The Unchosen Path Book 3

I watched her horse disappear over the hill. A few of the male slaves were now standing in the doorway, and I signaled for them to go back inside.

“You are safe. You may either wait here for Cayden or go into the town, but do so after we leave,” I said to them, looking back at the three riders.

“Well, you have carried out your end of the arrangement. I am ready to carry out mine. I will not be able to ride horseback, as I am with child, but we do have a wagon in the barn.”

One of them whistled very loudly, and I heard more horses making their way toward the house.

“That will be quite all right, lady. Our master has sent a carriage for you to ride in, along with a servant to care for you along the way.”

It was so magnificently crafted. I had never seen anything like it. One of the men helped me into the carriage, and we began our long journey.

My hope that Cayden would eventually catch up to us vanished as soon as I realized how fast we were able to travel.

But I could not allow myself to unravel now. Staying alert was too important to my survival.

The road to this mysterious master was very long. I lost track of the days as we traveled the countryside, feeling foolish for my recent wish to see more of the world.

The air was beginning to change as the forest we had ridden through over the past few days began to clear. I could hear the sound of seagulls in the distance.

That meant we were close to the sea. How was that possible? Dundalk was by the sea, but I knew we were nowhere near it now. Could we have reached the other end of Ireland?

“Are we close?” I asked, poking my head out through the side of the carriage. The horseman next to me shook his head.

“We should be there by nightfall.”

“Be where?”

“The Kingdom of Oranmore.”

I sat back down in my seat. Kingdom? Did that mean the master was actually the king? My nerves returned, and I felt like I would be sick. I called for the carriage to stop.

One of riders jumped off his horse to help me down, and I pushed him out of the way so I would not vomit all over his shoes.

“I am fine,” I said, holding on to the wheel next to me. “Fine. I just need to walk a bit.” Walking always helped me clear my head of worries.

During our journey, I had wondered constantly if Kyra had ever made it into town. If she was safe. If Cayden was safe or even alive.

I feared I would never know, and I tried to find comfort in the fact that I had done all I could to save him and his sister. What mattered now was keeping my child safe.

I walked for as long as I could on the road to Oranmore, delaying my impending arrival to my new master.

Kyra rode as fast as she could to the village without causing Cayden’s body to fall off the horse. She held on to him tightly, her other arm grasping Cayden’s sword and the reins.

Kyra kept repeating Ada’s words to herself: “Stay strong. Cayden needs me.”

She didn’t know where to go, but thought the main hall would be the largest building in the center of town. Kyra rode on, not stopping to talk or look at anyone along the way.

As she neared the hall, she noticed there were more and more Vikings crowding the road. They began to shout at her, some even pulling on her dress.

“Stay strong, Kyra,” she said to herself again. That was when she saw Gosta. He was hard to miss, being one of the bigger men in the crowd.

She halted her horse and one of the men nearby started to pull on her leg.

“This one is mine,” he shouted to the rest of the men. Kyra scrambled to pull the sword out, but her hand was shaking so badly it fell to the ground.

“Get off of her,” Gosta shouted. He punched the man so hard he fell to the ground. “This is Kyra, the daughter of Chief Barra. Anyone who touches her will meet the end of my sword!”

He was standing to one side of the horse, attempting to make out what was lying over its front as he got closer to Kyra.

“Is this Cayden?” he asked, recognizing the boots on the body. Kyra nodded and got down from the horse. Egil appeared next to them.

Looking from Kyra to Cayden, he quickly put together that something must have happened to Ada, since she was not with them. The two men carried Cayden into the hall as carefully as they could.

Kyra found his sword on the ground and quickly followed behind them.

She ran ahead to open the doors for the men. In the hall at the head table sat Chief Barra, Sayer, and Padriac, discussing battle strategies.

Caxton stood by the door and immediately held it open when he saw his friend being carried in.

“What has happened?” Chief Barra jumped up from his seat. The other two followed. “Kyra, are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m all right,” she said, crying now. It was hard for her to verbalize everything that had happened. “They took Ada, but she saved us…she saved us. We would be dead if not for her.”

Sayer saw that Cayden was still breathing. He must have been knocked out cold, but he seemed okay. He led the men upstairs to where Barra slept. That would be the safest place for him to recover.

Still crying, Kyra stood off to the side, watching them attend to him. Padriac saw he was not needed upstairs and stayed in the hall with Kyra.

A part of him was nervous for her. What if Barra blamed her for the attack?

“Kyra, compose yourself. I will not hear any more crying. Tell me exactly what happened,” Barra demanded.

“I woke up to the slaves yelling outside. There were riders there, threatening to kill them if they did not go into the house. Then one of the men asked for Ada to present herself.

“None of us would speak until one of the riders took out his dagger. A slave said Ada and Cayden had gone down to the river to bathe but would be back soon.

“They made all of us stay inside until the two of them returned to the house. I was told to meet them outside as a distraction when they were close.

“That is when one of the riders knocked Cayden to the ground from behind. He was about to kill Cayden when Ada fought him. She took him as a hostage for negotiation.”

“And why did they agree to let you go free?”

“Because Ada sacrificed herself. She agreed to go with them willingly as long as none of us were harmed.”

Barra sat down in his chair again and waited for the other men. Kyra stood shivering in her nightdress with her arms crossed strategically over her chest.

Padriac walked over to her and took off his coat, laying it over Kyra’s shoulders. Without thinking, Kyra turned toward him and continued to cry into his chest.

Padriac was not sure how to receive Kyra with Barra right before him, so he kept his arms at his sides and looked up to meet Barra’s gaze.

Barra furrowed his brow at first but gave him a nod, giving him permission to embrace her as he had longed to do.