Becker was coming to understand that this entire situation was not so cut and dried. Now, it was starting to make some sense and that great mystery they had been trying to solve was slowly beginning to pull together.
“More than eleven hundred,” he muttered, turning to look at the scene in the distance. Mind working furiously, he stood up, rubbing at his chin. “So… maybe what we’re seeing here is an army and not a dumping ground for bodies. That would explain the weapons we’ve found.”
Paige was startled by the information. “You have?”
Becker nodded. “Tons of them,” he said. “The first big beautiful broadsword we found with the stones was only the beginning. Since then, we’ve found more swords, crossbows, spears… you name it. But those kinds of weapons don’t make the injuries we’ve seen. Moreover, there are teeth marks all over the bones and we know those came from the beast. But now it’s making some sense – this was Edward’s army and that… that skeleton Dr. Paz is excavating annihilated them.”
Paige nodded. “It makes a lot of sense,” she said. “Interesting we had to find this out from English knights not local Welsh folklore, though. It’s like the Welsh didn’t want to acknowledge it.”
Deshere held up a finger. “That might not be necessarily true,” he said. “I seem to recall a nursery rhyme that most Welshmen know. It’s very old but now that I recall it, it seems to fit this situation perfectly.”
“How does it go?” Paige asked.
Bodie turned to look at her, his eyes glimmering. He began to recite in a soft, alluring voice.
“…A knight, he traveled, lone and weary,
Upon a road so high.
Upon this road, a wraith came leery,
And moved the knight to by.
‘Behold,’ said he, ‘I clearly see,
Your heart is not content.’
‘Be wise,’ it replied, ‘and know, forsooth,
That all is not as it seems.
Your road is long, and your path is wrong,
For you have entered the realm of the Serpent.’”
For a moment, no one spoke. Even Becker turned to look at him. “And you’re just remembering that now?”
Deshere shrugged. “It’s a common enough nursery rhyme,” he said. “But I never made the connection until she said that de Shera was known as The Serpent. An ironic coincidence, I’d say.”
Becker returned his gaze to the archaeological dig in the near distance. After a moment, he sighed heavily.
“Well,” he said, “I suppose what’s left now is to start seeing if we can link the weapons we found to something Edward the First’s army would carry. We’ll need to call in some Medieval Military experts for that.”
Deshere shook his head. “No need,” he said. “I’ve got you covered on that. Medieval Warfare is one of my specialties.”
Becker glanced at him. “Even for an English king?”
Deshere snorted. “Especially an English king,” he said, looking rather peeved. “Those guys were always lusting after my country. Who was it that said ‘know your enemy’?”
“Some Englishman,” Paige muttered.
Everyone laughed as Becker and Paz trickled out into the site to begin re-examining the find, now with Paige’s research attached. Deshere started to go but something made him hang back; he ended up back over by Paige’s table as she neatly put her documents in order. He couldn’t seem to move away from her, really; from the moment he saw her, there was something very magnetic about her. Familiar, even, as if he’d seen those wide hazel eyes before. Maybe in my dreams, he thought. In any case, he didn’t want to walk away from her. He just couldn’t seem to do it.
“Excellent job on your research,” he said.
Paige looked up from her papers. “Thanks,” she said, eyeing him as she put the sheets away. “So… how long have you been here with Becker?”
“Long enough.”
She grinned. “Have you been up to the castle yet?” she asked. “I was thinking about heading up there. I’ve been reading so much about it lately that I feel as if I know it.”
Deshere nodded. “I’ve been up there,” he said, but he couldn’t let the opportunity to learn more about her slip away. “I’d be happy to go up there with you. Maybe there are more clues up there about whatever this thing is. I’m all for a good mystery.”
So was Paige. Once they arrived at the castle, she couldn’t seem to explain why she felt so at home there, as if she knew it, or had at least visited there once even though she hadn’t. As she wandered around in the ruined bailey struggling with a strong sense of déjà vu, she noticed that Bodie had climbed the steps to the keep and stood lingering in the keep entry.
She’d seen that before. As Paige stared at Bodie as the man ran his hands along the long-ruined doorway, she knew that she’d seen him there before. Her heart began to pound. She didn’t know how or why, but she knew she had envisioned that scene before. Something was telling her to run to him, to dash up the stairs and to make it to his side, although she had no idea what odd and impulsive sense was telling her that.
