Serpent by Kathryn Le Veque Page A

brothers, he was a competent and powerful knight.
    “I do not know,” he said, moving to his Aunt Jemma. “ They came in from the road to the west and headed straight into the fight. They are Welsh, that is certain, but we do not know who they are. All that matters at the moment is that they are with us, not against us.”
    Penelope helped her brother get Jemma to a horse and assisted her in mounting. The horses were agitated and Thomas grabbed his sister.
    “Get mounted,” he told her. “Father wants you to take Mother and Aunt Jemma and ride for Rhydilian Castle.”
    Penelope tried not to be startled by yet another horrific roar as the creature was fended off by a host of well-armed men. But as she mounted the nearest steed, which happened to be Thomas’ horse, the lure proved to be too great and she turned to watch as men began lighting arrows and shooting flaming projectiles from their crossbows. The light of fiery arrows began to fill the night sky as they shot overhead, illuminating the terrible beast at the edge of the marsh. In fact,  there seemed to be a good deal of flame happening on the northern perimeter, so much so that the creature, whatever it was, began to shrink back, clearly turned away by the men with flame.
    “Thomas, look ,” Penelope pointed to the battle in the distance. “It is moving away!”
    Thomas was preparing to send his mother and aunt off into the night but he paused at his sister’s insistence. His hazel eyes watched the scene, carefully gauging the degree of battle and of danger as the flame arrows continued to fly and the creature turned back for the marsh. With the bright moon and flaming projectiles, it was easy to see what was going on. He had to admit that his sister’s assessment seemed to be correct; the creature seemed to be returning to whatever hellish cave it crawled out of.
    But for Penelope, it was not enough. She had to see for herself, attracted as she was to the heart of any conflict . It was the de Wolfe in her, the traits passed down by her father. As Thomas yelled after her, she spurred the black charger towards the gathering of men, most of whom seemed to be backing away, in a line, just as the creature was moving away from them. She could see de Wolfe men poised for battle, and knights she had known all her life who were watching the retreat with concern; her father, Paris, Kieran, her brothers Scott and Troy and Patrick, Kieran’s sons Kevin, Alec, and Christian, and Paris’ sons Hector and Adonis and Apollo.
    … Apollo?
    Penelope could see the tall, red-haired knight standing next to Alec Hage. The last she had seen of Apollo, he had ridden on to Rhydilian Castle to announce the arrival of the party from Castle Questing. Logic would dictate, then, that the men who had ridden to their aid must have been from Rhydilian Castle if Apollo was with them. Further logic would dictate that The Serpent must be among them; it must have been the man himself who had ridden to their aid. There was no other clear alternative.
    Penelope didn’t like that thought at all. She didn’t know why she was suddenly apprehensive, but she was. To know that the man she was pledged to was somewhere in her midst unnerved her. When she heard someone give the retreat cover command, she drove her heels into the sides of the horse and charged after the men on horseback that were pursuing the beast. As she raced towards the marsh, unknown to her father or the rest of his knights, the de Wolfe encampment began to hastily pack up and prepare to move out.
    It hadn’t been a particularly wise move on her part, she thought in hindsight, going in pursuit of a dangerous beast, but she found that she had to get away. She had to do what came naturally, to fight and defend, and then perhaps it would help her clear her mind and not feel such apprehension. She didn’t like the feeling. But the truth was that she didn’t know this land and in the bright moonlight, it made movement more