for evil, she still expected he may save or defend himself in the face of danger. He had shown his might with the sword enough times for her to believe him capable enough.

Mahala, on the other hand, was a wiry child who lacked any skills of self-preservation. Were things to go bad, Mahala's life would be in immediate danger. It was only after Mahala was safely behind the wall of men Tor had provided for the rescue mission that Idalia allowed herself to breathe properly.

While they were still within striking range of the camp, they were far enough away that their soldiers could mount their horses and flee swiftly with Mahala if their position was threatened. Dunn had picked the spot for its tree cover, but it had a double advantage, as it also gave a good view of the entire gypsy camp.

A thought struck Idalia suddenly as she settled Mahala on one of the horses. If Mahala's rescue had gone so well and there had been such few guards around her, that meant that the bulk of August's troops were probably stationed around Bran. She felt a spike of fear and tried her best not to show it to Mahala.

"You will get my papa?" Mahala asked with terrified eyes.

"Yes, darling," Idalia replied, trying to keep her fear out of her voice. "We will get your papa. You have my word."

The lass nodded vehemently, and Idalia said a silent prayer for luck, hoping she had not just lied to the sweet child. She may have kept her concerns away from Mahala, but she hadn't been so lucky with Andrew. When she turned around to him, he had his brow raised, watching her in his quiet way.

"What is it?" he asked without preface. "What bothers ye?"

Idalia looked around the valley, then walked away from Mahala and her guards. Andrew followed close behind. "Nothing really, it just feels like we rescued Mahala too easily. I'm worried it will be so much more difficult to get Bran out of that snakepit. There aren't a lot of soldiers in sight right now, but I assure you they are as numerous as ants."

Andrew nodded then placed a hand on Idalia's shoulder. "Ye have nothing tae worry about. If there's anyone I ken in this world who can survive unfair odds, it's Bran. Trust me, we will get him out alive. Aye?"

Idalia searched his face for any doubt, yet there was none. He crossed his arms on his chest and watched her quietly, the definition of a calm sea on a cloudless day. She felt grateful for his sturdiness, and his confidence gave her strength.

"Fine," Idalia said.

"Good," Andrew replied. "We need tae alert Tor and Dunn that we have Mahala and that they can go on tae rescue Bran. We dinnae have time tae waste. We must move before they discover the child is missing or realize they are a few soldiers shy."

Andrew made to move back down the cliff and rejoin the dozen men crouching low in the grass waiting for him. Idalia followed behind, and he stopped short when he heard her footsteps. He turned around to her, frowning, and Idalia looked at him impatiently.

"What are you doing?" she whispered. "There's no time. Why have you stopped?"

"Where dae ye think ye are going?" Andrew countered. He pointed at the dozen armed men who had created a ring around Mahala. "Ye are staying right here, safe and sound behind those men and away from the fighting. I, on the other hand, am going down tae the battle, tae save the love of yer life."

Idalia gave Andrew an imperious look. "You're not leaving me up here. I don't care what you say. I am coming with you."

Andrew groaned and rubbed his temples. "Listen, ye said the camp is crawling with soldiers, aye? Why would ye want to put yourself in harm's way? I assure ye Bran will feel much better kenning ye are safe and away from danger. I cannae argue with ye right now, we are out of time!"

Idalia glanced over Andrew's shoulder and saw the other soldiers waiting for him impatiently. She knew his points were valid, but she couldn't shrug off the fear that the rescue operation would go horribly wrong. If it did, it would likely mean she would never see Bran again.

She could not afford that. She had to go with Andrew and witness the rescue. She couldn't live with herself if she simply stood by. "I'm coming Andrew. Now, we can either hang around here all morning and risk Bran's life further, or we can go now and save him. Either way, I'm coming with you."

Andrew watched her with dark, angry eyes, but Idalia held his gaze.

"Fine. Ye can come, but ye stay behind me. Always. We will nae be joining the main offensive. We will be staying back about fifty feet, with half a dozen men." Andrew raised his hand to quiet Idalia as she began to speak.

"Nay, Idalia. Nae any closer than that. I will nae put ye in harm's way any more than I need tae. So, if ye cannae agree tae that, ye must remain here, or by the old gods, I'll have the men tie ye tae a tree." Andrew's eyes looked cold and angry, and Idalia could tell she had won all she was likely to just then.

"Fine, fine," Idalia said, not hiding her annoyance. "I agree. Let's go."

Andrew nodded then spun around. He dashed to the men in front of him, and together, they moved down through the tall grass towards Dunn and Tor's rescue party. Their larger group was about two dozen men strong, and each of them looked to Idalia like he could flay a bear alive.

