Life away from the mountain introduced me to a thousand wonders, each new dawn brightening the sky with it the cool kiss of discovery. I reveled in it, drinking up everything that I found and locking it away in an attempt to make up for all the lost time. I began to trust that the world could be beautiful, that men so full of greed and hatred were fewer than those full of wisdom and benevolence. Even at the age of twenty, I lived as naïvely as a child. Carvin taught me the true way of the world, for what can even the best of men do if he is branded a murderer? By the end of our quest, I would know the depths of depravity that a man could sink into if he felt there were no other direction to go. I would see what it was to truly despair.
Eleven
Black eyes blood shot with silvery veins watched me from every direction as I fled. The thick, gnarled trees surrounding the road pressed in on each side and shown pale and dead in the moonlight. Everywhere the high crying of the Unseen rang with the inhuman voice of the Reaper himself.
RUN!
Arrus's voice echoed through the forest with the force of an explosion, shaking the dead, leafless trees. The bare branches swayed as if alive, their sharp ends reaching for me as I ran as quickly as my tired legs would carry me. I fell, tripped by a snaking root that had not been there moments before, and cried out in hopeless terror.
The high pitched wailing grew louder, drowning out my sobs and cries for help as I struggled to stand again. My limbs moved as if through cold molasses, lifting even one a hardship that stole away whole seconds of precious time.
Suddenly, the screaming stopped, and my sobbing filled the night as I desperately searched the darkness for my enemy. I knew with a cold certainty that they had found me.
Slowly, silently, a single hand reached out of the darkness, each of its three fingers ending in a long, wickedly sharp claw.
"Enough!"
A hard slap across my cheek knocked me from my nightmare and straight into reality. Arrus sat leaning over me with his right hand raised to give another blow. Throwing my hands up feebly against him, I hurriedly gasped that I was awake. The prince's face softened, and he reached out to cup my stinging cheek gently.
"I'm sorry I hit you, but you wouldn't wake up, Tigress." He explained apologetically.
"I'm glad you did." I said with a shrug, trying not to appear as shaken up as I felt. Arrus's hand was warm on my face for a moment longer, but then he dropped it and stood.
More and more in the months at Arrus's side I had become aware of his little touches and smiles. Never once did he make any move that I might find unpleasant or unwanted, but there came rarely a day when he chose not to rustle my hair or press his fingers against my own. Since our departure from the castle the touches had become more frequent, and I could find no explanation for them. I could not even say that I disliked them, but I found the way my chest tightened and heart beat too quickly odd and a bit unnerving. At first, only his hand in my hair brought about the strange sensations, but now even his smiles could do it to me. I wondered what any of it meant, and considered the idea that something might be wrong with me.
"It's bright already? How long did you let me sleep?" I asked as I blinked against the sun shining bright red against the Eastern horizon.
"You earned the rest." He shrugged, and then gestured at Sarj where he lie snoring. "That one woke up near dawn, called me a 'damned bastard' for not having food ready, and went straight to sleep."
"Sounds right." I said mildly, snorting in my attempt not to laugh. Arrus only rolled his eyes and gave the big man a kick to his chest plate.
Sarj grunted and leapt into consciousness with all the grace of a dancing ox. Arrus and I looked at each other as he struggled to stand and burst into laughter. Ears red with indignation and mustache hilariously crooked, the barrel chested man found his feet and fixed us with a furious glare.
"Now listen here yeh little-!" He started to bluster, but Arrus stopped him with a raised hand of surrender.
"We mean no harm, man!" Arrus promised, still smirking and looking not at all apologetic.
"The Other take the both o'yeh!" Sarj harrumphed and set to straightening his armor.
"How's your head?" I asked him once my laughter had died.
"Ringing louder than meh weddin' day, but fine."
"You're married?"
"Hardly. He left the poor girl at the bond alter." Arrus reported with a wicked glint in his eyes.
By way of silent agreement we started walking towards the road together. With nothing but our armor, clothes, and weapons, setting out took no more time than it took to stand and start moving. The argument continued without pause, and I found myself listening with the rapt attention of a much younger woman.
