Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They belong to their rightful owners.
Warning: The following chapter contains: violence, coarse language, and suggestive adult themes, YOU have been WARNED.
Chapter 10: Danger in the Forest
The party converged at the stables in the morning. Duncan held his head. He felt the alcohol the morning after. Noah, who also had a lot to drink, did not look much better. Both of them groaned and moaned from their hangovers. Courtney stood at the head of the group. "Alright. I hope you're all ready for the ride to Caithness. It's a few days away, but, thankfully, there's roads almost the whole way, so it should not be a hard ride. We'll stop at a couple villages along the way, and stay at inns when we can. Most of the way is through Birnam forest, so try to keep your eyes open for any potential threats."
"I don't remember electing you leader, Courtney," Duncan called at her.
Courtney placed her hand on her hip. "I'm just describing our ride. It's not really leadership. Plus, we don't elect any of our leaders. How is that at all relevant?"
"Right," Duncan waved his hand for no reason. Noah chuckled next to him. Duncan turned to Noah. "If my head didn't feel like I fell on a rock, I'd beat you in." Noah continued to laugh, before stopping, and holding his head with a groan.
"Are there any more asinine comments?" Courtney asked the group.
"None, miss bossy pants." Alejandro said, before climbing onto his horse.
"You're all a bunch of children," Courtney spoke under her breath, and climbed onto her own horse. "Remember to ride with your hoods up. It's imperative that we do not run into anyone who can recognize us. There are spies everywhere."
Duncan coughed. The rest of the group nodded. Once the party was fully mounted, they tied their cloaks and raised their hoods. Geoff led the group in a line. His full armor shone in the sunlight. Bridgette anchored the back, also wearing her full armor.
They rode for a few hours, until the sun was high in the sky. They came across a clearing, and Geoff reigned in his horse. "Lets break here!" He called out to the back. The rest of them stopped behind him. They dismounted, and rested in a tight circle.
"I hate horses. I hate riding. Could we not have bought a boat?" Noah spoke, massaging his legs.
Courtney rolled her eyes. "Yes, Noah, the perfect form of transportation for reaching the mountains in the centre of the nation. Speaking of water, did someone remember to refill the canisters?" Silence. "Great."
"I'll fill them up." Eva said. "There was a stream not far back." She rode next to everyone and they each handed her their waterskins and canisters. She paused for a second next to Bridgette. "Keep a close eye on the lords, these are dangerous roads." She then rode off back down the road they came until she was out of sight.
"Well, I'm going to go find a nice spot to vomit." Duncan informed the others before he began to walk off.
Noah nodded feeling his stomach. "I think I'll be doing the same." He turned and began to walk in the opposite direction of Duncan.
"Hey, I think we should all be sticking together." Bridgette spoke to the group.
Geoff slowly walked up behind her. "Actually, I was thinking we could have a moment to ourselves. I have something I'd like to give you."
"To give me?" Bridgette repeated, Geoff nodded slightly. Slowly the two walked away from the rest of the group. None of the others seemed to mind, notice, or care. The area was surrounded by forest. They walked past a couple trees until they were out of sight from the others. "This better be important Sir Geoff." He reached out and handed her a piece of parchment. She looked at it. "An autograph?"
"There's a message there too."
"To Bridgette, my biggest fan." Bridgette read aloud. "That's it?"
"That took me all night to come up with." Geoff scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm not a very good at knowing what to write."
"Is there anything you're good at?" Bridgette asked.
"I'm good looking."
Bridgette could not help but crack up and laugh at Geoff's remark. "I wouldn't deny that." She looked back down at the piece of paper in her hands. "This however, may be the saddest attempt anyone has ever tried to pick me up with." She then paused and thought to herself, "maybe the second saddest."
Geoff took a step back. "It's not a meagre pickup attempt. You spoke of watching me in the games. I thought it only fair to provide you with a token for a fan, since I won't be giving any out this year. I am ashamed and astonished you would confuse such a harmless gesture."
Bridgette took a step closer to fill in the gap between her and Geoff. "You think I believe that? Are all the girls you fancy as stupid as you are?"
"I, um, honestly have no idea how to respond to that. Besides if I were trying, it would be a lot different than this. I am a high knight! We do not hide behind such flimsy gestures such as messages of affection!"
"Alright," Bridgette spoke as she stepped further closer to Geoff, close enough that their armor clanked. "Show me."
"If you insist." Geoff said as he wrapped his arms around her back side and pulled her close.
Elsewhere in the Forest
"mmmbuueeeeeghhh," Noah sounded as he vomited up what was once his breakfast onto the ground. He grabbed a leaf from a nearby tree and wiped his mouth. "You know, if you're going to walk up behind me. At least say something so it's not totally awkward, Courtney." He muttered as he stood up straight and turned around to look right at Courtney standing right behind him.
