It was over a week later before she heard anything more from him. She was woken around midnight by shouting and banging outside the dungeon door. It was impossible to hear what was being said. There was what sounded like a huge fight. She couldn't be sure but she could of sworn she could hear Eeleor.
The door finally opened and Eeleor strode towards her. Igraine looked up at him. He crouched down in front of her. He held his hands out for her right wrist. She gave it to him and he spend a little time getting her cuff off.
He stood back up and held out his hand to her. The cuff fell off, taking his hand a smile filled her face.
They ran through the corridors and halls toward back exit. The hallways where dark and there were lot of guards around almost every corner. "I hope you know where we're going because I'm following you." He just smiled at this and gestured which way they were going to go next.
By the time they made it out of the castle it was almost dawn and the warning bells were already ringing. They knew she had escaped. They began to run through the city as fast as they could. If they got to the outlying villages they would be safe. They passed houses and merchants who were up early getting their stalls ready.
By the time they left the city the were so out of breath they could barely walk ."You kept up well, I thought you might be a little out of practice." They grinned at each other.
"Let's just keep going shall we" replied Igraine. Coming into the nearest village was such a struggle that they almost stopped a while, but the King's men going by was all they needed, they aimed for the woodland near by. Knowing that they were unlikely to make it.
People from the village were staring at them, the two of them hadn't realise how early people got up here. They walked for what felt like hours dragging their feet along the floor.
Making the wood they couldn't move any further they sat down on the cool floor and rested getting as much breath back as possible in a short space of time. They didn't talk for a while concentrating on breathing. "We can't stay here long they will be searching round here soon. It's not like no one saw us." He paused and looked at her. "Come on, the sooner we start the sooner we finish." "I'm not walking all the way to Camelot" she replied. He laughed. He got up and held his hand out to her she took it and he pulled her to her feet. "Don't worry we are only walking to a stables, not far from here. We will get some horses there"
They set off walking through the dark cool woodland ,twigs cracked under their feet and leaves crunched. Making them feel a little like they were being followed. Looking over their shoulders proved there was no one there but they still had that feeling of uneasiness. It was a hot day but little sunlight got through.
Eeleor lead her through the wood until they came to a little building. He walked straight up to it and banged on the door, Igraine hung back a little she really didn't like the look of this place.
Eeleor was talking to a man at the door. This man had grey hair that she guessed used to be dark brown his clothes were stained with mud and grass. He didn't look like the type of person to live in such a horridly uneasy feeling house. She wondered what type of things lived here impossible for this man and his family to see. He disappeared for a moment and Eeleor came back over to her. "We've got to go round the back." he looked at her hard for a moment then said " Are you all right?"
She looked at him and whispered "Tell you in a minute." He looked confused but led the way round the back. Waiting for them was the man holding two beautiful horses. Igraine couldn't help but smile when she saw them. Eeleor handed him a large amount of money and they mounted, setting out for Camelot.
They didn't go back through the woods but went a different way they covered so much more ground on horse back. "So tell me " Eeleor began as they stopped by a stream for the horses to rest and drink, quite a way from the house they had got the horses from. "What was wrong?"
"With that house?" He nodded "It was infested with little invisible creatures, the poor man had no idea." She sighed and looked at him. "How come you could see them"
"I couldn't I could only sense them I was too far away to see them."
"Do they look horrid and all crouched over and give off a dreadful feeling. With huge claws and a scaly body." Igraine looked at him and nodded not speaking. They were silent for a while watching the horses drink deeply. "So you can see them too" he nodded at this and she carried on "that makes you a Seer, which is someone who can see things that others can't, we can see through disguises and also we have another talent to go with it. Some can see the dead, others can summon all sorts of animals and lots of other things, you ask any Seer they will tell you all you need to know about their skill and all Seers can do magic." She paused and smiled. "They also have a plant or animal name such as Rose or Mayflower."
"What's your name then?" She begin to grin.
