Chapter Seven

Hours have passed, the sun wasn't up yet, but the birds were chirping loud enough to wake me from my dream. My eyes flickered open as I slowly searched around the room, for a moment I was confused over where I was until the memories of the night before rushed back into my brain. Exhausted from lack of sleep, I sat up and noticed that I was sitting on the bearskin rug by a burnt-out fire with brick framing. With my body aching in every muscle and joint I forced myself up to my feet, my sleeve had a small tear in it, the spikes on my balcony might have had something to do with that. The house was quiet and the lights were still out that was, until someone came walking up the front stairs and into the house.

"Oh, good, you're awake, come... come there is something I would like to show you," The old man said.

"You scared me *sighs* okay... um, where's my cloak?" I asked him as I followed him into one of the back rooms.

We walked into a room in the very back that looked as if it was used for extra storage. "Your cloak is hanging by the front door," He said while moving a few wooden crates to the side, revealing a small clearing.

He stepped to the side and revealed a large chest in the middle of the clearing. He gestures to me to take a step closer.

"This chest contains some of my wife's old clothes and belongings, you two were around the same size, so you can go through there and find anything that you would like... I will be finishing setting up the wagon for our departure" he said before leaving and closes the door behind him.

I stepped closer to the chest, kneeling before it, and slowly unhooked the shiny metal hooks on the lid. It was heavier than I thought but I lifted it up. I rested it on a sturdy crate that was sitting behind it, it was filled to the top with unique styled clothing made mostly of sturdy dark leathers. I searched through the chest and picked out a dark grey, long-sleeved shirt with black leather chest armor that cut off right before the belly button, black pants with a belt, a pair of black boots with a short heel that went up to the knees, a pair of dark leather gloves that showed off my fingertips and two shin guards that went from the ankle to just above the knee. All the clothing ended up fitting perfectly. I just needed to tighten the chest armor a little bit.

I turned to leave but a sparkle from the lid of the chest caught my attention from the corner of my eye. Turning back, I took a closer look at the shiny objects in the lid. Running my finger over the internal lining where the sparkle was coming from, the corner was worn enough to stick my index finger underneath the lining and pull it away. The shine became more pronounced as I removed the red-carpet lining, I removed the lining halfway and could finally see the silhouettes of two shiny silver twin blades.

I slid the two twin swords out of the lid and held one in each hand, something felt right about having the two blades in my hands, almost as if they were always meant to be in my possession or by my side.

"Are you ready to get going?" the man said.

"Yeah, let's get out of this place," I said.

I Threw on my cloak, hooking the single button in the front, and threw the hood on over my head. The man walked outside the door and waved to me when it was safe for me to exist.

"Quickly... quickly, jump into the back of the wagon and cover yourself with the blanket, please try to keep your head down," He said while running as fast as he could to the wagon.

I ran to the back of the wagon, jumping in and shuffled to the back, and squeezed behind a few somewhat large wooden crates. I covered myself with the blanket and laid as flat as possible. It didn't take long for the wagon to start moving, we started our travel on an extremely bumpy road away from the kingdom's borders.

"Holt!" a loud and powerful voice said.

"Is there a problem sir?" the old man asked.

"We are going to need to search your wagon before allowing you to leave," the voice replied.

Before I knew it, I could hear the sounds of multiple feet stomping next to the wagon, coming from both sides. The back doors creaked open of the wagon, my heart dropped a few beats.

"Where are you heading? What is your business outside the kingdom?" The voice said.

"I am trading household items, such as blankets and chairs for seeds to grow in the next planting season," the old man replied.

"Wagon is clean, only some old blankets, chairs, and cooking supplies," Another voice said.

"Carry on," The voice said with hesitation before the wagon doors were closed and we carried on.

The bumps on the road got even worse the further we went, I was trying to keep the body on the floor, but I flew up every time we hit a pothole. I placed my hands under my head to keep it from slamming into the floor.

An hour of bumpy riding had passed.

The road became smoother, as the wagon came to a hard stop and forced my back into the wall. Removing the blanket, I crawled over the crates and out the door. We had stopped in the middle of an extremely bushy forest with no road and a very small path that could barely fit anything wider than a horse. Stepping down from the wagon my legs were so numb that I fell to my knees and for once I wasn't falling to my face because I tripped over the flowy skirts of my old gowns.

"Oh good... good, you're alive, sorry for the bumpy ride," The old man said.

"I never got your name and where are we exactly?" I asked.

"You can call me Simon and after we got clear of the soldiers and guards, I decided to do some off-roading on a shortcut I used to travel as a boy. I am meeting a trader here in a few minutes to get some necessary items we will need for our journey... I suggest you make yourself scarce, the trader won't be happy to see you," He said.

I reached back into the wagon and grabbed the twin blades before jogging off into the trees, I was trying not to travel too far. I crouched into a large bush, moving a few leafy branches out of my face to get a clear view of Simon and the wagon. The trader was a youngish man that looked as if every noise startled him. He walked up to Simon with two horses following behind him, Simon traded his wagon and horse for the traders, two horses, and a large sack, filled to the top and tried to shut with a string. I jumped out of the bush and jogged back over to Simon after the trader had ridden off with the wagon.

"Which one would you like?" Simon asked.

I walked up to the two horses, one was brown with a black mane and tail, the other was a chestnut with a unique white pattern on its back. I gently grabbed the reins to the chestnut horse.

"Good choice, now we have to go up the ridge, it will be close to nightfall by the time we get there... do you mind carrying the sack of supplies?" He said.

"Sure, are you okay? you looked upset to let your horse go," I said lying the sac over the back of the saddle and hooking it in place.

"Yes... yes, I am perfectly fine, come let's get moving," He said.

Simon was already on his horse and facing the path to the ridge. I hopped onto my horse and we started to trot down the path.