"Now don' start settin' the lass against me!" Sarj puffed up defensively. "The damned woman tried to convince me'er bastard was mine!"
"How did you find out it wasn't?" I asked, knowing I looked dazed but not able to hide it.
"Not one man in this family was ever born without the Huntsman orange on 'is 'ead."
"Huntsman orange?"
"His family's famous hair color." Arrus explained shortly so as not to interrupt the story.
"Aye, the lad 'ad 'air darker than the dead moon sky." Sarj rumbled, his voice growing troubled with the memory.
"Who turned out to be the bastard's father?" I asked before I thought of the potential insult as we continued down the path.
"Heh. The woman's chamber servant." Sarj laughed humorlessly, the enjoyment gone from his eyes.
"I…that's a bit…unusual, isn't it?" I struggled for the right words as I processed the strange situation my companion had found himself in.
"Aye…" Sarj agreed, but the conversation ended there.
Cursing myself for my insensitivities, I looked down at my feet and spoke no more. Another, smaller part of me felt a small twinge of pride in knowing Sarj trusted me enough to tell me such an embarrassing story. Still, I felt bad that I had pushed for more. On my right Arrus walked silently, keeping pace, and Sarj followed a few feet behind, perhaps lost in his memories. For a brief moment a question fluttered to the front of my mind, but I expunged it before it could leak out of my lips. If that snakelike woman had been the loss that set Sarj towards knighthood, such a thing was none of my business to ask.
"We'll reach Carvin by midafternoon." Arrus spoke into the silence some two hours later.
"Aye, we made good time, somehow." Sarj said, stroking his mustache with a calloused hand. The bump on the back of his head had shrunken and been replaced by a fist sized bruise, ugly and purple.
"When you're running for your life…" I muttered sourly. The Unseen still danced just beyond my mind's eye, waiting for their chance to fill my night with horrors again.
"We made it out just fine." Arrus offered mildly, reaching over to ruffle my hair.
I dodged him, in no mood to be treated like a child, but he gave chase, and before I quite knew what was happening we were playing a game of it. A laugh forced its way out of my chest as my friend chased me in a circle around our rather confused companion. Arrus thrust his hand out, aiming for the top of my head, but I quickly ducked beneath it and stuck my tongue out at him.
"Now see here! You two're grown adults!" Sarj grumbled in protest, though his eyes twinkled with amusement.
"I am, perhaps, but this crazy woman," Arrus grunted as he pulled a quick twist and got an arm around my shoulders, "is hardly mature enough to shine a lord's shoes!"
"Agh! Get off of me you stinking piece of dung!" I spat at him, but he refused for several seconds longer, rubbing his knuckles into the top of my head painfully before finally letting go.
"See? No one that's sustained any lasting injuries could speak to their prince so colourfully." Arrus quipped, a crooked grin spreading across his face.
"Prince of Bastards." I retorted under my breath as I tried to catch my breath and untangle the mess that was my hair. Dropping my hands with a sigh of defeat, I left the crow's nest to lay as it willed.
"You two'll be th'death of me." Sarj shook with a chuckle.
The air felt cooler, and my shoulders lighter, as we continued on.
The sun grew hotter as the day marched on, and I found myself rubbing the sweat from my eyes every few minutes. Towards midday we started meeting travelers on the road, each just as miserably hot and most of them creaking by in worn down merchant's carts. One such cart passed us by on wheels clearly rotting and in need of replacing, and I watched it pass us with curious eyes. A dirty child poked his head out of the back curtain and sent me an insulting hand gesture. Taken aback, I turned to Arrus only to find him staring grimly ahead. Full of misgivings I followed his example and tried not to so openly watch those that passed. I did notice that fewer people were entering than leaving, and I wondered just what sort of city our journey had brought us to as I peeked secretly at each new ragged traveler.
