Chapter Six

Spy of the Enemy

Aarana was not sure if it was the dream or the hoof beats that awakened her. But it was the dream that made her frightened enough to do what she did.

On the road she had been walking on was an army; many of the people were on horseback. She was quite far north now, almost reaching the Great North Road. The people were marching than the opposite direction than she had been going. She wondered if they were good or bad. But then she saw the Scanran flag waving high above.

She was very frightened, perhaps it was the Rebels marching so close to her or perhaps she was still remembering the Nightmare, which now she did not even understand since the events in that dream were so long ago. She was so frightened in fact, that she thought of a ludicrous plan to get off that road and far away.

She waited until all the rich rebelling noblemen, then their knights, the foot soldiers and archers and then a few scribes and servants carrying documents rode past. The last person in that long procession was a young boy of thirteen, riding on a mule. Aarana did not notice the scroll shaped containers hanging on the sides of the mule. All of a sudden she leapt with all her might at the boy riding on the animal. He was small and knocked off easily.

There was a commotion as people at the front tried to figure out what had happened. Aarana took the reins of the animal and tried to get him to run. But he was no match for the battle-bred stallions beginning to chase after her. She heard shouts:

"It's a spy! It's a spy!"

"Get him!"

"He's only on mule, for Goddess sake!"

The horses were gaining on her and she decided the only way to escape was into the forest. She was able to get through tight squeezes that some of the bigger horses could not. She rode a long way, even after she heard them stopping behind her.

She was just starting to relax when all of a sudden she was surrounded by swords.

* * * * *

General Durnell spat on the ground next to Aarana's chair, "A filthy Rebel spy! They've even sunk so low as to dress themselves up as women!"

"I am not a spy, sir," she said calmly, "And I can assure you, I am not a man."

"Liar!" He hissed. His face was red, "Then why were you in the forest with one of their horses?"

"I stole it." Was the strait answer.

"Ha, ha! He stole it!" he said sarcastically to another man standing in the room, to whom Aarana had not been introduced. "So, you just happened to steal the animal with all there documents, which have so little use to you I'm sure."

"Sir, I am a She, not a he, and yes, I just happened to choose that mule."

"You sicken me! You're a lying bastard who doesn't know what's good for him…"

"Um, Durnell" said a voice from the door of the shack, "Ah, this documents, they're all the Rebel's battle plans for next three months!"