Chapter 24: By Horse

"So, where are we going?" Joseph asked Lucian.

"I... don't know." he answered, "We could go back to the Mannor, but if the rebells realized that the heiress is missing, they would go straight to the Mannor." They were silent for another five minutes, but then Marcia suddenly realized something.

"The boat!" she exclaimed, "Milo's boat!"

"Huh?"

"They wouldn't ever look there, would they?" Marcia said, "And there are comfortable, actual beds, and-"

"But how would we get there?" Joseph wondered.

"Jose, we're standing in a stable." Cashmére said, "By horse, of course, weirdo."

"Ah."

"But we can't go by any of your horses, Cass." Marcia replied, "Because, A, maybe they know which horse is your, and B, if the horses look to well, they'd realize something's wrong."

"True." Cashmére sighed, "But all the horses look well! It's still a royal stable."

"Not all horses." Lucian said, "Not the old horses, at the back of the stables."

"Right." Cashmére replied, "But wouldn't they go slower?"

"Well, slower than the other horses, and probably slower than the rebels, but if we'd start about now, maybe we'd be too far away..."

"Or we could take the rebels horses." Marcia said.

"Bad idea, Mar, they'd realize the horses were gone."

"Ah, but not every rebel can have survived, right?"

"Yeah, but..."

"It is the best option." Cashmére said, "Plus, they'd have to look for the horses before realizing some of the horses are gone. That'd buy us some time."

"Right."

"But what if they have guards?" Joseph asked, "Then, they would absolutley find us..."

"Magyk, Jose." Marcia answered, "We all would be able to protects ourselves, right?"

"Hm..." Lucian said. He was still holding his nephew, who, by the way, had no idea of what was being said. "Not Colum here."

"Who's-" Marcia started, but then remembered the little boy that Lucian carried. "Oh."

"Yes, miss Overstrand." Lucian replied, slightly snappishly. "Oh." The boy said something, in latin, and Lucian whispered something back, in a soothing tune. Marcia felt rather shocked. That Lucian Ramasotti had a nice side was... well, shocking. Cashmére felt slightly worried. She remembered Kitumaini, and Kitumaini's daughter. Then she felt worried over her child, even though it was not born yet. And she was worried about Joseph. What if he died? What if he died, and she would have to take care of the child alone? How could she possibly explain for the child that his or hers father had been killed? She felt Joseph's arm around her wais, and him dragging her closer to himself. She leaned her head against his shoulder. "It's going to be okay." he whispered.

"I know." she replied, even though she wasn't so sure. Stupid rebels. Cashmére loathed them. Sure, three hundred years earlier, they had been nice. They had been there to help and support the people through difficult times, but now... Now they were just men who looked for power, and treated women as less important citizens. Cashmére shivered at the thought of them, their sour breath and... horrable memories washed over her, but she shuffed them away. No, she told herself sternly, stop. She buried her face in Joseph's neck, and breathed in. Somebody cleared his throat. "It hurts to interprete your lover brids," it didn't sound as though Lucian was very hurt, "but we have to organize."

"Of course." Joseph said, "So, what do you suggest?"

"Hm, I suppouse that miss Overstrand... is not so experienced in horse-riding?"

"No." Marcia said, "I'm not."

"Neither is Colum..." Lucian glanced at his nephew, and sighed. "Joseph... you take Colum, miss Overstrand can go with Cashmére and..."

"You go by yourself?" Cashmére raised her eyebrows.

"Do you find the thought somewhat funny, heiress?" Lucian wondered.

"How do we know that you won't turn us in?" Cashmére said, staring straight into Lucian's eyes. '

"Do you think I would do that?" Lucian's voice trembled with anger. He spoke in latin, but Marcia heard that he was disgusted, "Cashmére, your faith in me has never been... strong, but accusing me for... being one of the rebles is straigh offensive."

"Cass, this isn't the right moment to-"

"It is the right moment, Jose!" Cashmére snapped, "What if he'd turn us in?"

"Cashmére, even if he'd turn us in, we'd have his nephew. We could easily blackmail him."

"Yeah, but-"

"Why would I put Colum at risk?" Lucian practically yelled, "Really? Do you think I'm so... so heartless?"

"You branded Naomi!" Cashmére yelled back. Lucian turned pale- even paler than he already was- but then red.

"She... told... you!?" he spat.

"I saw it, remember?" Cashmére hissed, "I remember it, however. And I remember what you-"

"Cashmére!" Joseph protested, "Please..."

