The Temporal Knights (28 page)

Matt thought about it a moment then smiled at the small, wrinkled, old woman next to him. He bent and kissed her hand. “Thank you,” he said as humbly as he could. Eldreena smiled at him, and her eyes sparkled as brightly as any a young maiden’s

“Ye kin thank me by makin’ the Lady Ellyn happy...dat be ‘nough,” she answered and then with a bit of mischief Matt didn’t know she had she patted his hand. 

“Course if’n I was younger, I’d be pushin’ her into the mud to get to
ye...” she said with a cackle and then headed back to the classroom still laughing loudly.

Matt watched her go, then after only a few seconds of deliberation, set out to find the Lady Merwinna. He had a decision to make and wanted to solve this problem before General Peebles and the rest returned. After a bit of a search, he found her knitting with her ladies in a gazebo by the river. The flattened barn was not a hundred yards away in the background. Her ladies smiled and twittered behind their knitting as he approached, but the Lady Merwinna remained dignified, though her eyes were shining.

“Good Morn, Mayjor Thane...” she said as he walked up. “Are ye here to repair the barn?”

Matt felt a rush of blood to his face, and the ladies around him laughed all the harder.

“Well, no ma’am,” he stammered. “I was wondering if I might have a word alone with you.”

“Ye’d like to be alone with me?” Merwinna asked playfully. The ladies twittered again.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Be gone hens,” she said imperiously to her ladies. “This young gentleman wishes to speak with me, though mayhap we should do it away from the gazebo...” The ladies laughter grew as they left for the Manor Hall. When they were alone, the Lady Merwinna studied her new companion closely, and with such a keen eye that it made Matt blush all the more. Despite this morning’s interlude, he was far from used to having women about. He’d forgotten how shrewd they were at picking up even the smallest emotional signals.

“Speak,” the noblewoman finally said.

Matt had no idea where to begin. “The Lady Eldreena suggested I come to you. She has much faith in your wisdom,” he began simply.

“About wot?” she asked, though she had a good idea.

“Well,” he continued, surprised at his own nervousness and embarrassment. He thought he was well past such foolishness. “She tells me that the Lady Ellyn and her father will be leaving to go to Bridgwater soon...and I thought maybe you could figure a way for her to stay at Athelney.”

The Lady Merwinna was thoughtful a moment. “There be ways, but why?”

“Because, I’ve fallen in love with her,” Matt blurted out before he knew what he was saying, or feeling. It couldn’t be true, after all he’d known the Lady Ellyn for less than a week, but he felt it nonetheless. Was it true? Could it be true? And if so, just what did it mean?

The Lady Merwinna watched the confusion play out across the man’s face. She raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Methinks I can help ye,” she replied moving closer, “but first I wold know some things Mayjor Thane.”

“Of course,” he said thinking her curiosity would extend to bits and pieces of his own personal life and his new found love for Ellyn.

“Who be ye men really? That ye have royal blood is easy to see. Ye all have the size, strength and manner of Kings, but who ye be and why have ye come to these lands...I’d like the truth on that matter.”

Matt was taken by surprise, but found a new respect for the sharp woman by his side. She stared back at him craftily and with sudden insight Matt realized who really ran the county of Somerset. Merwinna nodded at his realization, smiling knowingly as if reading his mind. And so he told her without hesitation of his entire life, and how he and his fellow soldiers had suddenly appeared in these lands. To her credit she listened without a word or question, and though she understood most of what was said, some of the story sounded much like a fairytale to her, while other parts were completely nonsensical.

There were concepts she just couldn’t grasp about the twenty-first century having lived her entire life in the ninth. He told her all about his time, of cars, airplanes, and how anywhere in the world was no more than a few hours away. He told of computers, and the internet, cell phones, which allowed you to talk or even see anyone in the world instantly. He told her of television, of airplanes, submarines and space flight. He told her about man’s first trip to Mars, the space station and commercial space planes that were just beginning to take everyday people into orbit. He told of the many sports people played, of restaurants and downloading music, of streaming news and movie theaters. He tried to describe just how many people populated the Earth. He did an admirable job and the vision was before her and then he told her how everything was destroyed, everyone was killed...all of them, starting with the women and children and then finally the men. He told how they’d made Eve in a lab, without a mother’s body for protection and what the little girl meant to them all. And he told her of their final hope, their trip back through time.