True to Arrus's prediction, within two hours of meeting our first traveler the city of Carvin rose up on the horizon. Even from a distance, smoke could be seen floating upwards from several chimneys. As we grew closer I noted a makeshift wall surrounding the outer perimeter made almost entirely of stripped logs and rope. The closer we came the more unconvinced I felt of its rumored size. The dirty holdings added up to little more than a town, at best.
"Watch it!" A portly woman hissed as she bustled by. A baby nursed at her breast for all to see, and I turned away quickly in mortification.
"Keep close to me." Arrus said under his breath, pulling me by the wrist to walk more closely behind him. I obeyed quickly, a little nonplussed that his broad shoulders immediately blocked much of my view.
The city of Carvin met us with surprising speed, unlike our trek to the king's castle. Before us a large gate of sorts stood to let people in and out. Its heavy cage door stood wide open with the help of several thick chains, and I questioned how a town of such obvious poverty could afford so much steel. An ugly, barrel chested man flanked by two armed guards stepped out to greet us as we neared.
"Halt. What be yer purpose 'ere?" He demanded. The top of his head was bald and sun blistered with what little hair he did have sticking out in dirty puffs around his ears, and when he spoke you could smell the rot in his mouth.
"We wish only to buy horses, if there are any to be had, and carry through." Arrus said politely, though I could tell by the tight set of his shoulders that he was tense.
"Ther's not much t'be had beyond Carvin, ser knight." The man grunted suspiciously. He stank of missed washings, and every bit of him rippled with thick, corded muscle. With a height of at least six feet, the ugly grunt might even give Sarj trouble in a fight.
"Aye, but we mean to have it." Arrus replied firmly, continuing in a voice that spoke of no arguments. "Now, let us through."
"If I don' want to?" The man challenged, eyeing Arrus and Sarj up and down.
"Then you will die." Arrus said as if it were the most obvious truth ever told. My stomach twisted in discomfort at the ease in which he gave out threats. One day I might be capable of the same callousness.
"I see…" He said softly, narrowing his eyes in thought. I could practically see the gears turning in his head.
"Fine, then." He grunted at last. "Go on in if yeh must, but hear this warnin'. People in this town don' take kindly t'the king's men payin' them a visit. Best watch yer throats at night."
"I thank you for the kind words, guardsman." Arrus bowed shallowly, an insult only we caught, and tossed him a shiny penny.
"Thank ye." The man grinned, his mouth the home of only three blackened teeth, and beckoned for his men to move.
Free at last to entire the town, I found no chance to breathe a sigh of relief. Once inside the log walls I found myself feeling trapped rather than safer, and I glanced around in every direction as we proceeded. On either side of the road crude buildings sat sagging under the heat of the sun, filthy beggars reaching shaking hands out for scraps and dirty pennies. We passed them by without pausing. Once, a girl no older than fifteen hailed us, calling out promises of a lovely night for "th'low price o'two pennies". Sarj handed her the coins and bid her share her bed with no one that night, but the girl only smiled up at him sadly before running off. Her gums had bled freely into her mouth when she smiled.
"Why is no one helping these people?" I asked Arrus under my breath after two naked children danced by, calling out nasty names to each other as if it were a game.
"I'll explain once we're free of this place." Arrus muttered, his wary eyes never leaving the men and women bustling around us.
In the middle of the small town an inn sat nestled between a brothel and what appeared to be an abandoned guard post. Behind it stood a rather well built horse stable, and the inn itself clearly showed better upkeep than any building we had seen thus far. At our approach a fat woman in a simply, stained green dress bustled out to greet us, her yellow grin stretching ear to ear.
"Two knights and a servant, then? It's two silver a night, and I've plenty of comfortable rooms for ye! Don't worry yer pretty little heads, Aunt Morgret can set you up nice and proper!" Morgret puffed at us, her thick hands motioning for us to come in.
"Thank you kindly, madam, but we won't be staying the night here." Arrus said apologetically, giving the inn keeper a full bow. "We would, however, love to buy a horse or three off of you. We've a long ride ahead of us, and we'll pay good coin for them."
