Am very sorry for the late update, I'm having SUCH a case of writer's block! Give me time, that's all I ask. And reviews, that's another thing I'm asking for. They're my sole reason for continuing to write! Special thanks to you Discofreak, for your loyal and encouraging reviews. And to you, Mondhase, for writing such an incredible story!

o0o

The queen was relentless. The soldier had thought he had done his duty, his mistress's will. How wrong he had been. He had waited a few hours for Angus to wake, but when that didn't happen he felt he should go up and confess. After he had told Maeve wat had occured, she quickly knew what to do. Her orders had been clear, that no further harm should come to her prisoners.

The soldier was a burden to her, another pawn that could easilly be replaced in the eleborate game she was playing. And so she had taken his own sword after he unwillingly had handed it to her, and had stricken him down.

She did not know the name of her latest victim, and she did not care either. "Get rid of him", she shouted to one of her quards as she stormed out of her tent.

o0o

It had ceased to rain and the birds had already started their morning song. Garrett longed for the first rays of sunlight to warm his body. He made a futile attempt to arch his back and stretch his limbs, but he remained unmoving. One look at his dark haired friend told him Angus was in much the same state, but with his eyes closed firmly. Behind his ear a deep gash was left where the soldier had hit him, and the side of his head was covered with the crimson red of dried blood. The rise and fall of his chest assured Garrett that his friend was still very much alive, but the cold night and the lack of proper food and drink had taken the toll on him, on both of them.

Suddenly the dark and terrible figure of their enemy queen appeared in front of him. She glanced at the prince for a short moment, but then directed her gaze on Angus. She had a manacing look about her, and Garrett assumed that something must've greatly upset her. She bend her knees and her hand as she reached for Angus's face. He didn't respond as she turned his head from left to right. With her thumb she slightly lifted one of his eyelids and then layed one of her hands on his chest to check his breathing.

Inadvertently she drew back her hand when Angus softly moaned. He shifted his head slightly and fluttered his lashes. Garrett thought it seemed like he was fighting for consciousness. Suddenly he was motionless again, and his dark eyes remained shut.

Vaguely satisfied Maeve stood up and turned to leave. Just as she did, with all his effort Garrett lifted his head to catch her gaze. "You.. w- won't..", he said with a soft, croaky voice.

It caught her attention and she halted. She snickered before cutting him off midsentence. "I won't? I won't what?" Garrett tried very hard to continue, but he knew how he must sound to Maeve. Nevertheless he tried again.

"You.. won't.. g- g- get.. aaah-"

"Oh please, I thought you were going to say something interesting, something I'd never heard before." Maeve said mockingly, before continuing in a more serious tone.

"And you're very wrong, Forest Knight, because I WILL get away with this."

She bend down again and continued to whisper. "But aren't you curious where exactly it is you're going?"

Her eyes turned toward Angus as she whispered even more softly the two words that described their destination.

She bend forward and layed one of her long, cold fingers on Garrett's lips. "Ssshh, don't tell the thief."

o0o

Not half an hour after Maeve whispered their destination to Garrett, Angus slowly woke up again. He groaned and squinted his eyes against the sunlight. He tried to reach for his throbbing head, but he quickly realised that he was still tied to the tree.

"Fah.. Fi- Finally." Angus jumped when he heard Garrett's words, and when he looked at his fellow knight he saw that the familiair twinkle had reappeared in his friends' in his struggle to pronounce this single word, Angus could clearly hear the sarcastic undertone in Garrett's voice. "H- Hope.. you.. sss- slept weh.. well"

"Like a baby." The former thief winked at his last remark. He was truely relieved to see Garrett moving and talking again, even if it still didn't come easy to him. "I'm glad to see you're doing better, my friend."

One of the guards approached them, carrying two bowls containing a foul smelling substance. The white, lumpy goo reminded Garrett vaguely of one of the rare occasions when he had grabbed a bite at Rohan's hut. The two best friends had gathered anything eatable from their table, put it in a pot with some water from the village pond and had heated the mixture over a small fire. While Rohan and Angus seemed to be enjoying their home-made meal, Garrett had quickly lied about an obligation he had to attend to and had to keep himself from running out their hut. This time however, even Angus seemed far from willing to eat the stew. He wrinkled his nose and curled his lip in disgust.

