Heart Over Sword

That morning, they had their breakfast before packing up and setting out on the road again. The atmosphere was a lot calmer than the day before; their travel mainly consisted of their horses trotting along the path. Axel led the way with Ronan next to him, followed by Ger and Evanna and behind the group by a few paces was Cilv. Although the men of the group were chatting happily, Evanna stayed quiet, too absorbed in her own thoughts to take part.

She could not help but think about her dream the night before; it was very vivid and quite odd. Usually, her dreams would all but be forgotten the following morning, yet this one stuck to her mind like a spider's web. Although she had not been to the place in her dream, it felt real and looked incredibly realistic; even her mother's features were not blurred.

The only difference was that her mother looked healthy, and with that last thought, she pushed the dream to the back of her mind. It was just her subconscious making her feel better about her mother. She was setting out on this journey to get a gem that would heal her mother. Any guilt that had been manifesting in her mind about leaving her mother was now going. Once she had the gem, it would all be over.

As they continued on, the path ahead of them started to branch out into different directions; Axel began to lead on the far right path. Ger trotted ahead from his position to speak to Axel about the direction he was taking them in. Before Evanna could speak up and question what the issue was, Ronan fell back in stride with her; Midknight made a noise at the new horse next to him in greeting.

"How are you doing on this fine morning, milady?" He asked her with a dazzling smile; she could not help smiling back at his boyish charm,

"I am excellent, Ronan, and how are you?"

"Better now I have a beautiful woman next to me," Before she could respond, his right hand made a swift action and now held in his hand was a pink daisy "For you", he brought the flower forwards for her to reach out and grab it.

She grasped the flower without touching his hand; though her gloves were in between them, she did not want him getting the wrong impression. He chuckled in response to her action.

"Thank you. I did not know you were such a magician," She placed the flower at the bottom part of her plait, making it stand out brightly against her raven locks.

"Merely parlour tricks. I am glad to see you smiling again," With Ronan's response, she turned her head to look back at him, baffled. He smiled gently back at her, "You seemed a little lost earlier."

"Oh", She breathed, "I erm, I had a strange dream and was trying to determine what it meant to me."

"Such deep thoughts early in the day. Was this not a nice dream?"

"It was lovely, even." Her voice was small as her eyes looked off to the distance, remembering the view of the mountains and waterfalls and how her mother looked so full of life in her dream.

"Then, do not fret. Enjoy them while you can. For they are a sweet oblivion to real-life."

She nodded her head in agreement; his wise words were helpful. Although she had not known him long, he was beginning to grow on her. However, if they were to be friends, she would have to keep him at arm's length and make it abundantly clear that she would not be one of his many women, swept off their feet by him.

For the rest of the journey to Kuramji town, Evanna and Ronan chatted pleasantly. Unbeknown to the princess, Ger, Axel and Ronan were very anxious for this part of their travel. Though the road had been empty of any other travellers so far, it did not mean it was not safe. The path they chose out of the many was the quickest route but also the deadliest. The bandits in the area tended to use this way for robberies.

To anyone else, who could not fight, it would be easy pickings for them. However, the men were vigilant, looking out for telltale signs of an ambush. Earlier, when Ger went ahead to speak to Axel, he done so purposely, needing Ronan to be Evanna's close guard and Ger her front.

Not only did he have his sword but his bow and arrows as well; if need be, he will make a perfect shot quickly.

On the other hand, Axel had two throwing axes along with the giant axe he kept hidden inside of his shield. Cilv, however, did not seem to be carrying any weapons other than two small knives; this made her the least able to fight unless she was comfortable at being in close contact with somebody. It may have looked like they casually placed themselves this way to Evanna and Cilv, but it had been pre-planned for any trouble that would arise.

Not long past noon did the company start to see any indication of the town they were travelling to. There were run-down farms and houses that had started to appear every 10 minutes; on closer inspection, Evanna could see that some of the farms, with dead crops, were still lived in. The soil underneath the horses' hooves began to get wetter and muddier the closer they got to the town, showing that people had used the route recently.

Something shiny caught the princess's attention; across from her in the dirt was a slightly rusted blade, and as she went past it, she noticed the dried blood on it, and to the side of it, there was more spilt blood. Her back stiffened, and her shoulders went back as she became more alert about the town they were approaching.

The houses started to get closer together as they made their way through the beginning of the town; luckily, there had been no trouble on the road. But the group feared that the last of their peace was back at the campsite in the wilderness than the streets of the town they would stay in for the night.

