The Vagrant King

Chapter 31

    The sun was beginning to set when Julian reached the river. He collapsed to his knees on the river bank and leaned down, splashing his face with the cool, river water. He lifted handfuls of water to his mouth and drank eagerly. He knew he had to keep walking, but his feet ached. He pulled off his boots, then his stockings and grimaced at the sight of his bloody blisters. He sank his feet into the river, and let out a small hiss at the pain.

    When he felt his toes begin to go numb, he lifted his feet from the river. God, everything in his body hurt. He sat against a nearby rock and tugged on his stockings, then his boots. As he was lacing up his right boot, he heard a few twigs snap. Expecting to see some deer coming to drink from the river at dusk, he looked up lazily. His heart dropped.

    On the outskirts of the woods, Aldric, one of the King's closest guards, stood, wearing leathers and linens. He held a large leather pouch for gathering water.

    "My god," Aldric said in astonishment.

    They stared at each other for a few tense beats of silence. Aldric dropped the water pouch, and lifted his fingers to his lips, whistling loudly. This startled Julian into action. He leapt to his boots, despite that one was still unlaced, and plunged his hand into his pocket.

    Just as Julian found the kitchen knife, Aldric lunged for Julian and knocked him into the ground. Julian grunted as he hit the ground, and he wrestled with Aldric, trying to throw him off. He lifted the knife to Aldric's neck, but Aldric slammed Julian's wrist into the ground and forced him to release the knife. Aldric pushed the knife away from them towards the river.

    "Get off of me!" Julian grunted, as he kneed Aldric in the groin. Aldric moaned in pain and doubled over, and Julian crawled to the knife. Just as his fingers brushed the knife, Aldric moved on top of Julian and knocked the knife into the river.

    Aldric pulled something sharp from the sheath around his waist and pressed it to Julian's neck. Julian stilled immediately at the glint of silver. It was a dagger, not a rusty kitchen knife.

    "Stop fighting," Aldric said, his breath hot on Julian's ear. "The King won't let me carve up your face, but I have free reign elsewhere."

    "I'm not fighting, you stupid son of a bitch," Julian said through his gritted teeth, turning his face to the side to avoid a mouthful of dirt. "Let me up."

"Put your hands behind your back," Aldric said, and Julian sensed some glee in his voice. "Quick, Julian. Or my dagger will wander."

With some difficulty and painful strain in his shoulders, Julian placed his hands behind his back. He couldn't believe his bad luck. Why had he stopped in the little clearing by the river?

"Do you know the hell you put us through?" Aldric said, before placing his dagger between his teeth. He reached into Julian's trouser and coat pockets, pulling out the stolen apples, and then patted him down under the guise of searching for a weapon. It wasn't necessary for Aldric's hands to wander as they did, and Julian suspected Aldric was only trying to humiliate him further.

"I haven't got anything else, you brute. Get your hands off of me." Julian said harshly, when he felt the old dread creep in. Some of his wariness around Aldric remained from his time in the dungeons. Aldric was notorious for being one of the cruelest guards, but he had devoted extra attention to tormenting Julian.

Aldric yanked Julian's wrists closer together and made him cry out in pain, because he couldn't issue a biting retort through the dagger between his teeth.

"Aldric," Another voice said, somewhere to Julian's left. "You found him."

Aldric withdrew his dagger from his mouth. "Gregory, excellent," Aldric said, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Get the rope. He fought like a bitch."