-You are reading episodes of THE POWER IN THE DARK, which is Book 1 of THE
ANCIENT BLOODLINES TRILOGY by Barry Mathias. ISBN: 9781897435113
CHAPTER 7
Gwen remained in a state of semi-consciousness for some while as her mind began to clear, and the realities of the situation started to demand her attention. She was first aware of the hot sun on her eye lids, then of the continuous jerking and rocking of her body, coupled with a strange sense of security, as though she was unable to fall no matter what vibrations she received. Finally, Gwen was aware of people groaning on both sides of her. Perhaps she was in hell, or maybe on her way to heaven and these were the sounds of the lost souls journeying in the opposite direction?
As she toyed with these first threads of consciousness, she knew she would have to open her eyes. Time passed and reluctantly, she glimpsed the real world under her trembling eyelashes. Some moments before, the pains in her head, stomach and limbs had begun to compete for her attention. All around new sounds burst into focus: she recognized the snorting of horses, bird song, people talking, and still the unnerving sound of groaning in her ear. When her left arm began to feel warm and wet, she knew it was time to open her eyes.
Very carefully, she raised her lids and immediately closed them. Then she knew. She was strapped onto a litter with two wounded soldiers, one on each side of her, and the one on her left was bleeding badly. There was no point in revealing she was awake, for her captors were unlikely to attend to her needs when they were prepared to allow one of their own men to bleed to death. So, very slowly, she peered out at the world under her lashes, and closed her eyes again and tried to remember what she had seen. She counted the horsemen, the soldiers walking alongside the litter and anything else that might be of use to her. Most of the time she drifted off into unconsciousness and woke believing she had remained awake all along. The sun beat down on her and she felt very thirsty.
It was many hours before they stopped, and Gwen was shaken awake by rough hands releasing her from the ropes securing her to the litter. She felt herself lifted clear and two men carried her to the shade of a tree. One made a comment and both laughed in a cruel, mocking way. After some time, she heard the deep, reassuring voice of her father, and she raised her eye-lids enough to see the soldiers securing his hands in front instead of behind, so he could eat and drink and attend to her.
Tom knelt by her side and whispered her name, "Gwenny, can ye hear me?"
"Yes, father," she croaked. "I've been awake a goodly while."
"Drink this," he said, and carefully arranged her head before he poured water into her mouth from a leather bottle. The water was warm and tasted unpleasant, but she gulped it down greedily. After a short while, her head cleared and she was able to eat some dry bread.
Tom kept his face close to hers, and whispered encouragement in her ear. "That's the way, princess. You'll soon be fine, Gwenny. Now get your strength up, but pretend to be 'alf asleep. They's all havin' a rest 'cept for some guards. Later on I'll move away 'cos it's me they be watchin'. Keep ye eyes closed an' then try an' crawl off when they ain't paying attention."
She nodded, but her tongue felt sore and rough, and her head throbbed. She wanted the water, although it was warm, and also the stale, hard bread that was difficult to swallow. Both would help to get her strength back and she persevered, even though she was racked with nausea. Tom did the best he could to feed her, but it was not easy with his hands securely tied. The soldiers took little notice of them, being more concerned with their own refreshments and the chance to relax after the long march. In a short while most of the men were asleep, except for the guards who were placed at regular intervals around the camp. One guard stood watching the blacksmith from the shade of an old chestnut tree, but he too began to doze as Tom feigned sleep. The leader was nowhere to be seen.