"Are you done?" Courtney asked.
Noah felt his stomach. "Think so. No promises."
Courtney looked around to make sure none of the others were around. "Shall we get started? Care to tell me how the hell you learned where Izzy was headed?"
"I baited out a castle agent claiming to have an anonymous royal sponsor with a matching description to Izzy. I interrogated him and learned what the castle knows." Noah informed her.
"You did what?" Courtney called out in shock. "Why would you do that? We're supposed to be discreet here! No one is supposed to know what we're doing, not even the castle!"
"I knew what I was doing. I knew that if I was able to get the information out of him, he's not going to tell anyone because he just gave up castle secrets. I will admit, there was some risk involved, but we can't just be playing it completely safe. If we were, all we'd have is Izzy's stupid note."
"Izzy's stupid note is the reason we know to go to Caithness. Have you forgotten that?" Courtney asked.
"We know Izzy was going somewhere with Primroses thanks to that note. Caithness is not the only place in Wawanakwa that grows Primroses. We know to go to the place in the northern mountains that grows Primroses thanks to the intel I provided."
"Fine. You still should have told us what you were planning. You put us all at risk! We could be in big trouble with the king if he finds out." Courtney argued.
"You're not the boss of this operation, Courtney. I don't need your permission to do something. And you need to keep in mind that if we are going to find Izzy, we are going to need to take some risks. Otherwise, we will get no where. Either we do what we need to do, or we should abandon this whole quest. If you're serious about finding Izzy, then you need to take it seriously, even if you need to do something you would rather not."
"You know, this whole thing would be much easier if we trusted each other." Courtney spoke, shaking her head. "If we can't trust each other, then how can we expect to get anything done."
Noah waved his hand. "Not going to disagree with you there. Still, I wouldn't expect much of a change of heart. Our distrust cuts a little too deep, and it's not particularly unfounded." He brought his hand quickly to his mouth. "Uh oh! Here it comes. Eeuughhh!" Noah vomited once more in the bushes. Courtney laughed at his expense.
"Fair enough." Courtney spoke.
"Although, don't be too discouraged. Some how you've succeeded to hold all of us together. I thought that was an impossible task. The fact that we are all still together on this journey is a bigger miracle than our birth. No one would have been able to do that other than you. There's a reason I came to you with the idea."
"Thank... you..." Courtney spoke, a little surprised by Noah's kind words. "It's been a while since I've said that," she chuckled to herself. "To be honest, you've impressed me the last couple of days. I never expected you would suggest going after Izzy. It's not like you to go out on a limb for others. And, while I may not agree with your methods, you trying harder than everyone else, and with more results as well. I feel like we're getting close to finding her."
Noah smiled. "Thanks. Just because I kept my head in books, doesn't mean I never cared for you all."
"Really? Do you remember what my favourite flower was when we were kids?" Courtney asked.
"What is with everyone's fascination with flowers recently? Since when was that the litmus of how well you knew someone. Fuck!" Noah spoke obviously frustrated.
Courtney quickly waved away the question. "It doesn't matter. Really. It was just a thought that crossed my mind. Forget it." She took a deep breath. "You know, I think we work better together than all of the others, like as a team."
"Well there's no denying we're the most competent." Noah admitted. "And we surely have better results working together than those fools."
"It's too bad. I often think how much I would like to choose my partner with that in mind. You know, choose. Make sure it's going to be the best it can be for my territory. I... I know it's silly to say this, but, I sometimes think it would be so much easier if you and me were chosen together for marriage. We'd make the best team."
Noah was a little surprised by her statement. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Just call it a hunch, but I doubt it'll happen." There was the sound of crumpling leafs in the distance. Noah looked to that direction. "Courtney!" He yelled.
Courtney turned around to see a hooded rider galloping in her direction. Before she had time to react a rope net was tossed on top of her. It's weight knocked her to the ground. She looked through to see Noah running away in the direction of the others. "Don't leave me!" She cried. A second hooded rider came riding out of the trees and directly at Noah.
"Shit." Noah cursed. The rider swung a wooden club at Noah. It struck him right in the side of the head, knocking him out cold. Courtney tried frantically to break free from the net but it was no use. Courtney's attention turned to the rider who had thrown the net. The rider quickly dismounted their horse and picked up Courtney off the ground and onto the back of their horse.
"Let go of me! Put me down!" She cried out. The rider mounted his horse and began to ride off with Courtney. Her attention turned to the second rider who rode up beside them. She saw Noah dangling unconscious on the back of the second riders horse. "Noah." she said softly. The two riders and their captives raced through the forest travelling past tree, after tree.
Afterword:
Finally some action. This chapter is start of Act 3. Thank you for reading, please leave a review and tell us what you thought. I also posted the second of two chapters for my Tennis story Drop Shot Glory, so go check it out.