The portly woman looked us up and town, taking in the dirty armor and tired faces.
"I've two horses I might offer, but they're no war horses and won' come cheaply." She said after a moment's pause, her voice turning into that of a barter's.
"We'll gladly talk prices over a hot meal and drink." Arrus said, his voice more requesting than demanding.
"Come in, then, ser knights! Yeh've arrived just in time for supper!" Morgret ushered us inside.
The moment our boots hit the inn floor the room inside fell dead silent. The two dozen or so men that had been boisterously laughing and drinking before were now staring at us as if we were made of freshly cooked meat. I swallowed around a dry lump in my throat and tried to lift my head higher against their gazes.
"Now hush up, the lot of ye!" Morgret huffed at them before turning to a wide eyed serving girl and ordering her to bring us plates.
"We come to collect no bounties." Arrus said loudly, and something finally clicked in my mind. This city gave home to criminals, and the men here feared we came with the intention of bringing justice.
"Aye, we'll be gone before th'light goes." Sarj promised, raising his hands and sending the men a good natured smile.
"I don' care whut yer 'ere for. We don' need no knights darkenin' our doors." One man called from a table in the back. A few voices rose to agree, and a ripple ran through the crowd as men moved to rest their hands on their weapons.
"There'll be no fightin' in my inn, gentlemen!" Morgret said as if chastising a child. "Put those rusty things away and go back to yer business, or yeh'll find yerselves sleepin' with the pigs!"
The men grumbled darkly, but visibly settled back into their seats. It would seem that this Morgret had a lot of sway over the men of this town. I thanked her with all my heart as we sat down at a large round table together.
"Now, I've got a mare and a stallion jus' come in fresh n' strong. The mare is fast n' smart, and the stallion has the strength of two." The inn keep started in the moment she had herself settled into her chair.
"How much did you pay for them?" Arrus asked, searching her face for deceit.
"Twenty silver for the mare, and five gold crowns for the stallion." She answered. Her face and voice gave no sign of a lie, though I held no experience in catching them.
"A reasonable price for either. I assume you'd like more in the reselling?" Arrus asked mildly.
"O'course, ser knight, Aunt Morgret has to make a livin' in this gods forsaken shack of a town, don' she?"
"Aye, I'm sure you do. I'll give you twenty gold crowns for both of them. It's all the gold we've on us." Arrus said, and I felt my eyes grow wide with the unusually high starting price.
"Why'd yeh give so much?" The inn keep asked suspiciously.
"I have a feeling that you're a leader of sorts in this town." Arrus said softly, leaning in close so that none might hear us. "The extra gold is to ensure our safety as we leave."
"What makes yeh say I can make that 'appen?" She asked in the same hushed whisper, her great bosom pressing against the table and causing it to creak.
"Why would a room full of fugitives obey a simple inn keeper if she wasn't lining their pockets?" The Prince said under his breath smoothly. His face held no emotion as he regarded the woman across the table.
She watched us silently, one round hand tapping against the wood thoughtfully. I sat with my eyes down, squirming inside with a renewed sense of awe. I would never have made the same connection, and that Arrus noted it in an instant caught me by surprise. The quiet at our table stretched on while Morgret thought, the raucous laughter of drunken men and the thumping of feet the only interruptions.
"Twenty gold and ten silver. The men'll 'ave to be paid." She said at last, sitting back and fixing Arrus with a calculated stare.
"We've twenty and eight. Name it yours and call the deal struck."
"Done." The woman agreed, and as if by some unseen signal our food finally arrived.
The serving girl laid a leg of pork in the middle of the table, its skin still popping from the spit. Beside it sat roasted potatoes and roots, seasoned and steaming. My stomach rolled with hunger at the sight of the meal, but I forced myself to wait as empty plates, silverware, and mugs of mead were placed before us.
"Enjoy yer meals, ser knights. I'll take my payment when th'horses are ready." Morgret said cheerfully as she stood and gave us a polite bob of her head.
