Also Titled: Shh! Keep the Baby Quiet!
The ride down was, in a word, perilous. First, they had to dodge all the tents and campfires below them. Alfred actually had the nerve to laugh as soldiers jumped out of their way. Then came the very, VERY steep drop. Arthur yelled as they crashed against a rock and ricocheted in a different direction… and off a giant cliff, miraculously landing safely.
Lilli giggled the whole way down.
After maneuvering through an ice tunnel and falling off another cliff Arthur was quite ready to strangle Alfred for suggesting such a stupid escape once they stopped. Luckily for the Daikini, he fell off the sled during the second cliff fall and ended up rolling down the mountain after them, collecting snow as he went.
Arthur, realizing that he was now the one steering, tried to guide it towards a tiny village he could see at the base of the mountain. Unfortunately, he steered it a little too well.
A woman leaving her cottage screamed as the sled shot past her and crashed into the kitchen table. Arthur sat up quickly and checked on Lilli, brushing snow from her blanket. She smiled and yawned back at him. He saw the woman peeking at them from the doorway and waved to her apologetically. Wait… Alfred should be the one apologizing!
He got to his feet and ran to the door, looking in the direction they'd just come from. A large snowball - no, it was more like a cylinder of snow really - was careening towards the cottage at a fantastic rate. A pair of booted legs sticking out one end brought clarity to the baffling situation. "The stupid git!" Arthur yelled, slamming the door and retreating with Lilli behind the tipped over table. The woman screamed again and ran away, again in the nick of time, as the snowy missile crashed against the wall and broke apart.
Alfred, freed from his prison, scrambled to get out, kicking up bits of snow and ice in every direction. Arthur opened the door again and watched him stonily as the warrior wiped snow from his eyes and clutched at his aching head. One good thing about this freak accident was that it seemed to clear his mind from any remaining effects of the love spell…
"What the hell happened up there?" he demanded groggily, swaying a little.
Oh, of all the- The tosser couldn't even REMEMBER?!
"You started spouting poetry," Arthur snapped. He was glad that a crowd of townsfolk were gathering, they were witnesses to Alfred's stupidity!
Alfred looked down at the Nelwyn in utter confusion. "Poetry?"
"Yes! 'I love you, Natalia. I worship you, Natalia!'" He kicked some snow at Alfred. "You almost got us killed!"
"'I love you, Natalia'?" Alfred repeated. He shook his head in denial and stepped away. "No way! Nuh uh! I don't love her. She kicked me in the face! I hate her!" Confusion swept over his face again and he clutched his head again. "...Don't I?"
A loud squawk interrupted Arthur's retort and they both looked up in time to see Lukas land on a thatched roof. "The general!" he croaked.
"Nockmaar soldiers!" a villager called out in a panicked voice. Sure enough, a column of black riders was racing down the mountain to attack the humble town. The people scattered to their homes while Arthur just looked on in shock. He was so tired of this…
Alfred, however, snapped into action, his instincts once again working to his advantage. He grabbed a man passing by and, hoping he wouldn't betray him, said, "Hey, those guys are after us! We need a place to hide!"
The man looked him up and down in a second and nodded. "Follow me. Quick!" Alfred grabbed the dazed Arthur and pulled him along as the man led him to a tiny hut near the outskirts of the village. The man kicked a rug aside, revealing a trap door. Alfred opened it and went down the set of stairs into a giant hidden cellar, Arthur close behind. The sight of a man clad in armor made Alfred pause at the bottom step. The two Daikini inspected one another before the warrior let Alfred pass, barely noticing Arthur. The villager quickly closed the door behind them and placed the rug carefully over it.
Alfred looked around the basement; there were almost fifty men crammed into the space, all of them carrying weapons and all of them looking defeated. He yelped as a large hand clapped him on the shoulder and spun him around. Blue eyes and an overly friendly grin greeted him.
"I knew you'd get out of that rattrap," Matthias chuckled.
Alfred grinned back… before grabbing Matthias and slamming him against a wall. "You left me to die, Matthias!" he hissed.
