07

Chapter 4

Back to the castle, up to the royal chambers, and to the lady Isana's room; here the two women of the previous scene have retired, to the safety and comfort of the lady's room. The lady has already sent word that she had a headache and would be unable to attend dinner. They sat together on the lady's bed, discussing what had just transpired.

"I am so sorry for putting you through that ordeal," Isana spoke, "I should've never asked you to do it."

"It is alright my lady," Alicia replied, "It is I who has failed you. Had I had more experience in such things, I would have fulfilled my duty."

"Wh-What experience have you had in... such things?" Isana asked hesitantly.

Alicia paused as her cheeks flushed, "None, my lady. I am still yet a virgin."

"Still a virgin?" Isana asked stunned.

"Yes Lady."

"Surely many young men would fancy you."

"Alas none fancy me enough to court me. Honestly I can't blame them. Who would fancy such a plain thing as me?"

"What nonsense do you speak by calling yourself plain? You are beautiful! Any man would be most fortunate to have you."

"You think me beautiful?"

"I have always thought you beautiful. Do you recall when we were little and I would pull your hair?"

"Yes." Alicia giggled at the recollection of those childhood days.

"I did that because I was envious of you. I thought you were the most beautiful girl in the world; especially your hair." Isana brushed her hand over Alicia's head, to the back and gently cupped her hand around a lock a of Alicia's golden hair, letting a fine hairs flow from her fingers.

"You thought me most beautiful?" Alicia's insides tightened in a strangely pleasing way as Isana played with her hair. It felt like when she had been with the knight, but somehow this was different.

"Yes." Isana still admired the golden silk of Alicia's head. Even as a child, she knew there was something about Alicia that drew her close to this golden girl. Whenever they had been separated, Isana's mind would invariably drift to the thought of seeing her again. Now she felt more drawn to her than ever.

Both of them felt intimacy of the moment. Isana could see her maiden's devotion to her. She knew that Alicia would never betray her or leave her side. She longed to express the love for her maiden that she felt.

Alicia saw in her lady's eyes that she truly regretted what had happened, and how she deeply and truly cared for her. She knew that her lady would never intentionally hurt her or put her in danger. She felt closer to Isana than her sister.

As they sat on the lady's bed, there was a gentle rapping at the door followed by the voice of a guard, "Ma' Lady, the Knight Aldwyn has arrived and wishes to see you."

"Send him in," commanded the Lady Isana. The bolt turned and the door opened and here entered the knight Aldwyn. "Make you report. What have you learned of my future husband?" inquired the lady Isana.

"Of course my lady," replied the knight in an even tone, "however I would prefer to do so in... complete privacy as this is a delicate matter," his eyes momentarily shifted towards Alicia.

"You will make your report now and in present company," the lady Isana spoke sharply with a most irritated expression.

The knight Aldwyn bent his head down, lowering his eyes to the floor as a gesture of respectful supplication, "As you wish. Your husband to be is the son of your royal father's ally, King Dietrich. He is said to be of a quiet disposition. He is a studious young man with a vast memory. It was even discussed at one time whether he should enter the clergy for academic study, however his status as the sole heir disallowed the possibility. He is a regular patron of local artistic and theatrical productions."

The lady Isana interrupted sharply, "What of his nature? Is he handsome or a fatted glutton? Is he prone to drunkenness or violence? Is he a graceless twit, or will he dance me off my feet at the ceremony? Is he...?"

"He is queer," Aldwyn interrupted loud enough to stop Isana's rant but low enough not to alert the ears of others.

"What?" the lady Isana's face stunned.

"Your future husband is queer my lady," answered the knight Aldwyn, "It is whispered that the prince has be intimate with one of his escorts for some years."

Aldwyn paused with a most disheartened expression. Isana knew it well and asked, "What else is there to know?"

"It is also whispered that in order for you to conceive an heir, the King Dietrich will have to do the honors himself," the Knight Aldwyn finished.

