Chapter 22 pt 2

This chapter has been transferred from the original, and may have grammar mistakes and typos. 

~*~

The night came and that meant that it was time to move on. The Cupshires had been in the ruined city for just shy of a week, so they had become quite comfortable in it, and their presence would be easy enough to see. Their fire had scorched the ground, their tents had sleeping spots flattened into the grass, and their excrement littered the bushes near the walls.

As evening fell, a silence did as well. The joy from the day had passed and now everyone, even the children, felt a weight around them, a tenseness that wouldn't pass until they were safe.

 

The fire was turned over, the tents were packed up, and they started their way west again. Liam listened for the sounds of the forest and the normal night sounds, but they were different. He didn’t hear the familiar movements of birds in the trees, or the surprise of the mice as they darted out of the way of the group.

Perhaps it was just because they were a larger group and easier to hear and thus didn’t scare the night life the same way they did when it was a smaller group. The king’s group hadn’t traveled at night, so he had nothing to compare it to. Still, it unsettled him.

They walked for about twenty minutes and Liam was now sure that something was off. No one was talking, everyone was trying to stay quiet as possible, but as he was bringing up the rear, he felt like they were being followed. His heart started to race, worried.

Now was the worst time to be ambushed, with a baby and three children as possible casualties. He signaled to the group, signaling them to stop. Everyone was silent, and that’s when he saw the glint of silver in the woods.

Templar knights.

“Run!” Liam hollered, turning to herd them faster.

An arrow shot out past him, nearly hitting his arm as he ran. He heard the familiar clank of armored knights rising from where they hid in waiting, and they raced to catch their prey.

Romeo and Liam drew their swords, but Liam urged Romeo to continue on. “What are you doing? Don’t leave the group undefended! Go with them!” Liam shouted.

“You’re going to be a father, you have someone you love, I am more expendable!” said Romeo as they kept up with the back of the group at a small distance. “Anwyn needs to get to safety, but so do you! Your child needs a father!”

A knight sprang out of the bushes and lept at Liam, trying to wrangle him to the ground. He and Romeo quickly defended themselves, making sure that the knight never moved again.

Liam looked backwards at the retreating family, whole once again. They could live as a whole now, they had their missing piece back. If Liam let Anwyn get caught by the Templar knights, she would be kept in a cell for the remainder of her life, if not publicly executed for her treason to the throne.

He looked at Romeo, weighing his options. There would be more knights. As hard as the band of natives may have fought, they were outnumbered and the knights were better suited. They had armor, and sharp swords, the natives had what they could make or steal. There would be more knights coming for them, and the longer Liam thought about it, the worse their odds were looking of getting out of here together and alive. He knew that as he was considered a traitor to the crown, the knights would swarm him and be distracted from the rest of the group. As they were moving now, they were only evading the knights, not slowing them down.

He shot a quick glance at Romeo. “Then make sure my child has a father.” he said, and he walked back into the forest, hunting down the knights that were hunting them.

“Liam! No! Come back!” Romeo shouted in shock.

Romeo had no choice but to continue protecting the family, and as he continued on Liam’s figure became obscured by the forest. The sounds of fighting still rang out, but even that became dull after a few minutes and was soon gone.

Romeo kept looking from side to side, trying to see if he saw anymore armor glinting in the limited light, but he saw none. They kept up a quick pace, moving as swiftly as possible through the underbrush.

Eventually, the tree line was visible, and the smell of the ocean filled their senses. They were breathing heavily, but it was going to be over soon. A bit of the way down the shore was a collection of small boats that would be their escape, they just had to get there.

Romeo moved to the head of the group, looking for the direction that they had to go, and he felt relief rush over him. They hadn’t seen any knights for about an hour, there was no way they would be this far out. They were safe to board the boats and get away from this terrible continent.

“Wait, where’s Liam? Why isn’t he here? Where did he go?” Anwyn started to panic. Romeo turned back to the group, tears starting to well up in his eyes.

Anwyn reached for him, still pleading to know where her love had gone when she gasped. Her eyes went wide, and she started to sag, her head dipping.

Romeo reached for her when he noticed a wound on her back. A red splotch spread from between her shoulder blades, and the smallest arrow imaginable stuck out from her back.

“No no no no no!” he pleaded, cradling her, making sure that no sand got into her wound. Her family noticed, and they became frantic, wondering if she was alright.

If Romeo told them that she was seriously injured, they would slow down and grieve. A it was, only Anwyn seemed to have noticed that Liam wasn’t around, but if they realized they would grieve the small family that hadn’t even begun.

No, there was one option and one option only. “She’s alright, she just fainted. I can carry her, we need to get onto those boats now before the knights catch up to us!” He hid the red stain from the family.

“Anwyn, stay with me. We have six days until we get to the islands, you have to hold on. I know someone there who can help you, but you have to do your part and stay with us, alright? Stay with me.” his eyes were filling with tears as he begged her, and she carefully nodded.

He wiped his tears and stood up, lifting her with him. Whoever had shot the arrow seemed happy with their handy work and hadn’t shot more, perhaps they were satisfied with shooting the queen and knowing that she would soon die. Romeo just hoped that it wasn’t poisoned.

The family all loaded into boats, and while the other boats were rather crowded, Romeo insisted that he and Anwyn have their own boat, to give Anwyn space to stretch out and rest, of course. No one seemed to argue with that, and after they had pushed off and had a good breeze in their sails, Romeo could only pray that they made it to the Western Islands in time.

“She died over night on the second day, in her sleep while I held her. I tried to keep her awake, to keep her with me, but I couldn’t. She slipped away with short breath, and I felt so desperate. I felt- I felt like I had failed both of them. I failed Anwyn by letting Liam sacrifice himself, I failed Liam for letting Anwyn get killed. I failed the two people that I am closest to in this world, and I had to live-” he covered his face in his hands, unable to finish.

Midshore looked at him, compassion in her eyes. “You didn’t fail Liam. Very few people know a necromancer, and even less will bring someone to them to have their soul restored. You saved two lives by bringing them here, and Liam saved many of you by distracting the knights who ambushed you. Now you can honor his memory and be the father that he couldn’t be.”

~***~

“What do you have to report, knight?” asked the king.

“We found the group, but they were able to get onto boats before we could reach them. We were able to shoot and wound the queen though, my lord. The marksman said he did good work and she wouldn’t have long.”

“You did what?!” roared the king. “The queen is carrying my child! You have murdered the heir to the throne! You will be killed for this treachery!”

The knight stuttered. “I- I thought they were all traitors- my lord, I- I thought-”

“And what of the actual traitor? What of the guard?” the king asked in a snarl. “Tell me you found him.”

“We did, my lord, but he killed three of our men before we were able to take him down. He’s bound and awaiting your order.” the knight shook in his suit.

“Good. I will enjoy this at least. Make yourself scarce and maybe I’ll forget what you look like.” he barked.

So the traitor was in his grasp. He should have known that the redhead had a bleeding heart when it came to the king’s lovers, but last time he thought he had learned his lesson. Apparently he needed a harder teacher this time.

Well, guys and gals, I hope it was everything you hoped it would be! I unfortunately couldn't find the time to find actual sword accessories for the pictures, so just imagine they're there.

I stayed up quite mast my bedtime now, I'm going to bed right after I post the playlist and I've written up a bit of what I think of each song as well. I'll link that in a Google Doc.

This isn't the end, that's for sure, so stay tuned!