“They’re out there even now you know...the Skawps,” he added looking up into the sky. She followed his eyes and spotted the half moon, then shivered. “They’re a much older species, millions of years older. From what we know of them, they learn and adapt much more slowly than we do, but they are out there, somewhere in space, waiting...waiting to destroy us.”

The Lady Merwinna was silent for a long time, children ran past laughing and playing in the sunshine, and she tried for a moment to imagine everything, everyone gone. It was a horrible thought and she shuddered again. All dead, even the Danes, she thought with wonder and a bit of nausea. She thought how unbelievable it must have been to go through something so utterly awful; it was truly unimaginable. Eve scampered by with her many new friends and spotted Matt sitting in the gazebo. She skipped over and climbed into his lap. He kissed her gently on the head before she began to squirm to get down, without another word she ran off screaming in pleasure, racing after the other children. His eyes followed the young girl until she was out of sight, and when he looked back at the Lady Merwinna the tears in her eyes surprised him.

“Ye all love Eve vary much,” she said, more a statement than a question. Matt nodded.

“She’s my daughter. She’s a daughter to us all. We all love her...we’ll always have that in common. We fought and bled, buried our friends and loved ones together, and we all love Eve. We are connected in a way I’m not sure you or anyone can imagine. I’d give my life for any of these men. I’d give my life for Eve, and Lady Merwinna, I would give my life for Ellyn.”

“Please call me Merwinna,” she said and believed him completely. She could sense no guile in the man by her side. “I
be glad for this talk, Matt Thane. Ye have cleared up many things in my mind. I will do wot I can for ye and the Lady Ellyn.”

“Thank you,” Matt said and looked directly into her kindly eyes. She smiled at him, and he rose to leave.

“There be one more thing I must say,” she added as he stepped out of the gazebo, and he turned to look at her. “I’m glad ye were delivered to us and na our enemies.”

Matt smiled. “I’m glad too...hopefully they will leave us alone to teach and grow with all of you.”

She nodded understanding. “Tis a hope...tis na likely.”

He walked slowly, contentedly, back to the ship until Corporal Cheun ran up to him. At first Matt assumed the General was returning, but the Corporal dispelled that thought by reporting that one of Corporal Garraty’s bugs spotted approximately fifty horsemen approaching from the southeast. They ran together to the command tent.

“Get the General on the GBF,” he said to the private manning the communications gear.

“He’s already on Sir.” Matt nodded, and ordered Cheun to fetch the Lady Merwinna.

“General,” he said into the mic. “We have visitors coming...what’s your ETA?”

“We’ve just got underway. All the Hummers are on the move. We’re returning at all possible speed. Stay calm Major, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Peebles added swearing softly. The trucks containing the bulk of the men would be a few minutes behind. He tapped into Garraty’s signal and saw on his face plate an aerial view of tiny horsemen riding along in two neat rows, and he swore again.

“Roger,” Matt replied calmly. “We should be able to hold the fort down for a few minutes.”

“I’m sure you will. We launched both Bots...Goode and Gardner should be overhead in five...”

“Yes Sir,” Matt answered completely unworried, knowing that even one man with an M18 could easily defend the town against any army from these times. The Lady Merwinna arrived to find all the soldiers in full battle gear, though Matt only wore a small headset and his face completely free, which put the Lady Merwinna at ease. The sight of all the blank faceplates unnerved her almost as much as her husband, though she knew there were men behind them. But she contained her fear well, and reported that they were not truly expecting anyone...but she guessed it could possibly be an emissary from the King, or perhaps King Alfred himself. Matt, and a contingent of fully armed soldiers, led her back through camp and stopped directly in front of the main gates to Athelney. Matt warned the perimeter guards to hold their fire unless directly threatened, and to do anything possible to avoid a confrontation. The camp however, was on high alert. The Major would be taking no chances with his precious supplies. Dr. Rice, Lee Robertson and Frank Blish were also part of the welcoming committee. The four of them were the only soldiers not in full battle dress. Off to the right of the main gates and ringing the camp were many soldiers, plainly visible, and armed to the teeth.

