Page 93 of Gwen and Art Are Not in Love

‘So the plan is …’ he said, breathing heavily. ‘Out through the competitors’ entrance – don’t get dragged into the melee – wriggle our way towards Gwen. I reckon if we can just get her attention, we can— Oh.’

He had walked straight into his father.

‘Ah,’ said Lord Delacey. ‘Arthur.’

Arthur had no idea where to begin with his response; in his determination to get to Gwen, he was completely baffled by this sudden and considerable obstacle. Sidney, however, gave a quick and curt sort of bow, taking Arthur with him.

‘It’s fortuitous, actually,’ his father continued slowly, eyes darting from Arthur to Sidney and then back again, ‘that I have run into you.’

‘Odd that you should say so,’ Arthur said tightly. ‘If you wanted to come and find me, I’ve actually been pretty stationary. You know. Nearlydying.’ Next to him, Arthur felt Sidney stiffen; quite a few large men had just walked through the entrance, and were now standing menacingly at Lord Delacey’s shoulders.

‘Arthur,’ his father said, raising his eyebrows and continuing to speak as if Arthur were a stray dog that needed to be approached with caution. ‘There’s no reason to be difficult. Come with me now, and I’ll explain on the way.’

‘Actually,’ Arthur spat, ‘I can think of quite a few reasons to be difficult.One—’

‘Seize him,’ his father said, in a tone so light that for a moment Arthur was sure he had misheard. His father’s men clearly hadn’t; they immediately moved towards him, and Sidney took a step forward, pulling out his shortsword and putting himself squarely between Arthur and danger.

‘Er … what the hell is happening?’ Arthur said, as two of the men also raised their weapons, and Sidney moved back to accommodate them, his shoulders pressed against Arthur’s chest.

‘Get out of the way,’ Arthur’s father snarled at Sidney. ‘I pay yourwages, boy.’

‘Now that you mention it,’ Sidney said evenly, ‘I resign. In disgrace.’

‘Father,’ Arthur said, his voice wavering. Even Sidney couldn’t expect to hold off the half-dozen men who were now advancing on them, and Arthur had no desire to see his head removed from his body. ‘Can we take a moment and go back a few steps? I think there’s been some sort of—’

It happened so quickly that Arthur couldn’t have explained how it had transpired with a sword to his throat – and certainly not with six. One of the men towards the back of the group let out an extremely loud grunt as something in his body made the sort of cracking noise that healthy bodies shouldn’t, on the whole – and then he was toppling sideways; another managed to turn and raise his sword just in time as Lady Leclair, wielding only a dagger, brought her arm up to meet him.

‘Bridget!’ Arthur said, genuinely delighted to see her.

‘You seem to be –’ Bridget grunted, pushing hard against the man who was attempting to suppress her – ‘in a spot of bother.’

‘I don’t have time for this,’ Arthur’s father hissed. ‘Get him, and let’s go.’

The first man who tried to grab Arthur discovered very quickly how reluctant Sidney was to let anybody get within touching distance; he was dispatched with a rather nasty stab wound to the thigh and a blow to the head that sent him tottering sideways until he collapsed quietly to the ground. The second, third and fourth were not quite so hasty; they attacked en masse, and it became clear almost immediately that this was a fight that Arthur and Sidney weren’t going to win.

Within approximately ten seconds, Sidney had been knocked from his feet, a sword pressed to his throat, and Arthur was holding up his shaking hands in surrender. Behind his father, he could see Bridget locked in combat with a much taller man who was trying very hard to keep out of dagger-swiping range.

‘Stop,’ Arthur said raggedly, as the man who had Sidney at his mercy lifted his sword as if to get a better angle on Sidney’s jugular. ‘Father. Stop. I’ll come with you – we both will. Sid, drop your sword.’

Sidney swore, but immediately did as he was told, opening his hand and letting it fall to the ground.

‘Fine,’ Lord Delacey said; the man who had been about to kill Sidney instead roughly hauled him to his feet, and then turned him to bind his hands crudely behind his back.

‘What about …?’ One of the men gestured at Bridget, who had been pushed back against the fence but was still giving her all.

‘Leave them. He’ll finish her. We must gonow,’ Lord Delacey said impatiently. Arthur found himself practically lifted from the ground by the two men, who each grabbed one of his shoulders to frogmarch him away.

It was just as well, really; his legs had almost given out the moment Sidney had been forced to the ground.

If his father’s men hadn’t been so unforgivably rude, he might have thanked them for the lift.

Gabriel didn’t seem at all interested in the fact that Arthur’s father had disappeared. In fact, he wasn’t paying Gwen the slightest bit of attention.

‘Gabe,’ Gwen said urgently. ‘Why are you –whatare you looking at?’

Gabriel was gazing up at the stands, his eyeline high above the competitors. ‘That’s – I’m sure that’s Morgana.’

‘Morgana?’ Gwen said, momentarily convinced that he had started hallucinating due to extensive sleep deprivation. ‘Morgan le Fay? Thewitch?’