They skirted the perimeter of the encampment, moving as quickly and as quietly as they could. Andrew made a signal, and his band stopped suddenly. Idalia looked around the grassy plain but couldn't spy Dunn, Tor, or any of the other soldiers anywhere around the camp.

She moved to ask Andrew if the attack had begun already, but he held a hand up, keeping her quiet. She gave him an annoyed look but held her peace. He put his fingers to his mouth and, ducking further out of sight, made a clear bird call. Idalia heard the call returned several heartbeats later from somewhere in front of her, but she couldn't make out where the sound had come from.

A figure suddenly burst out of the bushes in front of her, dashing quickly towards a stand of trees at the west end of the camp. Andrew made a sign, and six men from his group peeled out after the man who had run towards the trees. They followed much slower than the first man but nevertheless covered the distance with some speed.

Idalia followed the men with her eyes as they got into the cover of the trees, and for the first time, she noticed all the heads bobbing around. She recognized Dunn and Tor as they approached the camp with two other soldiers and knew the attack was about to happen.

"Come on, let's go," Andrew said to her, then ran towards the camp. Just as he had said, he stopped far enough from the fence for them to get Idalia to safety if necessary, and close enough that she could clearly see everything happening in the camp. She saw the four soldiers approach the outer camp stealthily and, following their trajectory, she saw Bran, tied to a tree.

Her heart sank as she saw him up close and noticed how badly he had been beaten. Two men stood guard beside him, but their backs were turned to the fence. Tor and Dunn sneaked into the camp, and then approached the men quietly.

They lunged at the guards simultaneously, punching their daggers into the windpipes of both men. Idalia watched on with silent anticipation, feeling her heart leap and jump in her chest. Dunn wiped his dagger on one of the dead guard's sleeves, then he approached Bran.

Idalia could see Bran arguing with Dunn as he tried to cut him loose. It looked to her like he was asking why they had come for him at all. As the bonds fell from Bran, Idalia started to feel optimistic. Somehow, they were going to escape easily and without suffering any losses.

And then she noticed movement to the right side of the camp. She turned and saw a gypsy soldier holding a short bow, with an arrow nocked and pointed at Dunn. The archer drew back the string, and Idalia acted without thinking.

She jumped out of the cover of the bushes and shouted at the top of her voice, "DUNN! LOOK OUT!" Everything seemed to happen very fast to Idalia after that. Andrew jumped up and drew her back down as Dunn turned in their direction, a puzzled look on his face.

At the same moment, the arrow snapped out of the string and whizzed by, inches away from Dunn's head as he turned around to look towards Idalia. He raised his hand belatedly to his head as the arrow clattered to the floor beside him. The two soldiers with him pivoted and, finding the guard who had fired, punched two arrows through his chest before he could knock another arrow.

All hell broke loose then. Idalia's voice had carried loudly enough to rouse the whole camp, and soon, shouts of "intruders!" were ringing out. A warning horn blasted loudly from somewhere in the camp, and, right on cue, the camp began bubbling with activity.

As Idalia watched, gypsy soldiers flooded out of every tent, more than she could count. The soldiers who had been waiting in the trees broke cover and ran towards the rescue group inside the tent. Everywhere Idalia looked, all she saw was pandemonium.

"Well, there goes our element of surprise," Andrew said dryly. "Men, with me." He dashed forward towards Bran and the others, and his soldiers went with him. He had not instructed Idalia to return up the hill, and she didn't think it was wise to remain where she was.

She chased after Andrew, covering the distance to Bran as quickly as she could. She felt responsible for blowing their cover, but she didn't see that she'd had much of a choice. She had saved Dunn's life, and now they had to fight their way out of a tricky situation.

When she got to the others, she saw that a rank of archers had formed a ring outside the group, waiting patiently for the coming onslaught. Dunn had started creating a defensive perimeter, and Tor assisted him in moving their few troops around.

As August's men attacked, the archers loosened shaft after shaft endlessly into the defenders. The arrows landed with impressive precision, and Idalia wondered why none were fired against them. Then, she saw that Tor had instructed his archers to keep August's pinned down while his other troops mobilized.

Andrew cleared a path through the men to Bran, and Idalia followed behind him. She saw Bran stagger forwards and rushed past Andrew towards him. She ignored Andrew's call and tried to grab Bran. He was too heavy, however, and they both toppled to the floor in a heap.

"Idalia?" Bran said in confusion. "What are ye doing here?" He looked at Andrew angrily then back to Idalia.

"We came to rescue you," Idalia replied with indignation.

