Page 120 of Boudicca

With a well-practiced motion I tossed my dagger from my right hand to my left. From a nearby table I grabbed a heavy iron candleholder and hit him across the face with it. He cried out and fell to his knees, pressing a hand against the bloody gash in his cheek. I fisted his hair, pulled back his head, and placed the sharp point of my dagger against his throat.

“Do. Not. Speak,” I commanded. “Phaedra!”

Phaedra was rubbing sleep from her eyes as she parted the blanket that served as door to her small bedchamber. And then she froze in shock.

“Get Cadoc.”

“Yes, my queen!” Phaedra ran from the lodge.

“Cadoc is not my chief,” sneered Adminius.

I pressed the dagger against his neck until it wept a single drop of blood. “I told you not to speak.”

A cloak was placed around my bare shoulders and Rhan, fully dressed, moved to stand beside me. She looked down at her brother, who glared up at her with narrowed, hate-filled eyes.

“You would do well to remember that you no longer have Father to hide behind.” Rhan’s voice was devoid of emotion.

Adminius started to speak, but the pressure from my knife silenced him.

Cadoc burst into the cave lodge, his sword drawn, and skidded to a halt to stare. “What in all the gods is this?” he sputtered.

“I need your sword,” I told Cadoc.

My shield did not hesitate. He strode to me and gave me his sword, which I rested in the center of Adminius’s chest before taking the dagger from his throat.

I straightened and tossed back my hair. “There. Now I don’t have to bend over. Wake Mailcun and the Trinovantes lead warriors. Get them here. Call for Comux and Leofric, as well as my lead warriors. What happens next will be witnessed by all.”

“As you ask, so will I do, my queen,” said Cadoc. But before he left he jerked his chin at Adminius and added, “Shall I bind him first?”

“No,” I said without looking at Adminius. “If he tries to run I will hamstring him.”

“She already cut my arm and my face,” Adminius squeaked, trying not to move his throat as his eyes beseeched Cadoc.

“Be glad I haven’t slit your throat,” I told him. “Yet.”

Cadoc bowed to me before he jogged from the lodge.

When he was gone, Adminius seemed to deflate. “What now?” he asked me.

“Now you wait. Silently,” I said. Phaedra reentered the lodge. “Phaedra, Rhan and I would like mugs of Wulffaed’s mead.”

“Yes, my queen. Shall I bring you your clothes, too?”

Though the night was frigid, rage warmed me. Naked, I’d bested this warrior easily, and that is something my army would know, would sing of proudly. I met her eyes and smiled fiercely. “No.”

***

It didn’t take long for the lead warriors and chiefs to arrive. They poured into the lodge, silent and wide-eyed. I stood in the center of the room. With one hand I held Cadoc’s sword against Adminius’s chest. With the other I held a mug of mead, which I drained before I tossed the cup to Phaedra. Rhan sat at the table, which wasn’t far from me.

Mailcun stepped forward and was instantly shadowed by Cadoc and Maldwyn, whose blue eyes were bright with rage. Briallen and Abertha followed closely behind. No one else approached me.

Mailcun stopped before the still-kneeling Adminius and me. He bowed to me. “Queen Boudicca, what has happened here?”

I lifted my chin and met the loyal shield’s gaze steadily. “Adminius broke into my bedchamber. He threatened me. He threatened the high Druid. He put his hands on me and meant me harm. As you can see, he was not successful.”

“Mailcun! They are lovers. My sister and the queen. I caught them. They’ve been plotting all along to take the torque from me somy sister”—he spoke the words like they tasted foul—“will be named chief in my place!”

Mailcun blew out a long breath before he lifted his gaze from Adminius to me. “Are you wounded, Queen Boudicca?”