“They’re still almost a mile out,” Corporal Garraty reported, “but they’re coming fast now...no sign that they’ve spotted any of the sentries yet.”
Matt took a deep calming breath, nervous but showing no outward signs of it. The Lady Merwinna watched all the soldiers closely, impressed by their calm, feeling that her own nervousness was utterly transparent. As they waited, she was struck by her deep feelings for them...the soldiers and men in general. She loved and envied the strength and courage of men.

The day was beautiful, with a nice breeze, but clouds were building in the west, promising more rain. Two minutes went by before the riders topped a distant hill to the southeast and became visible to the naked eye. They rode directly up the crude main road to the town, but still gave no sign at all that they were aware of being watched…closely. They did, however, pause on the hilltop for a moment, obviously surveying the grounds surrounding the town, which was packed with tents and people, both from the future and from Pilton. Peebles and Lemay watched through the network as they drove quickly closer, now no more than six miles away.

After their brief hesitation the horsemen started confidently forward, and Matt found the sight truly impressive. He now understood why the cavalry was thought of so highly for so many years. It was a glorious sight to see so many men on so many horses.

“Tis Sir Eadwulf, Earl of Kent, the King’s advisor and Liege Lord of all the eastern lands,” the Lady Merwinna said.

“You have good eyes,” Matt said, squinting at the distant men, trying to make out an individual face.

The Lady Merwinna shrugged. “Tis the banner they ride under on any count.”

Matt nodded, noticing the banner for the first time. He dimly remembered that they were used to identify and communicate between different sections of an army during battle. This banner was of a gold dragon, crossed by two swords on a red field, the banner of Lord Eadwulf.

The riders started forward again just as the two Bots dipped from the clouds to the west and roared overhead. The horsemen stopped, many clearly trying to control their frightened mounts, as the planes flew directly over them then rose and began to circle back toward the town, sending back their own signal to the General. It took a spell for the riders to regain control, but when they did they galloped headlong toward Athelney, clearly panicked.

‘Shit,’
Matt thought wondering just what to do. “Stay calm,” he ordered as the horses grew closer, the thundering of the hooves growing alarmingly loud. No one lost control. “Goode, Gardner, please remove yourselves from view, you’re scaring our guests. The Lady Merwinna reports the party to be Lord Eadwulf Sir,” he added and Peebles frowned.

The Lady Merwinna watched as the planes shot off to the north and out of sight, then looked down as the approaching horses took precedence over all else. The locals grew very nervous as the horses galloped closer and still showed no signs of slowing.

“Steady,” Matt repeated, “everyone stay calm,” he added, though at the moment he was anything but. The horses pulled up directly in front of him. The riders clearly agitated.

“Dragon sign!”
A tall, dark man said from a top the large gray gelding. He glanced around for aid and instantly noticed that except for the Lady Merwinna; all were strangers. He studied the odd looking men for a few seconds; to a man they were beardless and dressed in strange garb. He glanced about the camp, frowning, then again up into the sky, but the dragons had fled.

“Greetings M’lord,” the Lady Merwinna said with a low curtsy. Matt and his men also bowed in greeting, though everyone of them kept their eyes glued to the group before them.

“Lady Merwinna of Athelney?” The man asked a little haughtily. He’d met her on two previous occasions and she was positive he remembered her despite his words. Merwinna bowed again nevertheless. Sir Eadwulf nodded but was still looking nervously about for the two dragons, absently wondering how all of these people could be so calm in their presence. Surely they saw them! Matt studied the Lord before him. He had short cropped, dark hair, which was something of a rarity in these parts, and a trimmed mustache and beard. His eyes were bright hazel, standing out against his dark features, but they gave nothing away as to what was going on inside the man’s head.