The lady Isana sat on the bed of her chamber her expression rendering frustrated contemplation. "You may take your leave," the lady Isana spoke in a barely audible voice. The knight bowed, turned and left the room. As the door shut behind the noble knight, the lady and her maiden sat together in silence.

Chapter 5

Some weeks later, the country is preparing to send off their Lady Isana to the neighboring kingdom to be married. It is a time of both joy and sorrow; joy in that their lady will finally be made a proper princess and soon a queen, but also sorrow in that she will have to leave her country and may not return for many years.

For the lady, the idea of leaving the place she had called home all her life was deeply troubling. However she did take solace in the fact that Alicia would be coming with her. Also the valiant knight Aldwyn would be assigned to her as her personal escort. He may not have been her first choice but her father had made up his mind and she respected her father's decision.

After the ceremonial sendoff, the lady's convoy was finally on its way the court of King Dietrich by mid morning. The procession began with several horsemen, the knight Aldwyn riding among them. Next was a horse drawn wagon containing possessions of the lady and her dowry, protected by several armed men. In the middle was the carriage of the lady Isana herself which, although well furnished, was small and the uneven road made travel in the carriage uncomfortable. Behind the lady's carriage was another wagon of guarded valuables. Bringing up the rear were a few horsemen.

Inside the lady's carriage, Isana and Alicia sat and talked as girls, attempting to forget both the journey and what lay at the end of this three day journey... with little success. Isana could not fathom why her father would betroth her to a man who would not truly be her husband. Not only that, she couldn't even to begin to contemplate the idea a siring a child with a man old enough to be her father. If she had been able to bring herself to think of it, she would have thought her to-be father-in-law a lecher.

On the first night, the strange cot Isana lay on gave her as much comfort as her thoughts. Alicia who was more accustomed to cots had less trouble getting comfortable. Even though she found the prospect of leaving home as disheartening as Isana, she found peace in the presence of her lady who was less than an arm's length away. As Alicia slept, the moon's light cast though the window, softly illuminating her angelic features. Isana saw her faithful maiden lying next to her. The look of contentment on her face seemed to wipe away the unrest in Isana's heart. "She could always do that for me," Isana thought to herself as she finally began to drift off to sleep.

Outside, among the men on watch, the knight Aldwyn was in conference with one of his lieutenants, the knight Waren. Both of the men were kneeling down examining a set of fresh horse prints. "Do you recognize these?" Aldwyn asked his subordinate, indicating a particular set of tracks.

"No," Waren answered, "These are strange to me. The shoe is too narrow and the stride length is too short to be any of our horses. Do you know these tracks?"

"Yes," Aldwyn sighed irritatedly, "It's been six years since I saw them last but I know those prints all too well."

"Six years?" Waren asked puzzled and then it struck him, "You don't mean... Barbarians?"

"Over the last few weeks, I've received reports that some horsemen had been seen just beyond our southern boarder, but they must have moved heaven and earth to make it this far north," Aldwyn said.

"I'll rally the men."

"No, leave them be. We don't know that these were raiders. It could have been an envoy or traders. Besides, the possibility of the barbarians knowing the exact route and date of our journey is a remote one, and we're too close to our own castle for a raid to go unnoticed. They may be barbarians, but they are not fouls."

Aldwyn was silent for a moment. The lieutenant saw that his superior was in deep thought. After a moment, Aldwyn turned to the knight Waren and instructed him, "Find our two fastest riders and quietly bring them to me. I will have a message for each of them to carry. I will have specific instructions for each of them. They ride tonight. Go."

With that, the lieutenant stood and left to carry out his instructions. Aldwyn did not rise, but remained kneeling as he prayed God that his suspicions were wrong, but the prints in the ground before him was evidence enough for him. They were riding into an ambush.

Chapter 6

It was mid-day on the second day of travel. The white light of the sun beamed through the green leaves high above. The smell of perspiring horses permeated the air. The sound of pattering hooves, cranking wheels and jostling wagons droned on incessantly. The journey was already wearing on the lady.

