“You saw me, didn’t you?”
“I saw you in response to Lord Ched asking who the next king would be. By the way, there’s something important you should know about that,” she added.
“Not now. As soon as we conclude the search for Owen, I’m taking you and the rest of my people out of here.”
“But—”
“You’ll find me a nexus. I know it. Look into the water. Calm yourself. Concentrate.”
“I know how to summon the visions, Andrew.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and gently began to massage them. He communicated his faith in her through his touch. Damn, but she was going to hate losing this man! She appreciated the moment, refused to feel sorry for herself, and set about doing her duty.
At first, of course, all she saw was a pool of water as still and clear as a looking glass. But the calm, peaceful water changed quickly.
Bern grew worried when Ginger’s muscles went suddenly tense. “What?” he asked. “What do you see?”
“Fire,” she answered, her voice distant and dull. “Fire on the hill.”
“What hill? What’s burning?”
“There’s a battle,” she said. “You have to defeat them. It’s your destiny.”
A battle? He didn’t like the sound of that. “What does any of that have to do with getting us all safely home?”
Lord Ched came running into the sanctuary before she could respond. “They’re coming!” he shouted. “The Saxons are coming.” A guard followed him in, pushing a woman ahead of him. Ched looked at the woman. “Tell him,” he commanded.
The woman was crying. “Mercy, my lord! I did come back to warn you.”
“Yes, yes,” the chieftain said. He pointed to Bern. “Tell the king what you told me.”
Everybody looked at him. Bern wanted to yell at them to cut out calling him king, but even Ginger had come out of her trance and was looking at him like he was the hero of the hour. And, damn it, the thought of disappointing her made him feel like a jerk. He gritted his teeth, and nodded for the woman to go on.
“It’s true I helped my lady Morga and her man escape. I’ve taken care of the girl all her life, and I understood how she’d been with the last Year King long enough to think of him as her husband and not to want to bed a new man.” She looked Bern over. “Though I think she would have gotten the better part of the bargain had she stayed and done her duty.”
“Get on to the important part,” the chieftain urged.
“The pair of them were angry and affronted at being forced to run from their home. After we made camp last night they talked about how they would betray the secrets of the stronghold’s defenses to the Saxons.”
Ched rubbed the back of his neck. “But that is the secret—we have no defenses.”
“But the invaders aren’t aware of how weak we are,” the guard said. “They’ll march straight for us now.”
“They will be arriving soon,” the woman said. “I had to come back to warn my people that their doom approaches.”
Bern wished she hadn’t put it like that. It made him feel sorry for the indigenous population. Even worse, the way they all looked to him to take command made him feel responsible for them. These people were going to be easy pickings without some help. Bern thought of all the defenseless people camped out around the stronghold. They’d come here for a religious celebration, not to be slaughtered.
“How will you defend us?” Lord Ched asked him.
Ginger came forward and put her hand on his arm. “I was studying the pool for advice on that very subject when you arrived. If you would let us continue with the divination, the king will meet with you afterwards, better prepared to save your people.”
The chieftain and his people left without another word.
When they were alone, Ginger grabbed the front of Bern’s tunic, held on tight, and talked fast. “You listen to me, Colonel Bern. I will not have you quoting rules and regs about noninterference and the possibility of changing history. We don’t have any solid history from this era to go on. But we do have myths and legends, and, hon, I think I know what’s going on here. You have to fight the invaders. You. You are the element necessary to slow down the incursions and give the native culture more time to recover from Roman rule. That way, when the Saxons do take over it’ll be overlaying a British-based culture rather than a Roman one. In our time we’ll have England the way we know it. If you duck this battle we won’t. It’s your duty take on the invaders here and now. You were meant to do this.”