and expectation. He was not the brave soldier and hero people thought he was. He could stick a lance in a man if he had to, he could kill, but it was not natural to him; the images stuck to his brain like scale to the side of a sewage chute and sickened him.
Behind them, he heard yells, screams, and the clash of battle, and acid burned his throat. “We must press on, domina,” he shouted, almost gagging. “Go in front!” She slapped the reins on the mare’s neck and swayed in the saddle as the pace increased. She was a fine horsewoman, but could only go so fast riding side-saddle and if their pursuers reached them, all was lost. The ford was eight miles away and they could so easily be caught by hard riding troops. “Domina, you must ride astride,” he shouted. “We are losing ground!” Reynald sent some men back to watch the road and hold up the pursuit. Brian dismounted and put Matilda up on Sable.
Fumbling in haste, he discarded her side-saddle and mounted her mare. There were no stirrups, but the saddle cloth was secure and he could grip the breast strap as well as the reins.
“Hah!” he shouted, digging in his heels, and they were off again at a hard pace.
Tight-lipped, Matilda urged Brian’s big black. Now that she was astride, she could indeed go faster and it was like galloping to the hunt, but the pace jolted her limbs and strained her thigh muscles and her flesh rubbed against the hard sides of the saddle.
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She dared not think about what was happening in Winchester and how Robert’s rearguard was faring. She had taken him for granted for so long but he and the handful of men defending her retreat were her backbone. She prayed under her breath, asking God to keep them safe and to strike down Henry of Winchester with a thunderbolt. A brief look over her shoulder showed her plumes of smoke in the city, but no sign of imminent pursuit. Easing the black down to a fast trot, she turned to Brian. “We should conserve the horses, because we are not going to find remounts along the way.” He shook his head. “We have to reach Stockbridge ahead of the Flemings if we are to escape.” He leaned across to Sable and unfastened the costrel hanging from the saddle and brought out a silver goblet from the baggage roll on the crupper. The sight filled her with bitter humour. She was an uncrowned queen, drinking at a jog trot from a silver cup on the road to God knew what future with her enemies in hard pursuit and her dreams of a coronation in flames.
The wine was potent and revived her strength. “One day I will make you a great earl,” she said to Brian, returning the cup.
“Domina, I want no such lustre,” he said in a choked voice.
She raised her brows. “To serve me is enough?”
“What would I do with a title except encourage envy?
Where would be the point when I will never have an heir?
Your father raised me from the dust and all that I have is his daughter’s.” He lashed his reins down on the mare’s neck, thereby terminating the conversation, and once again they galloped for the ford.
Several times, looking over their shoulders, they saw pursuers in the distance. Matilda had to use her spurs on the black, but when they reached the causeway at Stockbridge at a lathered canter, the way ahead was still clear and they were able to cut off and take the track across the Downs where they 368
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swiftly vanished amid the grassy humps and hollows. They had covered eight miles at a punishing pace but still had fourteen more to reach the precarious refuge at Ludgershall and another twenty after that to the greater safety of Devizes.
ttt
By the time Ludgershall came in sight, Matilda was clinging on in a state of exhaustion. Her thighs were chafed raw against the saddle, her spine was screaming for respite and she was unable to think beyond the engulfing pain and despondency that had encroached on her as the heat of the chase dissipated. When she drew rein in the courtyard, she could barely move. The horses were staggering and almost foundered. Summoning the last of her will power, she managed to swing her leg over Sable’s back to dismount. Reynald and Brian caught her,