Dragons Are Demanding (Book 1)Complete

45.) Encounter

This is it, the near constant traveling would be over.

Today I was going to be riding a horse branded with a triangle on its flank, instead of sitting in the carriage as usual. Like all the horses the soldiers rode, the dull brown mare was smaller than the huge black horses that pulled the carriage.

"Hey Marrow?" I asked as he finished packing up.

"What miss." He replied with a sigh.

"If a girl horse is a mare what is a boy horse?" I said petting the horse Marrow set aside for me.

"A stallion." He replied.

"Stallllllionn." I repeated, tasting the new word.

I wasnt happy about the idea of riding a horse all day again, I could still remember the ache from our last long ride but Cerastes said to trust him so I complied.

I was informed that the goal for me today was to stand out as little as possible. Marrow had replaced my uniform with a different one, it was well worn. After putting on the different uniform, Marrow first had me roll on the ground untill I smelled like dirt, and then he took a horse blanket from his pack and told me to rub it all over my hair face and hands.

All of the soldiers wore masks with their hoods up, to the unlocking eye I was just another one of the ranks.
Complete with a white cape.

Swish swish, flap flap.

The cape waved as i manipulated it with my hands. I felt like a big bird. Marrow saw my action and shook his head in disbelief, his loose blond hair swept over his shoulders lightly. His blue eyes rolled as If he had been forced to babysit a particularly trying child.

Marrow and Cerastes must be cut from the same blanket, their expressions are so similiar.

I straightened up and cleared my throat before climbing up into the saddle. The leather creaked as I pulled my leg over to sit down.

As I waited for everyone els to be ready to leave, I bent over and started braiding the horses hair.

"Miss, please refrain from any odd behavior, and remember to sit upright. You are in his lords retinue." Marrow called over his shoulder.

"Ahh right." Im 'Soldier Rowan' I need to think soldier thoughts.

Horses.
swords.
sitting up straight.

Shortly after we began to press up the mountain again.

From what I understood from bothering Marrow. All the soldiers in this back group belonged solely to Cerastes. While the soldiers just ahead of us were less trustworthy, an unknown number of soldiers belonged to his brothers.
....

The horses weight shifted from side to side causing me to bob up and down with each step.

The brown mares head also bobed up and down as she meandered over the road, occasionally shaking her head to scare off a pesky fly.

The landscape began to change.
The forest became more rocky and hilly, the closer we got to the mountain. The trees were less dense but still very tall and the road itself was more inclined.

The forest that looked beautiful in the day slowly but surely began to seem more ominous as the light faded.

The group that guarded the carriage had been the ones who had been sent to Pyros villiage and seen the unfortunate human caterpillar roll.

None of the soldiers had mentioned the incident or even  laughed about her oddness antics like they had before. In fact they didnt speak to her at all. She was an animal to be avoided. They didnt speak to me, they didnt walk near me, and it was almost as if they saw through me.