"Aye, I'll be sure it goes to your hands alone." Arrus promised with a thankful smile.
"Well, dig in, lad!" Sarj cried as soon as we were alone of the woman, careful to refer to me correctly.
I did not wait for a second telling. An hour of eating left the leg nearly empty of meat and the plate empty around it. Sitting back with a happy sigh, I patted my full belly and licked my lips in satisfaction. Sarj agreed with a loud belch and hearty laugh, but Arrus remained silent. His eyes had never left the man in the corner that had spoken against as he ate, and they still rested on him now. Anxiety returning, I glanced towards the man to find him staring hard at me. His beady eyes, set too close together and so dark they seemed black in the dim light of the inn, watched me with a peculiar light in them. His face held more dirt than a farm pig, making his skin color impossible to discern, and his matted hair hung, limp and stringy, well below his ears.
"Why does he watch me?" I asked around a bite of potato, trying to seem nonchalant.
"He's a slaver." Sarj breathed, quieter than I believed he could be. "He'll try to snatch yeh if we aren' careful."
It would seem that Sarj had noticed the same man. My mouth suddenly felt very dry, and I sipped my mead in an attempt to wet it. A slaver? I had not known they still existed. Slavery in the king's lands had been outlawed fifty years past by the king's father. Even I knew that from the few books in my old home.
"Aye, he's a good part of the reason I gave over all of our money." Arrus explained. "More than likely he'll still attack, but if there's a chance Morgret can stay his hand I have to take it. The man has at least a dozen under his command that I can see, and dealing with an attack might prove difficult."
"How do you know he's a slaver, and what slavery would he even send me into? There are no slaves in this kingdom." I asked a bit naively.
"The manacles he keeps on his hip there, no other reason for them. And…whoever said that he would keep you in this kingdom?" Arrus answered darkly, his eyes flicking down to meet mine. Fear twisted in my stomach at the horrible fate reflected there.
"All done, then? The horses are outside, ready for yer travels." Morgret bustled back to our table, her yellow grin setting my gut on edge. I felt sure that she meant well with her smiles, but her nasty teeth only sent shivers down my spine.
"Aye, and we thank you. The meal was absolutely delicious." Arrus stood and gave the woman a sweeping bow of gratitude.
"Nonsense, no need for all that!" Aunt Morgret fretted, caught by surprise.
Outside we found two beautiful horses saddled and ready to go. On either side of each saddle hung two bags: one full of hard bread, dried meats, and cheeses, and the other of water. The mare, its fur shining a soft tan in the waning light of the setting sun, whinnied softly as we approached and pushed a gentle nose into my chest out of curiosity. I scratched her under her jaw, already in love. The stallion, black with white hooves, beat his front hoof impatiently and flicked his tail. Sarj's eyes twinkled at the sight of him.
"You did not need to go so far, madam." Arrus said humbly, pulling out his purse to pay her.
"You pay good money, you get good product." Was her simple reply.
Arrus handed her the full purse and waited while she counted it. From it she pulled six shiny pennies and handed them back to him. Arrus dipped his head and accepted them graciously, but then immediately turned and gave them to the two boys and one girl that had readied our horses. The children squawked at their new found riches and ran away as if the prince might change his mind if they lingered.
"I have a question before we go." Arrus called as Morgret moved to turn away. The woman paused and waited.
"How much time will that money buy us before he comes chasing?"
"Two days." Came the quiet reply, and Morgret turned and left with a look of pity in her eyes.
"That's not a long time." Arrus said gruffly as he offered me a hand in climbing up onto the mare. Even when anxious the prince never forgot his courtesies, and I accepted his offer with a nod of thanks.
"We should ride through th'night." Sarj said as he mounted his horse and Arrus settled behind me.
"Let's talk about this on the road, not here." I spoke up, taking the reins and snapping the mare into a canter.
"Aye." Arrus agreed, and that proved all it took for us to be on our way.
