Chapter 8. In the Wilderness
Michael directed the soldiers to round up some weapons and amour from the dead. He picked a simple chainmail hauberk for himself and took one of the assassin's crossbows. Michael then stripped the small supple chain shirt from the leader and handed it to Anora.
Anora looked at him for a moment, then she put the chain shirt on wordlessly.
"Good, now take this, " Michael said and handed her a stout quarterstaff one of the attacker had been armed with.
"I don't need this," Anora said angrily. "I can use a Sword"
"I know that perfectly well, Anora, but I want you to carry this instead."
"Why?" Anora asked tersely.
"Fine," Michael said sighing and took the staff himself and handed Anora a sword.
"Now, try to hit me," Michael instructed Anora.
"Have you lost your mind?"
"Just hit me with the sword, Anora," Michael said and held staff in front of him.
Anora gripped the sword in both hands and approached Michael, but he held the staff like a spear in front of him, jabbing at her. Anora swung angrily at him, but couldn't reach him. Anora clenched her teeth and tried to move around him, but Michael kept circling too, jabbing with the staff. Then he put the staff down.
"You can kill a man with staff if you crack his skull," Michael sad, "but if you use it like a spear you will keep him away from you. It won't kill him but it will buy you time."
"Time for what?"
"For me to see what's going on and kill him," Michael replied calmly.
"You are the queen Anora, all that matters is keeping you alive. I don't want you to kill anyone. I want you to survive. Do you understand?"
Anora looked as if she was going to protest, but then she took the quarterstaff and left haughtily.
Michael directed the unwounded men and women to carry the wounded to a small gully, with a little brook running between two hillocks out of sight from the road. He told one of the soldiers who had sprained his foot, but was otherwise uninjured that he was in charge. He also told one of the servants, an elderly man, to remain with the wounded.
"Don't worry," he said. "As soon as the Queen is safe I'll send soldiers to bring you home. We don't have any food so it will be harsh, but there is water in brook and we leave most of the health poultices here. "
The wounded men nodded.
"You are good men and you made me proud today," Michael said smiling. "I'm not going to forget you."
"Maker bless you and the Queen, your Highness," the soldier with the sprained ankle said.
"Right, let's go," Michael said to the others.
They set off through the woods. Michael didn't dare let them use the road, in case more attackers came that way.
When they had walked for four hours, Michael called a halt and had everyone take off their shoes. As he suspected, Erlina and one more of the servants had developed blisters. He helped them put on some poultice showed them how to bind their feet to avoid the worst discomfort. They drank some water and then he made them continue.
They marched mostly in silence through the woods. Anora grimly held on to her staff, even if Michael offered to help her carry it.
When the sun began to set, Michael called a halt and the others slumped to the ground exhausted.
"Should we begin to make a fire, your highness?" one of the soldiers called.
"No, fires can be seen from miles away at night."
"It'll be cold tonight, if we don't get a fire, your Highness."
"I know," Michael said grimly. "One of you gets some water from the creek, the rest of you get some food. It's late summer, so it's bound to be lots of berries to eat. I am going to find some pine trees."
"Pine trees?" a soldier asked with raised eye brow.
"So we won't freeze."
They gathered berries and wolfed them down for almost an hour. When they got back Michael had built two small shelters. They shelters were only two feet high , but deep enough to be able to creep in and sleep in. They were clad both on the ground and roof with pine branches.
"A mattress of pine twigs will hold warmth. It won't be comfortable but we won't freeze," Michael explained.
Anora sat down next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"You saved our lives today, Michael. We would have died without you," she said softly.
"You are what's important, Anora. You are the Queen."
"I don't feel very queenly now," Anora said. "I just want to curl up in a corner and cry."
"It's all right to feel like that. You've been through a lot today."
"You've been through the same and you don't fall apart," she said snorting.
"This is what I'm trained to do, Anora," he said and handed her a water skin.
Anora nodded.
"I just feel so useless. You can handle everything and I just sit here and watch clueless"
"You want to say something, but you're afraid that you'll sound like some petulant child?" Michael filled in. "I know that feeling."
"You? You're like some invincible god of war. Whatever can make you feel like that?" she asked.