As they rode their horses through the town, the surrounding people started to stare at the new arrivals. The atmosphere was tense, as though they could be jumped on at any moment. Evanna felt better after deciding to put her hood up before entering the area; she noticed the others did the same. She knew she would feel better after four walls were surrounding them, the less chance of someone trying to attack them, not that she could not handle herself, she would prefer to get through the town unnoticed.

If her father's men came as far as Kuramji, then it would be best to stay as hidden as possible. After looking at some of the locals, she could tell who the real criminals were and who were simple people trying to survive in such a rut. She could not help but feel sorry for some of the people she looked at; she knew they would break the law to provide food for themselves and their families. She noted to herself that the first thing she would do when she returned home would be to get into the kingdom's politics and try to help the people living in such places.

Evanna tried not to stray her eyes too far from what was in front of her; she felt the gazes on her, trying to reveal who or what was underneath her cloak. Before her, she saw Axel and Ger start to steer their horses onto the right side of the street towards an inn, "The Snake Pitt". Dread began to form in Evanna's stomach, out of all the names of an inn, and it was called that. However, she knew it was just a name, most likely to keep to the town's theme being known as dangerous.

They dismounted and started to lead their horses towards the stables at the back of the inn. Once Evanna dropped down from Midknight, a gruff voice spoke from behind,

"Now tha there is a beaut."

Evanna stopped and turned around to face a weasel-like man, half his face was covered in ink, and the other was scarred from what looked to be burn marks. His eye on the scarred side was white, almost as if he was blind in that eye.

"Scuse me?" Evanna said, putting a slight accent on.

The man smirked at her failed attempt at covering her feminine voice. It was true she was just above average in height for a female, but the man noticed how small her hands were. He walked closer to her, his height towering over her own as he looked to the black horse and back down to her.

Ger and Ronan stopped in their tracks, noticing the absence of Evanna behind them and turned back around to see a scene unfolding before them; a hostile looking man was getting close to her. They could not hear what was being said between them, but their body language told them everything. Just as they began to jog towards them, Evanna abruptly brought one of her swords out and pointed it up at the man's throat.

The two men were now standing behind her, gripping their sword's handles as they heard the end of the conversation.

"I said NO. If my blade is not threatening enough, maybe cutting off your ear will make a point." Evanna's voice was horrifyingly calm as she uttered the sentence to the stranger.

His eyes widened, and he took a couple steps back before turning away. The scene had caused more people to watch the newcomers, but now they were looking at them in fear. If 'Amon, the burnt' had turned back from a fight, then the strangers must be more dangerous than him. The crowd that had formed nearby began to disperse, not wanting to be the next person to anger the lethal newcomers.

Lowering her sword, she put it behind her before turning back around, she grabbed Midknight's reins, and they continued walking towards the stables. Ger and Ronan followed without speaking a word until they were out of sight from the people of Kuramji.

"What the hell happened?" They both said, their voices slightly elevated; they looked at each other then back at Evanna, waiting for an answer. She, on the other hand, ignored them as she stroked Midknight's mane, the horse snorted at her, and she gave him a little peck just above his nose. Evanna felt a slight yank on her arm, jolting her out of her own thoughts; she twisted herself to see Ger holding it firmly.

"What happened?"

"He wanted my horse," She said coolly. Ger sighed, raking his hand through his hair, while Ronan behind him could not help but laugh in disbelief.

"You really love your horse. I will not be getting in between you two anytime soon!" Ronan jested before making his way into the inn where Axel and Cilv entered, leaving Ger and Evanna with Midknight.

He loosened his hold on her arm, then pulled her in for a hug; shocked, Evanna took a while before she placed her hands gently on his back, patting him, before stepping back. She glanced around to make sure nobody had been watching before looking back at his concerned face. He parted his lips, about to say something, but Evanna held her hand up to stop him. She knew he was going to scold her.

"The people in this town were not happy with our presence. The man was testing me to see how far I would go. I made sure that they would think twice before trying anything."

Ger was shocked with what she said, "How do you know all of this?", she shook her head in response. "I just did. A sort of gut feeling."

"A gut feeling?" Ger said incredulously.

"Yes. Trust me."

He scanned her face and saw how serious she was; he decided to believe her. What she did was very uncharacteristic of her, so she must have sensed the danger around her. At least he knew what her response would be when the time would come; there were other dangers out there in the forest. Out of fight or flight, he knew indefinitely, she would fight.