Matthias scowled and pushed him back. "I probably saved your life. We were slaughtered and I lost a lot of good men-"
"Shh! Quiet!" the man standing near the trapdoor called. They all stilled, noticing that it had gotten too quiet outside. With a sudden crash the door was kicked open and Natalia stormed into the room above them. Her boots, along with several other soldiers, made dust dislodge itself from the floorboards and fall onto the hiding group. In the distance they could hear the general yelling.
"Tear this village apart! Look everywhere! Find the child!"
Lilli whimpered and nuzzled her head closer to Arthur. Without warning one of the soldiers above flipped a table over. The crash startled the babe and she started crying lustily. Though the sound was somewhat muffled, Natalia heard and immediately drew her sword. Luckily, Lukas had the bright idea to fly into the hut. He cawed loudly and flew around, scaring the men and making Natalia so flustered that Arthur had time to calm Lilli down. Natalia swiped at the crow irritably but he flew out the door again.
Thundering hoofbeats got louder and louder until they suddenly stopped. "Captain Natalia!" the general called, right above Arthur's head. Between the cracks in the floor Alfred could see the woman stand to attention. "I search the north bank, you will remain here." Natalia grimaced, but saluted. The hoofbeats started up again, only to fade away this time. All the while Alfred kept staring at Natalia.
Now, Alfred honestly couldn't remember what had happened in that tent, but from the glares Arthur was giving him he guessed it had been bad or embarrassing. Possibly both. I love you, Natalia… Ugh, that woman was the devil incarnate! Sure she was pretty - no, more like beautiful - but that was the only good thing about her! She was cruel, demanding, mysterious, intriguing- er, vicious! Even he wasn't stupid enough to be attracted to someone like that, right? …Oh boy…
Natalia, meanwhile, watched as her soldiers searched the tiny house, looking through the furs on the bed, checking the fireplace. Her gaze wandered up to the ceiling but there was nothing to be found on the rafters. She looked down at the rug under her feet. It wasn't under the table, near the fireplace or next to the bed. It was just… there. It might have been thrown their carelessly if not for the fact that it had obviously been spread out with great care. Curiously, she stepped off it and shoved it away with one foot. Underneath was a small trapdoor. Well then.
Beneath her Alfred and Matthias silently panicked for a second before backing up and hiding around the corner, motioning for the other soldiers to do the same. As the last on hid himself the door opened and an ironshod, snow dusted boot could be seen on the first step. Matthias quickly handed a long knife to Alfred as Natalia's shadow came closer. She, for her part, was cautious. The cellar looked to be large yet empty, but she paused at the bottom of the small flight of stairs. It was totally silent. Alfred saw the tip of her long, serrated sword as she held it before her defensively. He waited just a bit longer, until her arm could be seen, before he moved.
Grabbing her wrist in a viselike grip, he pulled her to him until her back was to his chest and his knife was to her throat. She let out a low scream and struggled until Alfred squeezed her wrist so hard she was forced to drop the sword. Two soldiers behind her lurched forward at the sound of her distress, only to freeze when they saw their captain in danger.
"Back." Alfred's voice was cold, colder than Arthur had ever heard, as he commanded the two men. They hesitated, only to flinch and comply when he shouted, "Back!" and pressed the blade to Natalia's neck so hard it was close to drawing blood. They backed up the stairs slowly, their eyes on Alfred, and he followed, forcing an unwilling Natalia along. Arthur quickly trotted behind him. Matthias caught sight of Lilli in his arms and warned, "Keep the baby quiet."
Arthur pursed his lips in annoyance. "She needs to be changed."
Matthias rolled his eyes and pushed him up the stairs. The two men had been forced to a corner while Alfred seemed to be having trouble with his hostage.
"Nockmaar scum!" Alfred hissed, struggling to keep her still. Of course, Natalia gave him as much hell as possible, twisting and jerking despite the knife at her throat.
"You'll never defeat us! Give up the baby!" she yelled.
"Shut up!"
Arthur set Lilli down on a pile of furs near the fire to change her, shaking his head at the two. To think they'd been kissing less than an hour ago!
