The wind off the mountain was unbearable. Angie could hardly maintain her seat on Starburst and her teeth were chattering uncontrollably. She would never be able to survive in the mountains, but where else could she go?
The palace opened on the back side to the forest and up the mountainside. If she wanted to get out unobserved that was the way to do it. And she had to get away unnoticed.
Johnny's words were still ringing in her ears. She had lain in the dimly lit room with his taunts echoing around her. Once Maddie had left her alone Angie decided to leave. She was a burden on Will, she was horrible at being a Ranger. If she vanished in Skandia he would go back to Redmont and find a new apprentice, one who deserved the opportunity.
So she left, Tug had watched her go, sadness filled his large brown eyes. She had forced a smile at the shaggy little horse as she led Starburst from the stable, telling him it was for the best. Tug and Bumper had whinnied after her, trying to draw her back, but Angie had already made up her mind.
Starburst was handling the wind better than Angie, but barely. He walked straight into it, so they were constantly changing course as they climbed the mountain. She lowered herself over his neck, burying her face in his coat. Skandia was awfully cold for summer, she was not dressed for this.
"Maybe I made a mistake," she thought aloud as Starburst changed direction once again in his attempt to climb the mountain. "We could skirt around Hallasholm and make for Gallica. I bet we could survive there."
Starburst snorted. I could survive anywhere, he seemed to say. Angie smiled at him.
"Then it's a good thing I have you around," she rubbed his neck roughly.
Why do you think they gave me to you?
"You're right, they were very smart for that," Starburst nodded his head. Angie sat back in the saddle taking the reins in her hand. "I can't stand this mountain climbing," Starburst snorted as she directed him at an angle on the slope to skirt around Hallasholm, hopefully heading south for Gallica.
Angie rode on in almost silence for what felt like hours, the soft moaning of the wind was just starting to set her teeth on edge when she saw the lights of the Hallasholm appear on her right. She pulled Starburst to a halt and looked down on the town, this was the right decision. She did not belong with the Rangers, she did not belong on the Task Force.
"Say good bye boy," she stroked his mane and neck gently as they looked down on the lights of the Skandian capital. "We won't be seeing any of them ever again."
Starburst turned to look at her with his large brown eye. I wouldn't be so sure, he seemed to be saying.
"Don't try playing tricks on me," Angie scolded the horse as she dismounted.
Something in the tone of her horse's comment had made her nervous about pursuit. Will would come after her, Maddie and Horace would too, and Starburst would leave a very noticeable trail in the soft earth. Starburst nickered bobbing his head, commanding Angie to remount. Angie smiled rubbing her companion between the ears.
"I can't ride you, they'll find us."
Good. This is a dumb idea.
"It is not," she responded slightly taken aback that her horse had insulted her. "I'm going to walk a while, and you're going to walk awhile up the mountain again." Starburst shook his head urgently. "Yes you are. And you're going to stomp those little hooves in the ground so Will thinks I'm still riding you."
What on earth for? The little horse shook his head again.
"I'll never get away if they know I'm not with you," she tried to explain loosening the girth on Starburst's saddle.
I'm not letting you go off alone, the little horse rebuked quickly. You'd never make it without me!
"I am trained as a Ranger," she defended herself against the horse's accusation.
Partially, Starburst's brown eyes stared into Angie's. She was under the impression that if he could have, the horse would have mimicked Will's raised brow look.
"It's just for a little while," she promised stroking his muzzle gently. "Once Will and the other's find you, you can come looking for me."
Wouldn't that lead them to you, he seemed to ask.
Angie sighed, the horse had a point. But she would never get away riding him. The ground was uneven and dangerous and soon it was going to get dark out and eventually Will would be out looking for her. She had to send the horse in the opposite direction to by some time, hopefully enough time to make it to Gallica.
"You'll just have to give them the slip and find me," she forced a smile and buried her face in the horse's coat. "I'll be heading south for Gallica, you should be able to find me. You're smart."
I already knew that, he snorted backing away from Angie.
Angie dug what she thought she would need from her saddle bags; the shots for the sling, her medical kit, and the rations she had taken from the kitchens. She lifted the bow from her saddle and held it in her hand, running her thumb along the side. It would be a good thing to have, she had better accuracy with the bow and she could reuse the arrows. The shots for her sling would have to be melted down after each use, if she could even find them. But the bow was too short to throw over her shoulder. She would have to carry it in her hand, making it more of an inconvenience than a benefit. She put the bow back on the saddle with a sigh.
"Now get going," she signaled her directions to the horse and sent him on his way.
She waited until she could no longer see Starburst before she turned and started off on her own. She kept the lights of Hallasholm on her right until they vanished behind her. Once thrown into complete darkness Angie had to stop, there was no moon to illuminate her path that night.
Good, she thought, it will be hard for Will to track Starburst and see that they had separated.
She found a large tree, whose thick green needled braches swept the forest floor and crawled in. Once inside she found the tree spacious, she could have easily brought Starburst in and they could have spent one last night together. She sighed thinking about it, she had told the horse they would meet again but Angie doubted Will would just let the little horse go. She was truly alone once again.
