He brought his hand up to his chin, twisting it as though trying to lock it back in place, then spat out some blood before turning to Gwyn with a sly grin. “You’ll regret that one, Gwynfor.”
“But it felt so good,” Gwyn countered, spreading out his arms and inviting Arthur to fight back. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“You will be,” Arthur said as he mounted his horse again. “Now get out of my field.” He pulled hard on the reins causing the horse to back up and let out a loud whinny, then he set off at a sprint through the field, narrowly missing Mrs Hopkin and her children as he passed.
Mair immediately made a beeline for us, hitching up her skirts and running through the tall flowers to the clearing. “Are you ok? What did he say?”
“We’re fine,” Gwyn replied. “Get them home. We’ll be right behind you.”
“But…”
“No buts, Mair,” he snapped. “Go.”
His sister turned heel and headed back to the Hopkins’, gathering them up and leading them back towards the house.
“Is your hand ok?” I asked. As soon as Arthur was out of sight he’d brought it up to his chest and cupped it with the other, obviously hurt from punching that awful man.
“It’s nothing. It was worth it.”
“You shouldn’t have hit him,” I said as I began gathering the blankets and baskets left behind by Mrs Hopkin. “Last time you only stood up to him and he had us locked up. What do you think he’ll do now you’ve smacked him in the face?”
“He doesn’t get to put his hands on you,” he replied. “Nobody does.”
I smiled at him, glad to have him on my side, and tossed his shirt at him so that he could get dressed.
“It was quite impressive,” I said with a wink as we made our way out of the grove, and he made a jokey flex with his arm before pushing me off into the flowers.
“My hero,” I teased and he grabbed my hand, bringing me to a stop. I looked over to the rest of our group who were now at the far side of the field, disappearing one by one through the opening onto the road, and then turned my attention back to him.
“As long as you’re here I’ll always look out for you. I hope you know that.”
“About that,” I said, deciding that now was as good a time as any to tell him of my decision. “I-”
“Come on,” Mair shouted, bringing our attention back to the opening at the edge of the field. She stood in the gap waving her arms and beckoning us toward her. “We’re all waiting by here.”
“I guess it’ll wait,” I said with a sigh, and we rushed off to rejoin the group.