"You can, in court," Michael replied and looked down.
Anora sat still for a time.
"Am I really that bad?" she asked then, in a hurt tone.
"No, not really. You are the Queen and it's your duty to rule Ferelden, just as it's my duty to help you, but sometimes... well, I can do more if you let me.
"I know you can," she said slowly.
"We should try and get some sleep now, Buttercup," Michael said, after a moments awkward silence.
Anora boxed him.
"It's not fair! No one will tell me any embarrassing things about you," she said and pouted.
Michael smiled at her, but then his face grew wistful and he looked away.
"Pup," Michael said in a thick voice. "Dad always used to call me pup, before he..."
Anora nodded and took his hand. Then she kissed him softly on his cheek.
"Let's go to sleep, dear," she whispered.
Michael had initially intended to take first watch, but he felt he couldn't keep up anymore. He was exhausted and felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier. He set the three soldiers to take turns guarding, then he spread his cloak as bed sheet and her cloak as blanket. They crawled into the shelter to rest together, with Erlina huddling on Anora's other side.
Anora snuggled close to him.
"Michael," she whispered to him.
"Mhmm," Michael murmured, drifting to sleep.
"Good night, pup," she whispered and pressed herself to him for warmth and safety.
Her last coherent thought before falling asleep was the crazy idea that part of her liked this. He was rescuing her and not some other pretty girl and that felt good.
The next morning Michael woke up stiff and aching. He had grown soft sleeping in the royal bed chamber, he thought ruefully.
He arduously opened his eyes and saw Anora still curled up next to him, her head on his arm. He tried to carefully extricate himself from her without waking her, but she groaned and opened her eyes when he gently lifted her head.
"Good morning, dear," he murmured.
"Maker's mercy, but my body aches everywhere," she moaned.
They both crawled out from their shelter. Anora shuddered in the cold morning and Michael pulled her cloak around her. Around them, the others start to stir too.
"What do we do now?" Anora asked him.
Michael had been thinking a lot about that day yesterday.
"I'm not willing to trust any other soldiers than our own royal knights yet, but I think we may risk moving closer to the road now. If we stay close to the road we'll be bound to find some small hamlet where we can get horses. If this is the result of some local conspiracy I highly doubt local villagers are in on it."
"What then," Anora wondered.
"We ride to the outskirts of Bann Odwin's Estate and then one of you will locate our own troops and ask them to meet us at once, without alerting anyone else." Michael said and pointing at the soldiers."
"Do you really think we are in any danger from the Bann?" Anora asked him.
"I have no idea, but I'm not taking any chances. You are the Queen of Ferelden, and someone damned well tried to have you murdered. I will not risk anything until you are safe," Michael replied grimly.
"As you wish," Anora said submissively.
They got up stiffly. Most of them where aching from the cold and uncomfortable night, made worse by blisters and tired muscles. Michael almost had to start barking orders to get them moving.
They soon found the road again. Michael had not permitted them to stray too far from it yesterday. They marched a slower than yesterday, but after three hours they reached a small hamlet and approached it.
The little knot of people who stood by the side of the road stared at them as they neared. Michael took the lead and approached the group.
"Good folk, we have been waylaid by bandits and need horses immediately," Michael said in a commanding voice.
The villagers stared mutely at them, but no one moved.
"I have gold to pay with," Michael said.
This brought more response. A large heavyset man approached them.
"I have four horses, but you need to leave their full worth in gold before I'm let you borrow them," the man said.
Michael took his purse and counted up the gold. Then he added some more coins.
"That's for food and for giving shelter to our servants while we ride to get help."
The man nodded and barked an order that sent two boys running to fetch the horses.
"Can we eat now? I'm famished," Anora whispered.
Michael shook his head.
"This seems good people, but I don't like to stay longer than necessary. We'll eat on the road."
They got their horses as well as packs of food and set off.
"Who were they?" The heavyset man who had given them their horses asked one of the servants.
"The Queen and Prince of Ferelden," a servant said.
"You fool!" the man replied. "That can't be them. I heard the Prince is at least seven feet tall and spits fire."
