-Chapter II
Baredo soon awoke to the smell and the sound of her clattering, dishing out the stew. He yawned quietly, sitting up, then looked to her. Ana offered a smile, “That wasn’t long.”
“I don’t sleep much since I became a knight.” Baredo told her, accepting his bowl. Ana blinked, surprised. Most people were born into training for a knight. It took real skill to work your way up.
“I envy you…”
“You really shouldn’t… It’s more hell than heaven.”
“I mean you’re not trapped. You can go anywhere or do anything you like a lot of the time.” Sitting next to him, she rested her head on her hands, “What’s it like? Good and bad.”
“Well, everyday, you’re in danger of being challenged to duels or jousts by ANY other knight, even from your own kingdom. If you’re not careful, you can get killed unless you surrender, then you can lose your armor and title. You have a squire to carry your equipment, and pages to run errands and teach. Knights serve the highest knight, the King, and if you’re disloyal, you can be executed.” He looked down at her, seeing she was still interested, and he chuckled warmly to himself, “But on the good side, most people trust and respect you, and you can find a friend or ally just about anywhere in your own kingdom.”
“I can’t imagine,” she said after trying to picture it. She sighed happily, but then a thought occurred, “You’re leaving all that behind for ME? Just to help me get out?”
Baredo grinned good-naturedly, “Honestly, Ana, for lack of a better phrase, I don’t give a damn.” They both chuckled at this. Baredo took a taste of her stew, and Ana cringed, awaiting his comment on it, fearing it’d be terrible. Baredo smiled, “I take it you’ve cooked quite a many times before?”
Ana sighed in relief, laughing, “Never! Though I doubt there’s many ways to mess up meat and vegetables in water.”
“This is better than my squire makes,” he chuckled, continuing to eat.
“Well, thanks. I’m glad to know I won’t starve when I get out of here.” After a moment of silence, curiosity got the better of her, “Do you… like your life?” Baredo paused, thinking hard about this.
“… Most people would kill to be me, and I know I’m fortunate, but… no, I don’t.” She thought of this much the same way as he had.
“Then we have something in common there. Why not?”
“I’ve always felt like I’ve already fulfilled my purpose… Like there’s nothing left for me… And then something’s missing, I don’t know what.”
“I think I know what you mean. My life has always been like… I was just there to BE there, you know? Like my sole purpose was to wave to a crowd of people that don’t care. But since I’ve left home, and even though it’s only been a short time…” She offered a beautiful smile to him, “It’s like the whole world is in front of me, and even through we’re not out of Surion yet, I feel free right now.”
Baredo smiled, “I’m glad I can help you find what you’re looking for.”
“And I’m thankful for that… What are you looking for?” She inquired.
“The Moon’s Path, it’s far from Surion. My mother always used to tell me legends, and all of them spoke of going north, to Lunas Kivar, to freedom.”
“Moon’s Path?” Her eyes widened in curiosity.
“Lunas Kivar, within the Lunar Circle, there’s two. One’s said to be in the northern reaches of Northe Endro, the free lands, the other in a country far south of Surion. It’s the path to the Lunar Heaven on the moon, or, simply ‘Lunas’.”
“Wow…” She pulled her knees up to her chest, “there’s so much I don’t know…”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, Ana,” Baredo told her, giving a reassuring smile.
Ana only nodded, cleaning up their meal as she gathered her thoughts, “How long do you think we have until they figure out we’re missing?”
“Three hours, unless they decided to check earlier.” He stood, pulling on his chainmail alone. She stood as well, folding their gear back into their saddle bags. Baredo, on the other hand, was scattering his armor after scratching it up with his claws.
“You’re not bringing your armor? Will you be safe?” Ana asked a bit worriedly. She herself had her armor on still.
“Nope. Seeing as I’m helping you escape, I’ll probably never be allowed to wear Knight’s armor again, and besides, it’s weaker than my chainmail. And it’s a good distraction to throw them off our trail.” He spoke as he got the horses, and took off running with them down a side path, then galloping back from a completely different direction. Ana nodded at this, knowing the dim-witted trackers of the Surionian Knights would fall for it. Baredo smiled to her, seeing she was watching, “Trust me?”
“I do,” Ana returned the smile, surprised to find that, even after just a night with him, she really did.
“Would you mind leaving something of yours as well? It’d be more convincing,” Baredo requested, rather humbly. Ana blinked, nodding, then thought quickly about what she could leave. After a moment, she clipped off her pauldrons, scratching them up against her metal hip guard, and tossing them into the clearing. Her now bare shoulders revealed long white scars from her mother’s abuse. After another second of hesitation, she pulled off her choker, dropping it after fraying the strings like it was snapped off, and turning to her white-furred companion.
“Is that good?” Ana inquired. Baredo nodded, and didn’t ask about the scars, thinking it was personal- which it was- but Ana spoke bitterly and quietly, “There’s a lot about palace life that never reaches the Knights, much less the people… My father, Ashrick, he’s amazing, but my mother…” She turned her eyes away darkly while shaking her head, “Anyway,” she turned back, “It’s in the past now, can’t be helped.” She offered a small smile, and was surprised when he reached out and placed a gentle hand over one scarred shoulder- no one had ever touched her scars or made much contact with her after seeing them, other than Ashrick, of course.
“Being able to cope with such a thing is something a lot of people just can’t do. Besides, it’s only your skin, and if a friend judges you by your skin and not your soul, they’re no friend at all.” Baredo smiled softly and then withdrew his hand to mount his horse. Ana remained paused, surprised at the simple and sudden contact still. His hand was so… warm. Still a bit stunned, Ana mounted her horse wordlessly, nodding to let her escort know she was ready.
Baredo steered them alongside a deep, but thin river, crossing at a ford. Ana kept an eye on him, nervous about his lack of sleep, and his slowly deteriorating riding form. She knew they had a long way to go, and had to maintain a lead, but… he needed rest, more than the short time he’d already had. Especially with that harsh gash over his face, and even then, he was still quite handsome.
Ana blushed- where had that come from? Even thought she hadn’t spoken the words aloud, they kept the light blush on her cheeks. After a few hours, Baredo had lowered his head a great deal, looking about to collapse. Ana finally pulled her horse in front of his, making his mare snort, annoyed, and back up. “You need rest, Baredo. You did a good job throwing them off, but for now… please sleep.”
“We have to keep going, Ana…” His eyes were clouded and tired as he looked up.
“No, Baredo, I won’t let you.” She dismounted and took the reins of his horse. He sighed, finally dismounting, then stumbled. She barely caught him, and even then, she herself almost fell over. Werewolves in general were much bigger than humans, and Baredo was even a bit bigger than an average werewolf. She helped him completely stand after blushing when he steadied himself with his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him, “Now are you going to rest?”
“Yes…” He sighed. She spread out a blanket for him at the foot of a tree.
“Now sleep, and sleep well this time, okay?” Ana looked down at him as he lay on the blanket, concerned deeply for her only friend’s health. He nodded a little, but that nod trailed off as he fell into a deep slumber. Very quietly, Ana set her blanket very close to his, feeling safer, the closer she got. Seeing as she hadn’t slept the night before, she was pretty tired herself. With a yawn, she curled up and fell fast asleep next to Baredo, not worrying too much. After all, they couldn’t possibly catch up with them yet…
-Taiylor Wallace
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