"I'm Rose, but everyone calls me Igraine because Princess Rose of Camelot has that name now." She looked at him long and hard then smiled again. "And you are a Robin I think, it suits you" he smiled back at her and said "well now that I've got a name and the horses are ready don't you think we should have a drink quickly and set off again."
They did just that and soon they were passing over lovely green hills and through golden fields. It felt amazing to have the fresh cool air on her face. She hadn't known what a beautiful thing it was until now.
It was beginning to get dark when they went into a forest to find a clearing were they could sleep for the night. It wasn't too difficult to find a suitable place. They had nothing to cover them except the starry blue night sky. The stars gave little light as they sparkled and glistened over Eeleor and Igraine as they lay on their backs staring up at them. It didn't take them long to get to sleep they were so tired after their day. Going back over this Eeleor smiled, at least they had got the hard bit of the journey to Camelot over now they just had to get there. At least Rose would take care of getting Igraine and Uther back together.
The warm rays of the sun woke them early that morning it was going to be another long day. Oh well at least is wasn't bad weather for that would slow them right down. "We still have another four days hard riding until we get to Camelot maybe even more, but that is only if the fine weather holds out." Eeleor looked at Igraine to see how she would react to this she nodded. "They say the best things come to those who wait, lets set off soon or it will be even longer." They had a little breakfast of mainly apples before mounting the horses once more for another hard days ride.
The day was a lot hotter then the day before and they had to stop at around midday so that the horses could rest and get hydrated. They came to a little spring and the horses would go no further until they had had a long drink. Igraine dismounted and Eeleor was soon to follow they washed their hands and faces. Feeling refreshed they refilled their flasks and got ready to ride again. "You won't tell anyone who I am will you?" Eeleor sounded worried and he looked it too. "Of course I won't tell but it's going to be quite hard to hide after all you've got that branding on your right wrist" she replied. He looked down at his wrist and then looked away. He had always had it only an hour after he had been born his own father had had him branded. This was to make sure they wouldn't lose him and never find him because they would know him by this mark. It also let everyone know who he was. He had always hated this, "I'll think of a way around that" Igraine smiled at this.
"Shall we leave?" She asked.
Eeleor nodded "I think we should." Leaving the spring behind they set off once more on their way to Camelot.
The days passed well and each were as hot as the next. Soon they were within one days ride of Camelot. Night was drawing in and they decided to find themselves somewhere to sleep. Finding a suitable place tonight was going to be hard, they were quite far away from a wood or forest or even a patch of trees, they were right on top of a hill and when they looked around all they could see was farmland. "We must be quite near a city" Igraine nodded at Eeleor's words. "Maybe we should sleep here tonight on top of this hill. It's a warm night after all" Igraine agreed and they laid down watching the stars above. "I'll keep watch for tonight."
"What all night?"
"Yes all night I'll be fine you just get some sleep." Igraine protested for quite a while at this saying they should take it in turns, but in the end Eeleor won and Igraine went softly to sleep.
Morning broke early that day and with it came the first bad weather of the whole trip. It wasn't too bad and the horses did quite well. They stopped in the shelter of a wood around mid afternoon. "We should be there soon, well we will at least be there by nightfall." "I'm glad you know were we're going, where are we meeting Rose?" "You'll see" was his only reply. She groaned she really didn't like being kept in the dark. "Who else knows we're coming?" He looked at her the replied "No one, just Rose"
Carrying on their way they got to the Forest of Camelot well before nightfall. Eeleor grinned for the rain was easing a bit. As they rode through the forest the closer to Camelot they came the better she remembered this place. "There's a huge group of Seers in this forest, the Camelot Seers. Me and Rose are part of them." Eeleor nodded at this. "Right as soon as we get out of this forest I'm no longer Eeleor I'm Robin, ok?" Igraine nodded. They both knew that Rose already knew and that he couldn't hide himself forever, he probably wouldn't be able to hide himself for very long they would soon see through his lie, but how long would it take?