"Tell your queen that we would rather starve than eat this pig feed." Angus illustrated his dismay by spitting on the ground in front of the soldier.

The young Temran looked hopeless for a moment. His queen had given him two orders: not to inflict any further harm to her prisoners, but also to feed them. He suddenly felt an enormous hate growing towards the Mystic Knights who made his life so difficult at the moment. He grabbed a wooden spoon loaded with the stew from one of the bowls, and pushed it against Angus's lips.

"Just open your mouth, you'll make it easier for the both of us."

The dark haired man kept his mouth shut tight and looked at the guard defyingly.

"Fine, have it your way," the soldier hissed. After he quickly looked over his shoulder, he shot out his hand and grabbed Angus by the jaw. He was suprised how difficult it was to force his mouth open, but when he did he quickly grabbed the bowl and held it to Angus's lips. The thick goo slowly streamed into his mouth, though most of it trickled down his jaw and neck. Angus's body stretched and jerked, and the guard had to avoid his kicking legs while balancing the bowl between his teeth. It was too much for the knight to swallow, so when Angus started to cough violently the young guard decided he had had enough. He had thought that feeding Garrett would be easier, but when the spoiled prince started to gag after the third spoonfull, the young soldier thought it better to leave it at this and lie about feeding the prisoners properly.

As he walked off he shot a last look at the two warriors. His hatred slightly faded and was added by pity.

"What a way to spend your last day," he whispered. He emptied the bowls behind a near tree and then hurried off to join the other guards by the fire.

oOo

For over twenty years Rohan had shared a hut with his best friend. He would wake in the bed next to Angus, and wether he liked it or not, the face of the former thief was the first thing he saw every morning.

Of course there were the many occasions when Angus was imprisoned. Rohan would then usually find an excuse to spend the night at Cathbad's chamber, or even outside Angus's prisoncell, just to avoid being alone without his friend. When they were younger the druid would jokingly say that it seemed like they were joined at the hip. They thoroughly enjoyed the lifestyle they created, but more so did they enjoy each others company. They both knew that it wouldn't last forever though, and that one of them would go their own way sooner or later. But that would be later, and it wouldn't be very soon.

Rohan woke with a gasp. For a moment he was wondering what he was doing, sleeping on a bed of wet leaves. When he turned his head and didn't see the familiair unruly mop of black hair, the memory of the previous days quickly came back to him.

Angus had called out for help, but they were not yet able to catch up on him and Garrett. They had found the tracks from the carriage they had seen leaving Temra castle yesterday. Maeve was probably accompanying their friends but they were all riddled as to where they might be heading. Rohan felt like they should make an early start, and so did Ivar. The prince had found a small stream and was freshening himself up for the journey that layed ahead of them. Deirdre however was still huddled deeply in her blanket and Rohan could hear her soft sleeping noises. A faint smile appeared on his lips, as he softly called out her name to wake her.

The princess's maroon blue eyes looked at him drowsilly and for a moment Rohan thought his heart had stopped. He wanted to reach out and touch her beautiful face, but he knew how very inappropriate that would be. Instead he straightened his pose.

"We have to go, princess".

oOo

Dubh Binn.

The two words that Maeve had whispered in Garrett's ear. The phrase had no meaning for Garrett, with him not being from the island. He knew what the words meant, literally 'black cave', and somehow that didn't sound like a very promising place.

Maeve told him not to tell Angus, so that was exactly what he was going to do. Angus's eyes widened and swallowed hard when he heard Garrett repeat Maeve's words.

The prince noticed this: "w-what does it m-mean?"

At this very moment Maeve's soldiers approached the two knights and started to untie them. As they were ushered up and directed toward the carriage, Angus managed to turn his head close to Garrett's face and whispered through his teeth.

"It means we have to escape.. and fast!"

TBC