Matthias quickly shut the door windows to avoid detection from the other soldiers searching. He leaned against the doorframe and looked from Natalia to Lilli. "What does Ivan want with the kid, anyway?"
"She's a princess. We're taking her to Tir Asleen," Arthur answered.
A look of shock dominated Matthias' features for a second, before being replaced with one of condescension and disbelief. "Tir Asleen?" He laughed and walked over to Arthur, towering over him. "Even if you could find it, peck, she's right - you'd never get past the Nockmaar army."
Arthur shook his head. "There's an even bigger army at Tir Asleen if we can just get there." There had to be an army, right? Elizaveta and Lukas both said she would be safe there.
A woman screamed outside and Matthias hurried to a window, looking out on the carnage and destruction their enemy was doing to the town. Alfred practically dragged Natalia with him and knelt next to Matthias, peeking out. Matthias spoke quietly, but his words carried weight. "I've lost more than half my men fighting Ivan." He jerked his head towards Arthur and asked his ex-friend, "Now you and this peck are gonna take him on? You always told me you served no one, Alfred. Remember? Right before you spit in the General's face and left?" He glanced at Natalia and added, "Not your general." Arthur saw Alfred wince.
"Since when are you a crusader?" Matthias demanded.
Alfred was silent.
Arthur flinched when Matthias' dark blue eyes bored into his. "He's not gonna help you, peck. He's a worthless thief." He grunted and stood up, leaving them to ready his bow.
"I'm not a thief, Matthias," Alfred growled, finally finding his voice. Matthias snorted.
Arthur was quick to defend him. "He's not a thief." Matthias smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. Arthur looked at Alfred uncertainly. "Are you?" he asked.
Alfred looked at him but didn't answer. The pause was just a bit too long. Lilli's eyes flickered to the warrior. With a suddenness that surprised them all, Alfred hauled Natalia to their feet and faced Arthur.
"I serve the Nelwyn, Matthias."
Lilli cooed while Arthur grinned in relief. Shock once again overcame Matthias and he strode over to the warrior, blinking as if to make sure that he was looking at the real Alfred F. Jones and not some imposter. Didn't he have a twin brother…?
Alfred grinned in his usual devil-may-care way. "Wanna come with us?"
"You'll never make it, Alfred." There was a touch of respect in Matthias' tone.
Alfred gave a half bow, or tried to at least. "Then once again we say goodbye." He hurried to the door and Arthur followed, hurriedly wrapping the blankets around Lilli again. With a soldier's eye Alfred assessed the situation. The soldiers were busy with other houses across the street and Natalia's horse stood was tied with two others just outside the door. Checking to make sure the Nelwyn was by his side, Alfred pushed the door open and made a beeline for the horses. Miraculously, Arthur was able to get on one without being detected. Alfred, however, was not so lucky.
Natalia was forced onto her own horse and in the moment where both of Alfred's hands were occupied with mounting behind her she shouted, "OVER HERE!" at the top of her lungs. Alfred quickly pressed the blade to her throat and she fell silent. Most of her troop's attention was caught and they all rushed forward.
Alfred turned the horse so all could see her predicament. "Weapons down or she's dead!"
Natalia was both touched and mortified as all her men dropped their weapons.
She watched, shamefaced, as the peck rode ahead of them, escaping the village. The brute kept his knife to her throat as he guided her horse with one hand and his legs, following the peck. The twang of bows caught her attention and she twisted her head to look behind them. Matthias and his ragtag gang had sprung out of hiding to attack her men, rallying the villagers to do the same. Any hope of her men following them died as they were besieged.
Alfred chuckled. "I knew it," she heard him whisper as they rode down the mountain slope.
Above them a crow circled once, curiously, above Matthias' head and then followed the two riders.
Matthias is back! Woot! And gasp! We get some back-story on Alfred! For those of you who've seen the movie and are wondering, "Wut, I don't remember this..." Weeeell I'm adding some bits. The next chapter will probably have the most changes to the story, but like I said nothing major. Just fleshing out bits and pieces.