The Rogue Lady

Chapter Twelve

Please point out any mistakes. Map in the external link (Just realized that my sister kept my actual handwriting for the names). Enjoy =)

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     William might have decided to give me the benefit of the doubt, but he sure did not show it in the conventional way. I grumbled to myself in irritation as I followed the others over the rocky path behind Tom, and Eric, in turn, behind me. The horses walked along calmly over the unsteady terrain that forced us to walk one behind another. Darrick, Bram and Alex where at front and Harper was last. I was somewhat glad that it was just the seven of us going over the ridge; had I been caught in the mix of the few thousand rebels, I would not have been as at ease as I was now. Though that didn’t take away the fact that I was entirely relaxed.

     The seven of us had to go and seek out the Bandits of the Passage of Brightburn, which was going to be fun. Not. What was it that rebel leader had said to me? Oh yes, he entrusted this expedition to me and Eric. We needed to go through the Passage because the rebels would lose a week if they had to go around it and even longer if they were to go around Mistlyn. So, we needed to talk to the Bandits, and hope that they would be willing to negotiate with us. We had left the city yesterday after I had said my goodbyes to the Roseacre Brothers, but it would probably take us at least another three days if we had to walk the entire way to the Passage at the pace we were going at now. But I was glad for the company. William told me I could have my own team of archers, completely separate of his army during fights. So that was why they were with me now. And I figured Eric was sort of the diplomat. Why Darrick tagged along was a mystery to me.

     I wasn’t sure how William expected us to strike a deal with the Bandits, but I knew just the right way to make them come out of hiding. Nonetheless, I would need to be rested before we would see them, and I wasn’t sure if that was possible with how things had gone last night, which looked like a foreshadow of the others to come. We had two tents for the seven of us, and I hadn’t minded sharing the tent, or so I had thought. Dragon, could these men snore! It was incredible! Darrick was the worst, and he hadn’t even slept in the same tent as me. Actually, the two who shared my tent were silent. Although Eric did mumble in his sleep and Tom rolled around a lot.

     I shook away the thoughts of a good night sleep, and instead paid attention to the road. It was a long way down to the river on our left; a long and steep way down a rocky cliff was a fall that appeared impossible for anyone to survive. The only vegetation around us was the occasional dry patch of grass so there wouldn’t be anything to grab hold off. The uneven steps of my mare were torture for my left shoulder, which still hadn’t healed entirely, which would take another week or so, but I refused to have Eric’s magic heal it. Moreover, we had already agreed that as soon as we would reach the end of this path we would look for a place to make camp; my shoulder could get some rest then.

     Darrick, up front, started whistling a tune and soon Bram joined in, and before long Alex and Tom as well. After a few minutes, I was the only one who hadn’t joined in and it had probably unsettled the others. Tom glanced over his shoulder occasionally and I could feel Eric’s magic close but just out of reach. Alex was the first to ask the question I was sure they had all been silently pondering.

     “What’s wrong Svana?”

     I gazed away from the scenery to the blonde archer, uneasiness obvious in his eyes. It was strange how after only a few days of knowing me personally, how we had begun to worry about one another. Most of the time it was unnecessarily but still. “Nothing, everything’s fine,” I mumbled not wanting to admit I was a little worried about the Bandits, which had nothing to do with why I wasn’t whistling along with them.