And it saddened her.
She sat against the trunk of the tree and slept lightly. She could still hear everything around her and each time something seemed out of place she jerked awake, waiting for Will or Maddie to enter her hiding place. Near dawn she decided to set off.
Angie crawled out of the shelter of the tree in the predawn grey. Someone had come through during the night. Several sets of tracks passed by her hiding place, studying them she could see the prints for four different horses. The tracks were heading away from Hallasholm and Angie decided not to chance her luck.
"They didn't find me," she sighed looking down at the tracks, knowing that it had not been Will and the others. "And they're not going to." She headed straight down the mountain away from the tracks and hopefully their owners.
As she moved farther south she wished she had retained more of that information about traveling by foot through the woods. She knew enough to survive and get a compass point direction. But there was a lot more that she would have been happy to know, like not leaving tracks in the soft Skandian soil.
How to regulate traveling on foot, so she could cover the distance between Hallasholm and Gallica without wasting energy; that would have been a good thing to know as well. She knew the standard march or whatever it was called for horseback, they had done that as they crossed Araluen to sail to Skandia. Was there even a regulated travel pattern for Rangers on foot?
No, since they would have their horse. Not that it mattered because she was not a Ranger. That was why she left. She had to stop thinking of herself as a Ranger.
By the time the sun had fully risen Angie had found her way to the coast and was moving through the tree line toward Gallica. She saw a few people on the road along the beach, mainly women and children, wolfships cruised the coast, all of them were heading to Hallasholm. She alternated between walking and running as she moved south, by noon she thought she had to be close to the border and stopped for a rest.
Still trying to avoid being found, and very aware that on horseback she could still be overtaken, Angie climbed up a tree for her rest so she could see any pursuit before it reached her. She straddled the thick branch and looked down over the road. That was when the Skandians came into view.
The fact that Skadian's were on the road was not the reason Angie noticed them. The reason she was so intrigued was that they pulled a wolfship up on the beach and came ashore. They had four short purple clad men with them.
"Are you sure this is the best place to do this?" one of the Skadians asked looking up and down the road.
"I sent Ivan and Kale along the coast to stop traffic. No one should be bothering us for a few hours." A large man with a wild mane of blond hair answered looking down the road in both directions.
"Why have you brought us here?" the shortest of the purple clad men demanded. He had a strange accent that Angie could not place, not that she was one to recognize and determine the origin of any accent.
"You know why," the blond Skandian turned on the short man.
"Yes, but why here?" the short man motioned to the forest around them, a look of displeasure twisting his face.
Angie leaned forward over her branch wanting to hear what the Skandian would say. He must be up to no good if he beached a wolfship so close to Hallasholm.
"We don't want a lot of people knowing you're here," the blond responded. "And we can't be connected to you."
"That I understand," the purple clad man replied. "But you could have sailed us to Hallasholm."
"No one would have been the wiser," one of his friends added scowling at the Skandians.
"We can talk out here and then sail in," another of the Skandian seawolves stepped forward. He was smaller than the other Skandians with neatly groomed hair giving Angie doubts that he could be a native of the wild mountainous country. "Are you opposed to that, signore?"
The four small men exchanged looks then turned back to the small Skandian.
"We can talk here," the smallest of them spoke.
"But no more change in plans," a third spoke.
"Or the deal is off," the final member of the small foreigners crossed his arms looking up at the Skandians.
The neatly groomed Skandian nodded, "as you say. Now, the new Oberjarl will be chosen by the end of the week."
"So you say," the group of four spoke at once.
"We know the senior jarls will choose half-Araluen Hal as the next Oberjarl."
"You disapprove of this choice?" one of the purple clad men spoke.
"Greatly," the Skandian responded. "Hal is not a full blooded Skandian, he is not fit to be a jarl let alone the Oberjarl."
"This we understand," one of the men in purple spoke.
"We can dispose of this Hal."
"Will be easy."
"For a price," the smallest finished.
"Good," one of the mountainous Skandians crossed his arms over his bare chest. "That is why we called upon you Genovesans."
"Of course," the smallest of the Genovesans bowed, removing his wide brimmed hat.
They spoke for a few more minutes, discussing prices through the use of Silisian Council then the group returned to the wolfship and set off up the coast toward Hallasholm.
Angie dropped out of the tree and ran to the coast, watching the wolfship. She was not a Ranger anymore, but she had met Hal. He was nice and, in Angie's opinion, would be great as Oberjarl. Some people obviously disagreed.
She looked back up the road, back to Hallasholm. If she took the road she could be back in no time. Part of what took so long to get this far had been that she was running around in circles, weaving the trees and back tracking in an attempt to confuse pursuers. An all out run would have her Hallasholm before dark. Maybe.
And her leaving would be gone in the same amount of time. Telling the jarls about this would be the end of it. She had snuck out while Will had not been expecting it and she could not hope to do it again. And the whole city would probably be turned upside down trying to find the odd men in the purple clothing with ridiculous hats. She would be pulled into some kind of job since that was what Rangers did, they became involved.
But she had to do something.
"I'm going to regret this," she sighed running back up to the road.