Carvin's main road cut the town in two, and it took only a few minutes to reach the opposite gate. The guards there scrambled to get out of the way in time as our horses rushed past, kicking up dirt behind us. Beyond Carvin the road became thin and less traveled, its path twisting and curving around low hills and marshland. Carvin's Northwestern edge sat dangerously close to the Plains of Mourning, and the air that clogged our lungs as we rode hung thick with humidity.
"We shouldn't ride all night, at least not at this pace." I called over the horse's hoof beats. "They aren't any use to us dead or exhausted."
"I agree," Arrus said behind me, squeezing my side where his hand rested out of habit, "But we can't stop either. We've got to put as much distance between us and the slaver's men as possible."
"I understand that, but the horses will need a break and so will we." I argued, my side feeling oddly hot where his fingers pressed against it gently.
"You're not wrong." Arrus mused, breaking my attention away from the sensation. "Fine, we'll let the horses rest half an hour for every two galloped."
"'Tis a good plan." Sarj boomed from in front of us. His stallion whinnied in approval, shaking his head with excitement. A war horse the beast may not be, but it surely held in its chest the heart of a fighter.
For the better of an hour we rode without words, our horse's hoofs beating into the ground the only interruption in the dark of the setting sun. Dusk settled around us like a thick blanket, sinking in so darkly that it soon became difficult to see the road. Arrus called us to a stop, cursing at the moonless sky.
"The moon is hidden behind clouds. We can't ride in this bastardly darkness!" Arrus spat on the ground, sending our mare into a nervous prance.
"We'll 'ave t'set up camp. No fire." Sarj relented, his own face twisting in frustration in the tiny light what stars that shown offered.
Dismounting as quietly as we could, we made our way off the path and away from the swampland to our left. The ground on the right swayed with tall grasses that the darkness hid until we found ourselves standing waist high in them. Cursing to themselves, my companions guided us farther in, careful to lay as little grass down as possible to mask our passing. I could not fathom why they bothered, what with the horses leaving such obvious trails.
Some four hundred feet from the road Arrus signaled for us to quit moving. Ten feet in front of us the ground dropped away sharply, rolling down so deeply that its bottom lay in darkness beyond sight. Sarj and Arrus exchanged a loaded look and started moving us carefully around its edge. The hill curved twenty, thirty feet around, angling down all the while, until we finally reached its bottom. At its base sat a sort of indent in the earth, hidden entirely from any searching from above and strategically placed so that any footsteps down its sides echoed throughout the entire tiny valley.
"We camp here." Arrus breathed into the darkness, even his soft voice echoing back to us gently.
Tying the horses to a nearby rock outcropping, the three of us sat in a tight triangle and quietly discussed our next move. There sat before us a day's hard galloping before we reached the village of Varrus, and two before Sarki. Beyond that our journey took us due west and into the desert. If we road straight through the day and only stopped to let the horses rest, we could be well gone before the slaver's men gave chase. No amount of money could convince a man to ride into the desert.
"Get some rest, you two. I'll take watch." Sarj rumbled, settling down a few feet away with his back towards us. Arrus grunted his thanks and lay down right where he sat.
After a few moments taken to enjoy the soft texture and sweet scent of the grass around us, I followed suit and laid down with my back to the prince. The grass felt softer than I could have imagined, and I found myself sighing comfortably. Behind me the prince stirred and rolled over, his armor tinkling in the night like a dozen small bells.
"I won't let anyone take you." He promised under his breath.
"He wouldn't be able to if he tried. I'm a Wielder, remember?" I boasted with false courage. Wielder or no, we both knew that I stood little chance against a dozen armed men.
"There's my Tigress." Arrus whispered, and I could hear the smile in his words.
There's my Tigress.
His words repeated themselves over and over again in my head, tightening my lungs and shortening my breath. Feeling suddenly anxious, I rolled over to ask the prince what he meant only to be struck in the forehead by the hand he had reached out to ruffle my hair. For a split moment we lay there stunned, his hand still raised and my forehead stinging, and then we both burst into poorly suppressed laughter.
