The Thief and Prince

Chapter 11: Sweet Dreams

The following morning, we rise at daybreak and pack our things quickly. I'm not sure why Crispin was in such a rush, but it was clear he wished to make haste. "Perhaps it has something to do with the information he received from the man yesterday regarding his sister?" I had asked Laria as we scarfed down the mush of oats that was provided to us as breakfast. It wasn't tasteful, but it'd keep our bellies full.

"I'm not sure, but I do know that I'd like to leave this place soon myself. It gives me a strange feeling that I do not like. Almost as if we have been watched the entire time," she tells me as we wait for the boys to retrieve the horses from the stables.

"Probably because we are outsiders," I offer, giving her a shrug.

She shakes her head, "That's not what I meant but perhaps you're right."

Once done, we saddle up and soon leave both Bellamy's Inn and Farnmoss far behind until the large town is nothing more but a speck behind us and I relax.

We ride until the sun is high and the sky and stop for a break to water the horses. Hopping down, we lead them into a shallow brook, soaking our boots in the process. My stallion laps at the cool water and I subconsciously run my fingers over his chestnut coat, pleased with the bond the two of us have formed.

To my left a few yards away is Laria, and past her is Amiri whom I can hear humming an unfamiliar tune in his deep melodic voice.

Over head to the far East rain clouds gather and I frown, hoping that they will not head our way. I'd rather not have a repeat of the last thunderstorm we encountered, remembering just how long it took my for clothes to dry.

"So," I begin, looking over at Crispin who is brushing his mare a few feet away from me, "Did you get what information you needed? About your sister I mean."

He steals a glance at me with those green eyes before returning his focus to his horse. "I did," he replies curtly.

I wait to see if there is anything else he is going to share, but when a full minute passes I purse my lips impatiently.

"And what did he say?" I ask slowly, as if he didn't understand my purpose for asking him about it in the first place.

Sighing, he opens the leather flap of his saddlebag and slips the boar bristle brush inside. "He said that about two weeks back he got wind that the Roriks were holding a few captives at a large encampment about a day's ride outside of their kingdom, one of which was a young blond girl in a fine dress. Assuming that it's Rose, they undoubtedly have her inside the kingdom walls by now. He also said that every thirty miles or so they have an outpost or two of guards and in between that they have scouts," he tells me.

This catches me by surprise as I process his words. I knew that once we were in Rorik territory—or even got close for that matter—that the task would be even harder, but giving how easy our journey has been the past month I safely assumed the rest of it would follow in its footsteps. Of course there would be a few moments of conflict as we would enclose on the kingdom, but with outposts scattered about as well as scouts...well...it made the notion for stealth that much more complicated.

We could handle the outposts if they were small and near by the larger ones with ease, but if a scout were to catch sight of us and send information back to the kingdom of Rorik, there would be a band of men on us within two days' time. It's a given that we could say farewell to our heads—except Crispin of course as I'm sure they would keep him alive for ransom or bargaining.

But, when accepting this task, I knew the risks.

The Roriks were once a small but great nation—not quite a kingdom, more so a large settlement—with honest men and women making up both of their armies and population. One day after already being struck with a sickness, they were raided by one of the largest band of guerillas ever recorded. They pillaged and burned just about everything in Rorik, killing anyone who stood in their way of all ages. Only a dozen or so men that were out hunting survived, returning from their trip to find everything they have ever known slaughtered and decimated.