Come morning, when he woke, he sat up looking around only to find her standing and speaking to a small group of Ivory Knights. He caught her bowing deeply, before they continued on down their path and she moved back towards the camp.
"What did they want?"
"Wondering why we were so far outside of the kingdom boundries. I explained we were on passage to the forest to offer tribute to the Goddess Riella and the God Azrail. They expect us out of the area by nightfall."
He tsk'd, turning to watch the Ivory Knights on path towards the forest, "and how do you plan on getting us around them?"
"By playing the act." She responded cleaning up the campsite. "Come on." Packing up everything on the horses, they mounted and headed out. They were silent as they headed towards the forest. The Ivory Knights kept at a distance but always within eye sight. "We won't be able to cross into the woods if they keep on us, not if we want to draw attention."
"Could just kill them." He muttered.
"Not yet. If your goal is the head, don't start at the bottom." she replied softly and he tensed looking over at her, only to find her keeping sight on the Knights. "We might have to think of a different approach, or take a longer less desired route into the kingdom."
"What route?"
"Another way through the forest." She finished as they made it up to the forest edge. "Just play along a moment, hopefully they move on." Hoping off the horse, she grabbed a pack off the back and then moved close to the treeline on foot.
Kneeling down on the ground, she began removing small items from the bag. Three candles, an idol of Azrail and six feathers. She placed the three candles all beside one another and placed the idol before the middle candle. Forming a ring of feathers around the idol, she lit the candles and took a deep breath.
Softly in a forgotten language, she began whispering softly, the hymn of Azrail. Reaper dismounted and moved up beside her, shocked at the hymn she knew. In a language thought dead. He glanced over to see the knights still at a distance, watching from afar, so he moved to a knee and joined in on the hymn.
When they finished in unison she bowed to the idol, keeping her head firm on the ground. "Are they still watching?"
"No." He responded. "However, they are still nearby."
"Bow." She said and he looked down at her. "Just bow and keep your head down."
He seemed hesitant, but did as she said. "When I say run, jump on your horse and go into the woods as fast as possible." He shifted his head to just barely look at her as she took a deep breath, digging her nails into the ground. "Goddess Riella, hear my prayer. We seek passage into your great forest, but cannot with the knights. I ask not of you to harm them, for they have done no wrong, but to diverge them from our path so we may seek refuge within your home. I beg thee, hear my prayer." She finished in a whisper and the world around them fell into an eery silence.
The ground began to tremble beneath them and Reaper moved to lift up but a firm hand on his arm kept him still. "Stay down." NaMara whispered harshly. The trembling increased, shook beneath them, the sounds of thunder crashing against the ground began to grow louder, until it was almost an unbearable sound. As the horses began growing restless, bucking and neighing loudly in fear, she grabbed the idol. "Go now!" She shouted and in an instant they were both on their feet, jumping on their horses and rushing into the forest.
He took a moment to glance over to see a herd of deer were trampling from the forest into the plains, effectively separating them from the knights. Turning his head to look over at her, making sure she was still close by, he found her just ahead, guiding the path.
There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but he knew better. He knew this wasn't the time, he knew she was unlikely to actually answer. Yet, he noticed she was still holding the idol of Azrail tight in her hand, and it only made more questions swarm through his head. Right now was not the time for such questions, he needed to be focus on keeping on her path.