"Oi, hush up or th'ole town'll know where we set camp!" Sarj murmured in frustration, but the large man did not sound overly upset with us.
"Ahh, you've wounded me beyond saving." I muttered, feigning agony. The laughter had chased away my anxiety as quickly as it came, leaving me to question its presence in the first place.
"Noo, after how far we've come? What cruel fate!" Arrus chuckled beside me. His eyes were close enough to distinguish in the small light of what stars shown through the clouds. Their dark irises shown dimly while the rest of his face lay lost to shadow.
"No healing magic would ever fix this battle wound!" I carried the jest on, excited to know that I could make the ever stoic prince laugh so hard.
"I've the cure!" Arrus boasted, and I noted that his breath seemed a bit labored. Snorting, I covered my mouth against the laughter.
"Nonsense! Didn't I just say that-"
Warm lips pressed against my forehead, and my words sputtered to a stop before the question found its end. Arrus's hand came out of the darkness to cup the back of my head, his thumb stroking my left ear once, twice, before lifting away. The soft pressure on my forehead left with it, but I found no words to speak around the jumbled mess of my thoughts.
Arrus lay back in the darkness, his black eyes staring at me from a shadowed face, and I looked back in utter confusion. Without my permission my left hand lifted up to touch the slightly damp spot above my eyebrows. The area felt cool now in the air of our little valley, and the skin beneath tingled there as if it were alive.
"Why did-" The question that stuttered from my lips never made it to its end, because in that moment a dozen hoof beats pounded into hearing range.
"Make ready!" Sarj breathed as he stood and quickly set to work setting the horses loose.
Desperately glad for the distraction, I threw myself onto my feet and made for our mare. With a sort of madness holding my thoughts together I decided then and there that the horse's name should be Sweetling. Behind me Arrus followed closely, but I hardly noticed over the sound of approaching horses and the ringing in my ears.
"Two days my arse." Sarj muttered from a top his stallion, which I silently dubbed Shadow.
"Find them!" The slaver's voice boomed into the night, echoing through our valley a hundred times.
"We've got no choice!" Arrus said urgently as he climbed on behind me. His hand immediately went to my waist, and my whole body set on fire at the normally companionable touch. "We ride for the Plains of Mourning!"
"Balls!" Sarj cursed, but did not argue.
A new fear settled into my stomach, chasing my childish squirmings away. The Plains of Mourning meant a high chance of death, and yet these men would turn to them to save me. In an instant I felt foolish and embarrassed for having forgotten the danger of our situation over so small a thing as a kiss.
"To me!" Arrus said just loudly enough for us to hear and set out in the opposite direction of our pursuers.
"There!" A gruff voice called as we crested the hill.
The men were two hundred feet down the road and fanned out from searching. Now they gave chase, thundering after us on horses half-starved and dirty from misuse. At their head, the silhouette of the slaver raised his sword and let out a howl that the others copied. Our horses ran faster, however, and we found ourselves well ahead of them when we hit the edge of the Plains. We kept going, careful now to gallop over the land that appeared the sturdiest. Already the ground below us sucked at our mount's hooves.
"Cowards! You flee to your doom!" The slaver cried after us from the edge. Furiously, he threw his manacles to the ground with a loud clang.
We did not stop until the slaver's voice had long faded away. Slowing to a walk, the three of us carefully navigated the uncertain earth, soothing our frightened horses. After some time Arrus called us to a halt with a gesture.
"They won't dare come this far into the Plains, and they'll be expecting us to try and come back out onto the road somewhere farther up. Our only chance is to keep going until we find the other side." Arrus said. His face came into view as the moon chose that moment to come out from behind the clouds.
"Aye, but what if th'other side is a four day ride? Or longer? We can' know fer sure." Sarj argued darkly.
"There's no helping it. We have to try." Arrus pressed firmly, looking and sounding every bit the seasoned knight and prince that he was.
The larger knight sighed heavily but nodded in agreement. The journey had just become a thousand times more dangerous.