Page 114 of Boudicca

We’d passed the majority of the straw targets. I could see the finish line where Rhan stood, arm lifted again, ready to drop it when the winner raced past.Just a little more! We’re almost there!I shouted the Iceni war cry but realized Tân had slowed as Black’s muzzle came into view to my right again. He was definitely not slowing.

I almost dug my heels into Tân to insist she give me more speed, and then I remembered the roughness of the trenchlike width of the frozen, broken ground and did not ask my mare for more. As I understood why Tân slowed, I heard a horrible sound, and suddenly Black was no longer in my peripheral vision.

Instantly I pulled Tân up as I turned to see Black fall. I’d watched horses go down in battle—we all had. It is terrible and tragic. Theunearthly shriek Black made as his front left hoof hit the ridge of the broken ground echoed throughout the valley. The tremendous speed at which he was going caused his cannon bone to snap like a piece of kindling. Black crumpled, head over rear end, throwing Addedomaros onto the unforgiving ground. The massive stallion rolled over the Trinovantes chief before the horse slid to a stop several feet away.

A great silence fell over the watching army as I vaulted from Tân’s back and ran to the fallen chief.

Blood trickled from Addedomaros’s mouth. He lay on his back. His thick, muscular body was flattened. Blood had begun to seep through his clothes, staining the snow around him bright scarlet. I went to my knees beside him and his eyes immediately met mine. I was surprised by the clarity in them.

His bloody lips twitched as he tried to smile. He coughed, spewing reddened froth down his chin. “Did I win?” He whispered the words.

I used the sleeve of my tunic to wipe the bloody sputum from his face and smiled. “Of course you won. No one can beat you and that stallion.”

“Yes, Black and I...” He smiled, exhaled a rattling breath, and did not take another.

Gently, I closed his eyelids and bowed my head as I rested my hand on his broken chest. “May you feast with your ancestors and know only eternal joy.”

“Father! Father!” Adminius shouted as he ran to us.

I stood and moved aside so he could kneel by his father’s body. Dazed, I looked up to see that Leofric was with Black. The stallion had somehow managed to stand. It was a terrible thing to see, as his front leg was useless, snapped completely in two. Only skin held it together. The Catuvellauni chief met my gaze and shook his head. He turned back to the stallion, attempting to calm him.

Comux joined me beside Addedomaros’s body. “Stay here with Adminius. I must get Maldwyn to deal with the stallion.” I hurried toward where Tân stood as Maldwyn, driving our chariot, thundered up. He looked at Addedomaros and Adminius, who was shaking his father’s shoulder as he called his name over and over. His gaze wentto me. I shook my head. Grimly, he jogged to where Leofric was still struggling with the wounded stallion.

Maldwyn went to the big horse’s head. He took it between his hands. I couldn’t hear what he said, though I saw his lips move and watched as the stallion stopped fighting and stood, trembling, on three legs. Maldwyn continued to speak softly to the stallion and stroke him as he draped an arm around the horse’s neck. He pulled a dagger from a sheath at his waist and in one swift motion slit Black’s throat. With a grunt and a sigh, the stallion dropped to the ground and lay still in an expanding pool of steaming scarlet.

Rhan was suddenly there with Cadoc and Mailcun. She came to me before she approached her brother and father.

“Is he dead?” she asked.

I nodded and rested my hand on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry. It was fast. He did not suffer.”

She blew out a long breath and then went to crouch beside her brother, who was still shaking his father, as if trying to wake him.

“Adminius, Father is gone,” said Rhan.

Her brother turned his face to her. “No. He can’t be. This—this was just supposed to be a friendly competition. Something to show everyone the greatness of Tribe Trinovantes and the might of our chief. No one was going to die.”

“It was an accident.” Rhan spoke slowly.

“No,” insisted Adminius, who went back to shaking his father’s slack shoulder. “Father, you must get up. Now!”

Mailcun moved around Rhan to Adminius’s other side, where he crouched so he could look into his face. “Adminius, he is gone. The Chief’s Guard is bringing a litter so that Addedomaros can be readied for his journey to Annwn.”

“No!” Adminius flung himself on his father’s bloody body. “He cannot be burned! He’s going to wake!”

Mailcun looked up at me. His eyes were filled with tears. Rhan stood and backed away from her brother, shaking her head. I could see that Addedomaros’s Chief’s Guard had entered the field and carried a litter between them. My guard had spread out across the field andhad been joined by the lead warriors of the Dobunni and Catuvellauni, ready to keep us from being overwhelmed if the Trinovantes tried rushing to their fallen chief, though the crowd remained subdued, watching silently. I knelt beside Adminius and wrapped my arm around his shoulder.

“Adminius, your father is gone. Tribe Trinovantes will look to you for stability. You must be strong for them.”

He turned his tear-and-blood-streaked face to me. “This is my fault.”

I shook my head. “No one is to blame for what happened today. It was a terrible accident. Your father spoke to me before he died. He asked if he’d won the contest and I told him he had.”

Adminius laughed, though it was a sad, broken sound. “He believed he’d won?”

I smiled and tightened my grip on his shoulders. “He did, which began his journey to Annwn with a smile.”

“That is good. That is good,” he murmured.