Still, she obeyed, and as she ran up the steps to the keep, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to do. Instinctively, she knew he would be waiting for her there, and when he turned around and saw her, his arms opened up. Without explanation, without provocation. His arms opened up wide and Paige threw herself into them.
Six years and four kids later, she couldn’t have explained that moment if she’d tried. And neither could he.
* THE END *
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed Bhrodi and Penelope’s story!
As you have discovered, this is a very involved and complex book. Lots going on! First and foremost, what about that beast? Was it really a dinosaur? My theory is this – every legend has a basis: dragons, creatures, even fairies or elves. Somewhere, somehow, there is a basis of fact for all things. As for the creature, dinosaurs and other creatures have survived into our modern times – crocodiles, for instance, and ants. Yes, ants! They’ve been on the planet for fifty million years. And over the past two thousand years, many species have become extinct, so who’s to say that some kind of sauropod didn’t survive into Medieval times as the last of its kind only to die out and become extinct? That is certainly a question to ponder.
And let’s think about this, shall we? Seriously… if you’re Edward the First and you get your ass kicked by a serpent, are you really going to tell anyone? Of course not! Edward wasn’t about to tell anyone he got creamed by The Serpent. He was right – nobody would have believed him, anyway.
This book was such a joy to write. William and Jordan are back! And the camaraderie between William and Paris and Kieran is, I think, some of the best in any of my books. They would do anything for each other and their family, their loves, was so very important to them all. I tried not to make this a “William” book and overshadow Bhrodi, but William does figure very heavily in the novel and I’m not sorry about it one bit. Bhrodi and Penelope were definitely left to shine but William had some opportunity to shine once more as well. Love that guy.
And what about poor Kevin? Is he going to get his own story? You just never know. I would say odds are that Kevin, too, will eventually have his happy ending because that guy really grew on me. Now I have to give him a good adventure!
Much in this book is historically accurate, by the way – Edward’s battles in Wales, the siege of Castell y Bere, the siege of Dolbadarn Castle, and the eventual capture of Dafydd ap Gruffydd. The time frame and the locations are accurate, except I added my own characters to the mix. And did you notice Keir St. Héver making an appearance? Now The Wolfe is linked to the Dragonblade series. This was pre-Chloe for Keir by about two years.
So, stay tuned for MORE of the Wolfe Pack. Perhaps Kevin’s book will make it on to my 2015 release list. Visit my website at www.kathrynleveque.com for any and all updates on new releases.
About Kathryn Le Veque
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KATHRYN LE VEQUE is a USA TODAY Bestselling author, an Amazon All-Star author, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance and Historical Fiction. She has been featured in the NEW YORK TIMES and on USA TODAY’s HEA blog. In March 2015, Kathryn was the featured cover story for the March issue of InD’Tale Magazine, the premier Indie author magazine. She was also a quadruple nominee (a record!) for the prestigious RONE awards for 2015.
Kathryn’s Medieval Romance novels have been called ‘detailed’, ‘highly romantic’, and ‘character-rich’. She crafts great adventures of love, battles, passion, and romance in the High Middle Ages. More than that, she writes for both women AND men – an unusual crossover for a romance author – and Kathryn has many male readers who enjoy her stories because of the male perspective, the action, and the adventure.
On October 29, 2015, Amazon launched Kathryn’s Kindle Worlds Fan Fiction site WORLD OF DE WOLFE PACK. Please visit Kindle Worlds for Kathryn Le Veque’s World of de Wolfe Pack and find many action-packed adventures written by some of the top authors in their genre using Kathryn’s characters from the de Wolfe Pack series. As Kindle World’s FIRST Historical Romance fan fiction world, Kathryn Le Veque’s World of de Wolfe Pack will contain all of the great story-telling you have come to expect.
Kathryn loves to hear from her readers. Please find Kathryn on Facebook at Kathryn Le Veque, Author, or join her on Twitter @kathrynleveque, and don’t forget to visit her website and sign up for her blog at www.kathrynleveque.com.
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The Original de Wolfe Pack Complete Set: Including Sons of de Wolfe Page 318