An unsatisfying night's sleep and the confining accommodations had not improved her mood. Alicia's presence was about the only restraint on the lady's mood. Had she not been preoccupied with her own situation, she would have noticed that there was one less voice to the choir of noise.

All the men were silent. All of them had seen the look on their knight's face. Although he had said nothing of his suspicions, they did notice that they were two riders short, but more importantly; they noticed their knight's expression. Those who had served with him on the Barbarian campaign six years ago knew that expression all too well. He only wore it when he was about to go into battle. The mood among all the soldiers was tense.

The knight was had not rested since the previous night. He knew that if an ambush was imminent, there would be scouts observing them as they approached and that meant that his safety was in danger.

He knew from experience that barbarian scouts would often enter into encampments that they were supposed to observe to steal valuables, food, and when possible weapons. They would also assassinate commanders just before a battle.

They were ruthless and brutal, but also undisciplined. In fact, it was often a punishment in barbarian armies to be made a scout. The high causality rate made it an effective means of either execution or instilling discipline.

Aldwyn had taken a tonic that an herbalist had assured him would stave off sleep for at least a full day with no ill effect. While he did not feel the need for sleep, his inability to still the anxiety in his heart was most frustrating. "I'll have to have a little talk with that herbalist when I get back," He thought to himself, "If I get back. If I survive. If I don't get killed." Aldwyn sighed and closed his eyes trying to quell the disquieting thought that seemed to buzz inside his mind. He opened his eyes again in time to see the column of men jump out from the tree line in front of the lead horses.

A horrendous roar of the barbarian battle cry went up. A dozen or so men dressed in animal skins wielding axes charged them from the front and what sounded like an equal number of men were also charging from the rear. The horses began to nay and buck their riders in fear.

The knight immediately began to bellow his orders, "Halt! Guardsmen dismount! Form ranks around the lady! Horsemen to me!" With that, Aldwyn spurred his horse and charged the forward column with his sword in hand.

Chapter 7

The battle was fast and brutal. The guardsmen were inexperienced and unfamiliar with the tactics of repelling an assault. The narrow lane of road made charging with horses nearly impossible and the savage efficiency of the barbarians was most effective.

Nearly all the guardsmen were dead, half the horses were either dead or dieing, and most of the horsemen were bloodied and cleaved. However the barbarians did not go without causalities. In fact, of the twenty some men they began with, fewer than eight escaped. The rest were either dead or severely bloodied.

Aldwyn sat on a felled tree as one of his men bandaged a wound on his left arm. Waren trotted up to his commander as fast as his limp would allow him. "Sire," the lieutenant blurted out.

"Yes lieutenant," the knight replied.

"Sire, they've taken the lady," Waren spoke hastily.

"What?"

"The barbarians weren't after the riches. They were after the lady. She's gone. Her maiden with her."

"Fetch me a horse," Aldwyn stood as the man binding his wound was finishing the knot.

"But Sire, we can't mount a search now. Too many men are still injured. We can't spare any..."

"I'll go alone."

"But Sire, one against how many barbarians with a head start? It is mad..."

"Acting captain Rainart should be arriving soon with a full compliment of cavalry, per the message that I sent him last night. Knight Sheridan of King Dietrich's court should meet up with you in a day or so with fresh troops and horsemen. Tell them to follow my trail as I will be following the lady."

Aldwyn continued, "They had to have ridden all the way from our border to here in just a few days. Their horses will be tired and the men will need rest after the battle. Besides, if I know the lady, she'll be fighting them tooth and nail all the way. They'll have to camp here for at least the night. If I can find them, we can save the lady."

As Aldwyn was saddling onto his horse Waren asked, "Sire, if you should fail, what would be the random for the lady?"

"Our home Lieutenant. Our home," with that, the knight rode off in search of his lady.