Till Death Do Us Part

23. A Safe Harbour

Gawyn whistled to summon Zephyr but being unable to fly dampened the speed of the gryphon. They were still struggling in the net when they heard more voices and the sounds of someone making their way through the bushes.

"...you imbecile! I swear you will be cleaning the latrines for the rest of your sorry career!"

The boy who discovered them appeared again, but someone else was dragging him with a painful grip on his neck this time.

"Dun!" Skylar shouted, and relief flooded her body. "Thank gods!"

"Captain!" the man let go of the squirming youth and saluted. "I can't believe it's you!"

"Well, technically, it's Lieutenant now, but let's not get hooked on semantics here. I'm so glad to see you, Dun! Do you think you can get us out of here?"

"Sure thing, Lieutenant!" He trotted to the nearby tree, drew his dagger, and cut the rope.

Before Skylar managed to scream, they plummeted straight down. Fortunately, the forest floor was littered with leaves, and the ground was muddy, so neither of them got any more serious injuries from the fall. Skylar once again found herself lying in the soil, struggling for breath.

"I hate your lands," Gawyn groaned next to her.

"Right now, I'm inclined to agree with you...."

Dun hurried to help them to their feet. When he recognised Gawyn, he strengthened and saluted profoundly. "Lord General!"

"At ease, soldier," Gawyn said, massaging his elbow.

"I told you it was the General!" squeaked the youth, pointing an accusatory finger at Gawyn. "He is a wanted traitor! If the Queen's soldiers find out we helped him, we'll be in trouble!"

"Shut your trap, private!" Dun barked. "This is Lady Skylar Shawcross, and I'll be damned if I ever raise my blade against her!"

Before he finished the sentence, the bushes exploded, and a huge beast jumped at the youth, pinning him to the ground and shrieking furiously.

"Zephyr, down!" Gawyn commanded, trying to outcry the terrified howls of the boy.

The gryphon looked up at the General, his tail still lashing angrily.

"I said, down! It's safe now. He's not a danger to us."

Zephyr made a sound that seemed a lot like a scoff and got off the horrified soldier.

"You sure you want to be against us, soldier?" Skylar asked with a raised brow.

"N-no, Ma'am! I mean you no harm, I swear!"

"That's good. Let's not dawdle here more than necessary then. Dun, I need you to bring us up to speed with the current situation. We were in hiding for the last few days, so not much news reached us."

Dun's face turned sour. He beckoned them to follow him. "It's not good, Lieutenant. Just yesterday, we received a heavily guarded delegation from the palace. The Queen expected you to flee here. She demanded we turn you to her soldiers when you cross into these lands."

"And what was Father's response?" Skylar asked solemnly.

Dun smiled mirthlessly. "He said he'd rather die than turn on his daughter. He also told them to get their lying asses out of his domain."

"I see the talent for politics runs in the family," Gawyn noted.

"You could say that." Skylar shrugged.