"There were a hundred other people who could have come in yer stead," Bran countered angrily. "Why did ye need tae come?"

"They would never have been able to find August without me," Idalia retorted. "Besides, it was easier for Mahala to trust them because I was there."

Andrew reached out a hand towards Bran, helping him back up to his feet. Idalia refused his help, and dusted her hands as she got up by herself. "Whatever yer reason for coming, it's too dangerous here." Bran shoved Idalia gently towards Andrew. "Go. Get out of here. Get her tae safety Andrew. I trust ye with her life."

"Actually, I think ye need tae get her back tae safety," Andrew said. "Ye are badly injured and weak. The last thing ye need now is combat. Let me go and fight."

"Nay," Bran said, shaking his head. "Ye are stronger now and in better shape than me. That makes ye more capable of protecting Idalia than me."

Andrew glanced at Idalia and sighed deeply. "She's nae going tae stay, though. The moment she sees ye in danger she's going tae draw attention and endanger herself. If ye stayed back, then she would nae feel the urge tae jump into battle." Idalia folded her hands and looked pointedly away.

Bran looked at Idalia and shook his head again.

"Nay. I'd feel more comfortable kenning ye were watching after her." He reached out his hand and Andrew swore quietly. He handed Bran a sword from his belt, and a small dagger as well. Bran tucked in the dagger, nodded at Andrew, then charged into battle.

Idalia noticed that while she had been talking to Bran and Andrew, most of the soldiers had pushed into the camp, save for Andrew and one other man. They followed close behind but tried to stay at the fringes of the fighting, not wanting to expose Idalia to harm.

Andrew drew his blade and turned around to Idalia. "Ye stay right behind me. Ye hear?"

Idalia nodded, terrified. She watched with horror as Andrew coldly cut down two men who got through the raging battle, running towards him and Idalia. All she saw was his blade flashing in the sun, and in two heartbeats, the men were dead at his feet, dark blood staining the green grass.

The other soldier beside Andrew was an archer, and he tried to pick out targets who were not engaged with his own soldiers. Idalia watched as he punched arrows into three different men, feeling the urge to vomit at the widespread killing.

While the gypsies outnumbered Dunn's men, the latter moved with military efficiency, attacking together in two columns, tearing through the enemy camp while suffering minimal losses. It took away the advantage of numbers, and Dunn and his men picked off the gypsies one by one.

She also noticed they were far greater fighters. She couldn't find Bran in the fray, but she had had to look away from Tor and Dunn fighting. Both men had blood on their faces, though she had not seen either suffer a wound. They had cut through so many men, they were soaked with the blood of their kills.

Another gypsy soldier managed to get through the battle and ran towards Idalia and Andrew. The archer sent a shaft through the man's windpipe and he drowned on his own blood. The archer picked another target in the middle of the fighting who was about to hack at Dunn from behind. Dunn raised his sword in thanks, and the archer raised his bow in reply, then he knocked another arrow.

Idalia watched Andrew; she could see how his hand twitched around the hilt of his sword. She could tell he wanted to be in the midst of the fighting. If she had stayed up the hill as he had pleaded, he would have been able to help his comrades. Unfortunately, she couldn't have done that even if she wanted to.

She looked up the hill, to where Mahala and the remaining soldiers waited and watched, hoping they were keeping the girl safe. She couldn't see them in the cover of the trees, but she knew they were there somewhere.

She was broken out of her thoughts when Andrew shoved her roughly. She looked up and saw three men approaching them. The archer had managed to get one bolt off, killing one of the attackers, before a second threw an axe at him.

The archer was dead before he hit the ground, and Idalia screamed as his lifeless body crumpled to the floor in front of her, white eyes staring upwards, seeing nothing.

Andrew didn't look back at her, instead, he got his dagger out of his belt and threw it right at the man who had just thrown the axe. The dagger sank into him, and he collapsed face first into the ground.

Andrew followed it up by swinging his sword in a circular motion, aiming for the head of the third man. The man stumbled backwards, wary of Andrew's reach, but Andrew let go of the sword mid-swing and lurched at the man with his bare hands.

The gypsy noticed the feint too late and tried to bring his sword back around. Andrew smashed a fist into the man's wrist, making the sword drop as he cried out in pain. Andrew caught the sword by the hilt, then he slashed the man's head clean off with one smooth stroke.

Idalia watched with horror. She turned away from the bodies and away from the camp, feeling disoriented by all the violence. As she stumbled along, she felt a sound thwack on her head, and a strong arm tightened around her neck.

Only then did she realize she had not seen August Raymond for the entire battle.