Gunther cursed under his breath. "That hurt!"
Jane, wide-eyed and furious, pushed away from him and drew a breath "Wha-?"
"What?" came a puzzled voice from out of sight in the trees.
Jane spun around, drawing her sword, but Gunther replied as though to a villager in the main street of Kippernia.
"You missed."
"Never!" replied the voice, affronted. "Well, I shall try again, shall I?"
"I must advise against it," said Gunther.
"As would I, in your place!"
"We are representatives of His Highness, King Caradoc of Kippernium!" burst out Jane. "It will not bode well for you if you harm us."
She peered into the gloom, trying to spot their hidden assailant. Behind her, Gunther hissed as he surreptitiously pulled an arrow from his shoulder.
A new voice joined the strange conversation. "What king? What kingdom? All I see here are trees, and two fools who seek trouble."
"We seek no trouble," replied Jane, ignoring the comment about fools for the moment. "We are on a mission; we mean no harm to anyone!"
"Girl, you should hold your silence, although it is clear you know no shame!" snapped the second voice.
Jane's eyes narrowed, and she drew a deep breath before replying. "You are the ones who should be ashamed, shooting at innocent passers-by! We have posed no threat to you!"
"Innocent passers-by?" scoffed the first voice.
"You have been seeking us out all day," insisted the second. "And not very discretely, I must say!"
Jane's angry gaze turned to Gunther, who had two arrows in his hand, two holes in his tunic, and a sheepish look on his face.
"Oh, have we? I see," she bit out.
"Well I didn't expect them to greet us like this," he muttered. "I have to say, gentlemen, your intelligence does you credit," he continued, louder.
"Intelligent, certainly, but gentlemen we are not!" snapped the first voice. "And we don't have time to waste on your kind either."
"Please, hear me," said Gunther, hurriedly. "We are on a quest of great urgency, and I believe you can assist us!"
"Why would we do that?" asked the first voice. "What would it gain us?"
Gunther smirked, and Jane realised he had been hoping for that very question.
"I am the son of a merchant, perhaps you have heard of him? Magnus Breech of Kippernium?"
There was a short silence, and then; "It is possible we have heard that name. Go on."
"His fleet covers vast distances, gathering goods rare and exotic for trade. It has been some time since travelling folk have passed through our village, but he gladly trades with them, too," said Gunther, in the smooth tone he used when conducting business for his father.
Travelling folk? Wondered Jane. "Gypsies?" she whispered to Gunther, who elbowed her in response.
"I am sure a profitable understanding could be reached," he continued.
There was some hushed conversation between the two would-be ambushers, and although Jane could not hear the specifics it was clear from Gunther's face that they were coming around to his proposition.
"What exactly are you requiring in exchange for this 'profitable understanding'?" Came the eventual enquiry.
"We are in need of information, a certain kind of information, to help us with our quest," said Gunther. "I am hoping you have someone travelling with you who may be able to help."
"What kind of information?" asked the first voice.
"And for that matter, what kind of person?" demanded the second.
Here Gunther faltered, clearly unsure how much to share with his mysterious new friends.
"Do you honestly think these two have a wizard travelling with them?" Jane whispered, irritated by Gunther's secrecy and his clearly badly thought-out plan.
"Or a wise man, or some kind of sage," Gunther whispered back. "There are many more of them than the two we have here, and they see so much more of what goes on than farmers and serfs. They are the best chance I have found so far, Jane." He raised his voice again in an attempt to answer their questions. "I have a, er, slight problem with, umm, well it is more of a, uh, bad reaction, shall we say? To an unfortunate encounter, of a kind, although that may be understating somewhat—"
"If I may," interrupted Jane, rolling her eyes. She stepped forward to address the surrounding trees. "My friend has been cursed," she began, before Gunther swiftly interrupted.
"Jane!"
"Trust me," she hissed back, before adding irritably "If you know how." She turned back to the trees. "My friend is known well for his skill upon a horse. He is the envy of many for his matchless grace and assurance in the saddle. He is undefeated in competition, and is yet to meet his equal." Jane fought the urge to grimace at the outlandish claims. "He recently defeated a great number of men in contest for a generous prize, and one of his jealous opponents had him cursed." Jane paused for dramatic effect, certain that Jester would be proud of her efforts. "Now any horse in his presence recoils in fear; they sense him coming and flee in terror. This situation, I am sure you understand, simply cannot go on. It is untenable—"
"Yes, yes, alright!" One of the men interrupted. "A curse, eh? We might know someone who can advise you on such a matter."
"I cannot fully express my gratitude at the prospect of speaking to such a person," said Gunther, eagerly. "When can we meet?"
"We will return and speak to our leader. We had no plans of returning to Kippernia but perhaps in light of possible arrangements being made he may be persuaded to assist you. There is a clearing a short distance along the road; if all is agreeable to our leader we will meet with you there in the morning."
"Thank you," said Jane and Gunther in unison, the latter's voice a blend of hope and gratitude which was rather pleasing to the former.
"So now what?" asked Jane, after Gunther had assured her that their mysterious assailants-turned-benefactors had gone.
"A small clearing sounds like as good a place as any to pass the night," he replied. "I would suggest trying to find it before total darkness descends."