"No, Joseph." Cashmére shuffed her husband away from her, "Let me finish." She starred into the yellow eyes of Lucian Ramasotti. His irises were just tiny, black pinpoints in the sea of golden yellow. "I remember that that night, you indirectly threatened to kill my father."

"I-"

"You said that you soon would be the Emperor." Cashmére was now calm. "And you said... that you needed an empress."

"Yes, I did." Lucian did now sound desperate, "But-"

"Not Selene, you said." Cashmére continude, still as calm as before, but now her voice had an edge. "It was... almost as though you indicated that you wanted to have me as that Empress."

"Yes." Lucian said, "Yes, all these statements are true, but-"

"But what?" Joseph asked. He was extremely suspicious.

"That was before."

"Before?"

"Before..." Lucian said, "Before I was going to..." He couldn't say, whatever he now was going to say, out loud. Everytime he tried, the words seem to get stuck in his throat. At last, he said something that everyone, but Marcia understood. Cashmére let out a sound that, which Marcia later admited, sounded like a cat being strangled. Lucian was going to be a father, was what he had said. "And you left your wife alone?" Cashmére spat, this time in latin. She couldn't find in the words for what she wanted to say in any language that she could speak. "You left Selene alone? With rebels attacking?"

"It's my duty." Lucian replied, "It's my duty to do whatever the Emperor tells me to do, no matter what."

"So?" Cashmére wondered, coldly, "You know what the rebels would do to her, if they'd get the chance."

"And I also know what the rebles would do to you." Lucian said, equally coldly, "Or would you like to be tortured to death by a bunch maniacs?" Cashmére opend and closed her mouth. She turned around, and laid her arms around Joseph's neck. "You wouldn't leave me, would you?" she whispered.

"No," came the reply, "But Lucian is bound to other duties than the ones I'm bound to."

"True." she sighed, "But..."

"But?"

"Can we trust him?" she asked, anxiously. Joseph looked at Lucian. He considered it for a few seconds. Lucian did look worried, on what reasons was unclear. Joseph suddenly felt sorry about the man. He couldn't imagine leaving Cashmére alone in a situation like this, pregnant or not. But, he quite understood that Lucian was forced to it. He sighed.

"Yes." he answered, "Yes, I think we can."

"Hello?" Marcia looked awkward standing there, a bit alone. "Are we going to get going or not?"

"Of course we're going to get going." Cashmére said, and let go of Joseph. "So, where would the rebels keep their horses?"

Appereantly, the rebels wasn't always as smart as they'd like to think themselves. They had just put their horses just by the great entrance. But they did have guards. The guards did focus on the entrance to the palace, but they glanced back at the horses now and then. Marcia hadn't thought of how could it actually was outside. Neither had any of the others. But the others had somebody that actually kept them warm. Lucian was still holding on to Colum, and Joseph and Cashmére were practically wrapped around eachother. "Miss Overstrand?" Lucian asked, "Are you able to do a freeze?"

Marcia nodded, thougtfully. She'd like him to stop call her miss Overstrand, but asking him to just call her Marcia would probably sound extremly weird. Miss Overstrand would have to go. "Yes indeed." she said.

"You think you could use it now?" Lucian whispered.

"On all of them?" Marcia wondered. She did sound rather calm, but on the inside she felt horrified. She wasn't that good on it.

"No, just the two on the left side..." Lucian replied, "I take the one in the middle, and the heiress the one at the right side."

"Oh." once again, she did sound calm, but now she was relieved. The guards were soon frozen. Lucian shoved Colum into Marcia's arms, then he went over to get horses. She felt weird. She couldn't remember if she ever even had held such a little child. Ever. The little boy looked very scared. Even though she knew that he didn't understand a word, she whispered: "It's alright."
The boy looked at her. He did, just as Marcia had thought, not understood a Word, but he had understood the soothing tune. He leant his head against Marcia's neck and Marcia, who was absolutley freezing, couldn't help, but to feel a gentle warmth inside of her.

Lucian soon returned with three horses. One for himself, one for Joseph and Colum, and one for Marcia and Cashmére. Lucian got up in the saddle quickly, Joseph helped Colum up in the saddle, before he mounted the horse himself. For them, it was rather easy. They did not have long dresses, as Cashmére and Marcia had. It ended up with that the girls had to tuck up their dresses to their knees, Before being able to get up. The horse, however, was patient. It didn't even seem to notice that they weren't it's actual owners. But when Cashmére and Marcia, finally, had gotten up in the saddle, they set of to the city, where Milo's ship were.