One More Chance

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Christian was pent up with excess energy. The wait for the battle did not sit well with him. He would rather it come now and they be done with it. He had doubled the number of knights on tonight's patrol and together they were waiting restlessly for the attackers. It had been a long wait considering it was nearly dawn. Together with the energy, was a lot of frustration for Christian. If they did not attack in the night as he expected, they must have a more unexpected plan. This uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen was annoying him very much. "When were they going to attack?" Christian thought to himself for what must have been the hundredth time.

"It's nearly dawn. Are we breaking camp or halting here?" Fred asked from his position on the other side of the tree that both of them were sitting under.

Christian contemplated for a moment and said, "We are moving forward. No point halting if the attack never comes," as he stood up to dust his breeches and give his men the order to break the camp. Soon, the camp was bustling with activity and Christian moved to saddle his horse.

Just then, he found Catherine walking towards him with a hesitant good morning. He nodded his head politely as the the image of her brought him back to memories from yesterday with both of them atop his stallion and sharing their first kiss ever. It was one unforgettable experience that he had tried to keep at bay during the night so as to not get himself distracted from his duties.

"I need to some privacy," she said and blushed. He nodded his understanding and followed her, amused by how becoming the blush was for her.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked her over his shoulder as his back was to her to afford her the privacy she needed. It was a question to ensure she kept talking and hence he could be assured of her safety even with his back turned.

"As much as I can, given the circumstances," she replied calmly. Christian had thought that perhaps she would have panicked a little given the dangerous way that the affairs stood now. He was rather surprised that she was quite calm about it and handling the situation with maturity. It must not be so easy for someone who grew up in a rather sheltered atmosphere. But thank god for that he thought to himself. He wouldn't have been able to handle a hysterical female who would just burst into a watery pot at the mention of swords or blood.

Soon, they were back to the camp and everyone was ready to leave.

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It had been a long day Catherine thought to herself for the umpteenth time. She had not slept a wink the night before with all the expectation of the attack and what the future would hold for her. Then, Christian had insisted that she ride her own mare with her guards on all 4 sides of her so that they would be prepared should an attack come. But of course none came and she and the other knights were getting restless with all the nervous energy. Perhaps they were not going to be attacked at all.

She had no one to speak to due to her riding position and Christian was too absorbed with his duties, scouting their surrounding every other second as they rode. By now, Catherine was sorely in need of a break. Her back muscles were stiff from being on the saddle for such a long time and she had aches in many unmentionable places. She stifled yet another yawn when Christian finally called for a halt. Catherine jumped down her horse in relief, not waiting for anyone to assist her as she sorely needed the exercise for her legs. Her legs nearly buckled from the blood rushing through them. She held her horse to steady herself.

It was just then she heard it: hoof beats upon the ground. The loudness of the sound indicated hundreds of them. "On your guard, we are being attacked! To your positions now!" Christian hollered. A moment of panic seized her as Catherine stood rooted to the ground. Someone grabbed her by her waist and hoisted up on her horse. It was Christian. "Run! Catherine, find cover, quick!" he urged as he looked to speed past her. It shook Catherine from her shock. She held onto his hand a moment longer, gave it a squeeze, looked straight into his eyes and said passionately, "Take care Christian." Christian pulled himself closer to her and dropped a kiss on her forehead murmuring her to take care of herself too. In a flash, he was gone riding to the head of the battle. Catherine forced herself to turn back and run towards a nearby clump of trees that she felt would provide good cover. Fred and the other three knights were hot on her heels and immediately surrounded her from all directions. The battle truly started as she heard the battle cry and the clash of swords.

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There were hundreds of them. So, that's why it had taken so long for them to attack. They had been gathering men. Thankfully, they did not seem as skillfully trained as his own men and hence, Christian felt confident that they would prevail in this battle easily. At the moment, he was battling three with his sword and with a slash of his sword to the left, killed one of them. Another two more erupted to take their comrade's place and with a quick throw of his dagger, he caught one in the chest and immediately moved to slice the other two through their necks. Soon he disposed of the last one and retrieved his dagger and slid it through his boot. Around him, he could see that his men were holding their own well. Henry must have known how trained his men were. That is why he must have tried to attack quality with quantity. Henry was nowhere around. His men must have led the attack.

Christian chanced to glance upon the trees where he had seen Catherine and her guards taking cover. There were some enemies surrounding them. But his four knights were combating it well. Catherine seemed safely in the middle of her guards. Christian turned back to sweep his sword through the next man that came up to him. He ran his sword effortlessly through another.

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The sound of metal on metal filled her in all directions as Fred, Dick, Andy and Arthur fought from all four directions. From what she could see, the attackers were not good swordsmen. They had weak techniques and each of Christian's knights fought them easily. Catherine felt like cheering mentally. Things were going well. Occasionally, she would look on her left where the rest of the knights were fighting about a hundred metres away. Her eyes often sought out the tall, broad man who stood apart from the rest even though he was amidst many other knights. Catherine just had to make sure Christian was alright and apparently every time she looked he was dueling more than a couple and beating them hands down. His opponents didn't seem to have a chance. Catherine was so proud of him. She refocused her attention on the men around her. She was itching to pull out her own sword and teach the enemies how to fight. But she stayed silent respecting Christian's advise.

The battle went on for what seemed like hours until nearly all the enemy had retreated or been struck down. Fred turned to look at her and grinned, "That was easy!" Arthur and Dick slapped each other's back in a victorious mood as Andy joined in. Catherine smiled back at them as their troop turned to join Christian and the rest.

Suddenly, an arrow flew from nowhere and lodged itself in Andy's shoulder as he cried in pain and shock. The rest were momentarily paralyzed as Dick screamed at them to hide and pulled Andy from the horse before he could fall off. Dick dodged two more arrows and rode with Andy to the nearest tree for cover. Meanwhile Arthur and Fred had pulled her horse by the rein and led her to another tree for cover. Four men immediately surrounded them and Arthur and Fred pulled out their swords to defend her. Catherine watched in horror as everything happened too quickly. These men fought with such a strong purpose and were hell bent on killing her guards. Arthur was struggling to handle two and Fred was battling vigorously with his two. All of a sudden, one battling Arthur turned ferociously to Fred and slashed his sword aiming at his neck. Catherine screamed in warning and Fred saw it at the very last moment and swerved to his right as the sword slashed through his upper shoulder. Fred dropped his sword in pain as Catherine's mind screamed in terror. By then, Arthur had killed his attacker and had turned to aid Fred. As he took on two, the last one lifted his sword high to deal Fred with a killing blow. Catherine whipped out her sword and countered his blow with all the strength she could muster. She saw Fred falling from his horse from the corner of his eye and she prayed that he was not dead. Catherine used all her strength to fight back. The guy was huge and his attacks were too forceful for her to defend. She was barely managing as an arrow flew past her to dislodge itself in her attacker's chest. As he fell from his horse, Catherine turned to see that it was Christian who had released the arrow. She gave him a tremulous smile as he rode fiercely towards her in his horse with his sword on his right hand after throwing away the bow. They were going to be saved. Just then she felt the press of a blade against her neck as Christian screamed in warning.

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