This was agreeable to Jane so the two set off at a comfortable pace, walking side by side in the gloom.
"I must apologise, Jane," said Gunther suddenly, after several moments of silence. "I do trust you, truly."
Jane blinked in surprise, amazed that her angry words had somehow dented Gunther's thick skull.
"Then perhaps you could keep a few less secrets from me, particularly when we are strolling into a trap!"
"In my own defence I must clarify that I did not expect them to shoot at us!" replied Gunther. "I simply did not want to raise your hopes when I did not know if anything would come of them. If those two had not spoken to us then we would have had to approach their camp, which complicates matters somewhat, due to the animals and such. In fact," he added, in a more upbeat tone, "Your ruse was really quite brilliant! Now I have an excuse to keep my distance, and they have no cause to dice me into pieces."
"Well," said Jane, smiling a little. "I can be quite helpful when my partner is not preventing me."
"Point taken, Jane," said Gunther. "I am suitably chastened, I assure you."
"Very good then," replied Jane, and comfortable silence descended between them once more, until Gunther spoke again.
"I must say, Jane, I did not realise you were such a devoted admirer of my talent with horses. Perhaps when we return to the castle I can tutor you in the ways of my 'matchless grace' and 'unequalled talent'."
Jane didn't have to look at Gunther to know he was smirking at her.
"Amazing, is it not," she retorted. "That anyone would believe such a ridiculous tale!"
The clearing was small, and exposed to the road, but otherwise sheltered and had obviously hosted many passers-by. The well-used fire pit was aglow once more, smoke ascending in an uninterrupted column through the still air.
Their food was simple and bland, young rabbit plucked from the burrow and roasted. Jane snapped a bone to suck out the juices, and smiled as she imagined her mother's reaction to such a scene.
"Perhaps we will be able to trade for some herbs and spices tomorrow," said Gunther, enthusiastically.
This was the tenth item on his list of possible trades, and Jane could not hide her amusement as she asked "What will you offer for this trade? A lock of your hair?" She was teasing him, but in truth she was enjoying his optimism. It felt good to finally have hope.
"Perhaps I will go hunting tonight," said Gunther, pouting. "Although I believe your hair is of greater value to trade . . ." he added with a cheeky smile.
"I think not," replied Jane sternly, resisting the urge to touch her hair protectively. "No one would know who I am if I return home with a shaven head!"
"Oh, do not worry," Gunther reassured her, laughing. "I would be sure to tell them all who you are!"
Jane rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her rabbit, not bothering to respond.
"I have been thinking," said Gunther, after several moments of eating in silence.
"Oh dear," sighed Jane. It was an exchange they had had many times before, her response an old habit but usually a fitting one none-the-less.
Gunther continued as though she hadn't spoken. "Perhaps you should travel with the gypsies for a time? No doubt you would enjoy their company, not to mention their food, and a hot bath would not go astray either, surely—"
"Gunther," interrupted Jane, impatiently. "I have already told you I am not abandoning you!"
"You would not be abandoning me! I could keep pace at a safe distance, and you could gather information to help with our quest! No doubt you will learn more over time than I will gather in a single meeting with their wise man," said Gunther.
"You are getting ahead of yourself," said Jane, folding her arms over her chest. "We will see what happens in the morning. Perhaps the solution will be a simple one and we will be on the road home within the week," she continued, optimistically.
"Perhaps," said Gunther, guardedly. "That would be an unprecedented stroke of good fortune, the likes of which I have not enjoyed in some time."
"Hmm," said Jane, staring into the fire. The weariness of another day's travel was settling upon her and she yawned. "You never know your luck."
"No indeed," agreed Gunther pensively, his gaze also held by the dancing flames. "Sleep well, Jane."
"G'night, Gunther," she replied, stretching out on the ground and forgetting all about assigning watch shifts. She was asleep in moments.
Jane was startled awake by the sound of a bird passing overhead, and sat up quickly. She was surprised to realise that sunshine was filtering into the clearing, suggesting that she had slept all night.
"Morning!" called Gunther cheerfully from across the clearing. "Wonderful timing, Jane. I believe our visitors are on their way!"
Jane jumped to her feet, self-consciously patting her hair and yanking a twig from the tangles.
"Do not alarm yourself," said Gunther, noticing. "Their progress is slow to say the least. You have ample time to prepare."
"Good," said Jane, a tad grumpily. She did not enjoy early-morning visitors.
Glancing around she realised Gunther had packed their belongings and tidied up the camp. Even now he was folding up the blanket she had just thrown aside.
"Nervous?" she asked in amusement.
"Eager," Gunther replied. "With, perhaps, a small amount of apprehension," he added begrudgingly.
"All will be well," Jane reassured. "As long as I have time to tidy myself up."
"There is a small stream thirty paces that way," Gunther gestured into the woods. "Go ahead and take your time, they are truly moving more slowly than Sir Ivon after a big night at the tavern."
Laughing, Jane made her way into the woods, finding a small trail in the direction Gunther had indicated. She found the stream and sank to her knees beside it, grateful for the chance to clean up at last.
Note: Thanks for the kind words on the last chapter. You're all impressively patient!