With My Last Breath, Book Three by Cori Chaffee

mean?' I asked suspiciously.
    Courtney Cole 46
    With My Last Breath, Book Three
    ‚Well, you told him that you would speak to me. And you have. So now, it’s in my hands, isn’t it? I’ll just have to take a hard line with him. I shall have to not forgive him.'
    I gasped.
    ‚Mother, don’t,' I pleaded. ‚Truly, if you could just see him, you would know why I feel so strongly. He’s a good man and he doesn’t deserve any of this.'
    My mother’s face clouded over and she opened her mouth to speak, but a commotion from outside caught our attention and we hurried to her windows to look.
    The castle’s giant gates were open and two wooden wagons slowly rolled in, pulled by tired mules and surrounded by raggedly dressed pheasants. They were in an uproar and we tried to see what the fuss was about.
    I watched their dirty faces and found them full of emotion…anger, sadness, outrage. Their clothing was in tatters, most of them barefoot, all of them filthy-spattered with mud. I held my breath in trepidation as the wagons drew closer, creaking past the main hall entrance and coming to a slow stop directly beneath Guinevere’s windows.
    Bodies were piled in the wagons. They were bloodied and mutilated, old and young. My eyes were frozen on the body of a child, his tiny arm dangling from the foot of the wagon bed, his small fingers open and blue. I sucked in my breath and my gaze met Guinevere’s.
    ‚Holy Mary…' I trailed off.
    My mother’s face was severe, her mouth pressed into a hard line. ‚They need us,'
    she said simply.
    We hurried from her rooms and rushed to the foyer, where Arthur was just exiting to meet them. We followed closely behind.
    ‚What will you do?' a peasant woman cried, reaching out to touch Arthur’s velvet cloak. ‚How will you protect us now?'
    A thin man to her left met my gaze before he looked to the king. ‚They murder us in our beds, while you dine on fancy meals and dress in fancy clothing. You are no different from your father at all. You only want to seem like it.'
    The man dropped to his knees and cried next to the wagon, reaching out in his grief to grasp the tiny dead boy’s hand. I assumed that he was the boy’s father and I felt a tear drip down my cheek.
    ‚By the gods,' Guinevere breathed softly. ‚This is evil.'
    ‚This is what you don’t wish to change,' I pointed out quietly. ‚The will of the Fates. They do this for their own entertainment.'
    My mother fell silent and I turned to a nearby servant. ‚I need clothing. Gather others and bring us as much clean clothing as you can find. And ready any empty guest room that is available here in the castle.'
    Courtney Cole 47
    With My Last Breath, Book Three
    The servant girl looked to Guinevere, who nodded.
    ‚Do it,' she murmured.
    The girl turned on her heel and ran for the interior of the castle as I turned my attention back to the bedraggled group of strangers. Women were weeping, men were shouting. It was utter chaos.
    Amid the confusion, Arthur stepped on the ledge of the nearby gardens, making him a few heads taller than everyone else.
    ‚Kinsmen,' he shouted. ‚Listen to me!' It took him a few more attempts before the crowd quieted enough to hear him.
    ‚Do you think this will go unpunished?' he called. ‚Do you think that Arthur Pendragon will allow my subjects to be beaten and killed within the very borders of my country? I will not. I vow to you today that by my very own blood, I will protect you.
    My knights will ride to their last breaths to protect you. Camelot will be strong and we will be victorious. We will avenge this!'
    At his last word, the crowd erupted into cheers, so loud that they made my ears ring. Arthur looked fierce and determined as he assessed his people.
    ‚We will protect you,' he added. ‚You have my word.'
    He stepped from the ledge and strode into the castle, motioning his knights to follow. They fell into line and disappeared into the castle with him, Lucan included. I watched