Her own way

Chapter 3 {Re-Edited}

The horses' hooves pounded against the forest floor as it took Sarah away from the cottage. It had been several hours since she had left her daughter behind with a hastily written note and she had yet to come across anyone, the forest was silent. She was becoming highly confused. One moment she knew clearly what she had done, the next she was puzzled as to where Katrina was, then the fear of being chased set in and her determination to escape, to search for help took over forcing her to forget all about Katrina. In the moments of clarity her thoughts and emotions were all over the place, jumping from one extreme to another - guilt was most prominent, weighing heavily in her heart. She kept asking herself about Katrina: why did she leave her behind, will she be okay, would anyone find her? She never once thought about herself, although with the speed she was travelling she should have also been worried about where it was she was going and if she would fall off her horse. Sarah couldn't focus at all, and guiding her horse through the trees was made more difficult by the tears that blurred her sight. As she rode through the dense trees, branches tugged at her clothing and scratched her face. It wasn't until a dark figure stepped out from the shadows of the trees, frightening her horse and sending her sprawling to the ground that Sarah realised that she no longer knew what she was doing. Staring up at the person, she watched as he reached for the horses reigns and whispered to the horse, calming it down. Crawling backwards, Sarah kept moving back until she was flat against a tree trunk.

 "W-who are you?" Her voice trembled with fear, and she could feel blood trickling down the side of her face from where she had hit the ground. The figure gently stroked the horse's face before pushing back the hood that covered his face and looked directly into Sarah's panic-stricken eyes.

"Do you not recognise me dear sister? I've been looking a long time for you... Where is your little Kitty?" Sarah pushed herself back against the tree, there was only one person in the whole of the kingdom that called Katrina by that nickname.

Thomas? Her thoughts ran wildly, unable to fully comprehend what was happening. Why would my big brother be here? It couldn't be him... could it? Strong arms gently lifted her up from solid ground, wrapped her in a thick cloak leaving her face slightly visable and carried her a short distance through the trees. All Sarah could do was hold on and pray this was really happening.

As Thomas carried a shocked Sarah into the circle of tents, the soldiers fell silent. It was clear that no one expected the King to be wandering into camp carrying a bundle of cloth, and it surprised them further when he gave the command for the search parties to return. Thomas gently sat down on a log near the fire and cradled Sarah in his lap, just like he did when they were children. He pushed the cloak away from her face and murmured soothing words into her ear. Cries of joy rose from the soldiers when they realised it was Princess Sarah huddled in blankets held so lovingly in her brother's arms. She couldn't yet speak, the shock of the day's events had rendered her silent and this made Thomas anxious. In all their years growing up she had never gone longer than a few minutes between talking, it made him wonder just what could have happened to render his beloved sister unable to talk? Heaving a great sigh, Thomas signaled to his men to quieten down as he took Sarah to his tent in order to get her settled. Emerging from the tent, Thomas gave a quiet order for the men to gather around the fire.

Some men stood while the higher ranking soldiers sat on the logs surronding the fire, watching as Thomas began to pace. The quietness of the camp was broken only by sound of wood crackling and popping on the fire. Each man kept his eyes on the King, no one spoke as they waited for him to gather his thoughts.

"Princess Katrina wasn't with Lady Sarah when I found her." Several sharp gasps met his statement. All of the men knew of Thomas' attachment to his niece. Having no child of his own, Katrina was the closest he had to a daughter making her the heir to the throne, but Thomas did not see her as such, to him she was the sweetest child he had ever seen and he loved her dearly. Immediately Samuel, Captain of the Guard and Thomas' closest companion leant forward in his seat and spoke up.