Page 116 of Destiny of a King

Men burst from the trees on both sides of the path. Arrows came with them.

“Shields!” Seger roared.

The command was barely out before Dravic twisted his body around Adira and dragged her hard against his chest. An arrow struck the shield of the warrior beside them with a crack that sent a jolt through her.

Adira flinched, sounds crashing around her.

Horses screamed, men shouted, and steel rang against steel. The quiet world she had known all her life vanished beneath a terrifying rush of noise she could neither escape nor shut out.

She clapped her hands over her ears.

Dravic saw, but there was no time to spare it thought. He swung down from his horse, dragging Adira with him as another arrow flew past. His boots hit the ground, and he caught her around the waist before her feet could find their balance.

“Stay with me!”

She heard his every word and was grateful to hear it through the chaos.

A man rushed toward them.

Dravic shoved Adira behind him and drew his sword in the same motion. The attacker’s blade never reached him. Dravic drove his sword through the man’s chest, yanked it free and turned as another came at him.

Adira stumbled backward. She had seen the king fight before, but never had she heard him fight. The violent clash of blades made her recoil. She heard the grunt of a man struck in the stomach, a cry of pain somewhere behind her, the terrible scream of a wounded horse.

It was all too much. Sound had been a gift only moments ago. Now it terrified her.

“Adira!”

Her head snapped up and her eyes met Dravic’s.

For one brief instant, surprise flickered in them.

She caught the rise of a blade near his side. Her eyes widened in terror as she pointed frantically.

Dravic turned and caught the blow with his sword.

“Close around the king!” Seger shouted.

Warriors fought their way toward them, tightening the circle as attackers continued pouring from the trees.

Dravic caught Adira’s arm and pulled her behind him again. “Do not leave me.”

She didn’t need to hear the command to understand it. His grip and the look he gave her said enough. But she had heard it. And despite the chaos, despite the fear pounding through her, those four words lodged themselves firmly in her heart.

She had no intention of leaving him.

Dravic met the next attacker with a fury that sent the man staggering backward. He gave him no opportunity to recover. One powerful sweep of his sword knocked the man’s weapon aside and the next ended the fight.

Another attacker replaced him, then another and another.

There were too many.

Adira searched desperately around them. The king’s men were holding their ground, but the attackers had the advantage of the forest. They appeared between trees, struck and retreated, only for others to take their place.

Who were they?

They wore no colors she recognized, nothing that marked them as belonging to a clan or lord.

A cry drew her attention.