Page 95 of Boudicca

I turned my frown on him and repeated, “Of c-course I can. I’m just c-cold.”

Maldwyn kept his arm around me as we walked to Ennis. He mounted and then Cadoc grabbed me around the waist and tossed me up behind the horse master. I put my arms around Maldwyn, pressing into his warmth. Led by Briallen and flanked by Cadoc andAbertha, we headed in the direction in which, I assumed, we’d find our camp. I glanced over my shoulder, expecting to see the creek and waterfall—and saw only more forest.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

“Rhan woke the four of us and told us we must find you,” said Abertha. “That you were in the forest and you needed us.”

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Not far from the herd,” Maldwyn said.

“Truly?”

Cadoc looked at me. “Where did you think you were?”

I met his gaze. “I know exactly where I was—Annwn.”

***

On the ride to camp I was silent, my mind replaying what had happened with Paulinus and then my leap. I shivered again and Maldwyn’s strong hand reached back, as if he were afraid my body would shake apart. Cadoc and Abertha kept slanting looks at me like I might disappear. Even Briallen peered over her shoulder at me so many times she was almost knocked off her horse by a low-hanging branch.

I understood their concern. To them I’d disappeared, only to be found half dead of cold. They were right to be worried. I’d almost been...

“No! I was never in true danger. Not from Paulinus. Not from the leap. All I needed to do was to trust Andraste.” The words burst from me, and as I spoke them my body stopped trembling and I was suffused with warmth.

But then I felt the sudden tension in Maldwyn’s body. Cadoc and Abertha stared at me. Briallen pulled her horse up and reined it around to face me.

“You saw Paulinus?” Cadoc asked.

“I did. Andraste opened Annwn to me. I was near a creek and a tall waterfall. He was there, just on the other side of the gate to the Otherworld. He was alone. He saw me wearing a nightdress out in the forest alone and assumed I was a simple woman who would be easy prey for him.”

Cadoc snorted. “Did you set him right about that, my queen?”

“Yes. I beat him with a stick.”

Briallen barked a laugh.

“Then what happened?” asked Maldwyn.

“My damnable skirt tripped me. That gave Paulinus and his guards time to surround me on the bank of the waterfall.” I paused and my warriors stared at me. I smiled. “Andraste told me to take a leap of faith, and so I jumped.”

“You did what?” Maldwyn blurted.

I laughed. “I jumped from the top of the waterfall and Andraste caught me. Then I woke to the sound of my warriors calling my name, and here we are.”

Abertha grinned. “My queen, you are a marvel.”

“I believe it is Andraste who is the marvel. Can we get to Wulffaed’s caravans now? I’m ravenous.”

“Straightaway, Queen Boudicca.” Briallen turned her horse and we kicked into a smooth canter.

It was only a short distance to camp. We went immediately to Wulffaed’s caravans. Pacing back and forth before the cook fire was Addedomaros. Rhan sat quietly on a weathered log. She looked up and saw me before her father noticed us approaching. My friend’s face lit with a smile and she stood.

“I knew they’d find you!” she said.

Maldwyn halted Ennis near Rhan and he helped me down, though my body had warmed and my legs were strong again. Wulffaed rushed up, clucking at the state of me, and began calling orders to her daughters to get me fed. Phaedra burst from my tent, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Oh, my queen! I was so worried!”