Chapter 53

My eyes had begun drooping in the late afternoon and it was now sunset.

I held the horse's reigns tightly as we swerved through the overgrown jungle. It was such a strange terrain with strange noises.

I jumped when I heard a twig snap, I blinked my eyes when I realized that they had been closed.

Brigitte slowed Dahlia in her steps and I slowed Helle.

"What is it?" I asked as I fought a yawn.

"Gaur." She whispered staring at something before us.

I squinted my eyes in the dim light but I couldn't make anything out.

I heard a strange huff next to me and turning I saw the face of a strange cow. My eyes widened and I leaned away from it inadvertently pulling the reigns to the left. Another huff followed and I saw that there were two strange cows on either side of me.

They were simply chewing cud but my heart was still beating rapidly; they were massive animals. Both of them had horns on their heads.

"What do we do?" I asked, my voice a shrill whisper.

"They are rather shy and docile, your majesty. I'm sure we'll be fine, but it would be best not to startle them." Brigitte replied calmly.

I swallowed and nodded, it was getting much harder to see in the fading light and my head was foggy for want of sleep.

"Follow me." I heard Brigitte say as she slowly began to move forward through the underbrush.

I swallowed and hunching forward on Helle I nudged the horse to begin walking. She didn't seem too frightened of the large cows which I found ironic.

Our one horse back home was quite jittery around our cow.

A large one walked in between me and Brigitte and Helle came to a stop, "Brigitte!" I called softly and she turned.

"It will move on, your majesty, there's nothing to fear." She said kindly.

"What are you so afraid of? They're just cows." The Sovereign's voice suddenly sounded from behind me.

"Big cows." I muttered gripping the reigns.

The gaur did not move on and continued to graze where it was. My eyes began to close as my body relaxed begging for sleep.

'Hmm… yes… sleep… so… warm… No!' I shouted in my mind and I sat bolt upright. I had been resting on the Sovereign's chest behind me and I could feel my ears burn. I shook my drowsiness from me and decided to go around the large bovine.

Helle slowly made her way around the animal and we rejoined Brigitte.

She led us along an unseen path that led out to a road.

I glanced out to see the ends of it, some parts of the dirt road were overgrown, some had broken and disappeared entirely. I raised my head then turned it so my left ear faced the far side of the road.

The ocean.

I felt my heart warm at the thought. I could smell it too, the warm salt in the air. Unknown to me a smile bloomed on my face.

"Should we make camp?" Brigitte asked, looking at me then at the Sovereign behind me.

"Yes, we'll continue in the morning." He said and as if my body had heard him and a switch flipped, the drowsiness overwhelmed me and I closed my eyes.

~~~~~~~~

Bastian looked up at the maid in shock and confusion. The flower had all of a sudden collapsed on him. He'd thought it was strange when she'd rested her head on his chest but for some odd reason he hadn't protested it.

The maid came nearer to them on her horse and checked Hydrangea over with a furrow in her brows.

"She must have been exhausted." She murmured.

Bastian looked down at the flower, 'So she'd been tired. Why hadn't she just said so?' He wondered but pushing the thoughts aside he freed the reigns from her vicelike grip and walked across the dirt lane.

"We'll make camp here." He said as he climbed down from the horse, catching Hydrangea as he did, he'd forgotten that she'd been using his body for support.

Brigitte watched the scene with a hidden bemused expression. She'd known of her Queen's dislike of the Sovereign but she had not known him. Now that she had met him and observed his behaviour, she found him… clueless. And because of that cluelessness he was defensive.

Shaking her head she walked through the thin line of trees and onto the beach. It was a thin beach, only a few metres wide but it had enough sand for what she'd need.

Kneeling down she began to scoop sand into her apron, once she saw that she had enough she walked back through the trees.

Coming back to the camp she could see that nothing else had been done; the Sovereign had not tied the horses down, or taken any of the many packs off, and the Queen was only sitting against a tree, her eyes still closed, dead to the world.

Sighing softly she dumped the sand in the middle of the small area and began clearing the leaf and twig strewn ground.

"Ah, there you are!" She heard the Sovereign exclaim. She had been quiet in all of her endeavours and was now only making noise because of striking the rock to light the fire.

"My Sovereign." She paused in her movements to bow her head.

"I don't suppose you brought any pillows or blankets?" He asked and she couldn't decide if she felt disgusted or if she pitied him. Had he ever slept under the stars?

She shook her head, "I'm afraid not, but there should be four blankets in one of the packs on Helle, my Sovereign." She said then leaned down to blow the fire to life.

"Hmm, good." He said, "And which one's that?" He asked. There was something strange about his tone, he could either sound rude and abrasive, sarcastic and mocking, or he could be like this; slightly humble but with an air of superiority still, treating everyone as though they were children.

"The grey one, my Sovereign." She replied standing and dusting off her skirt to fetch the blankets.

Pulling them out she gave two to the Sovereign seeing as Hadok was not with them, then she moved to wrap one around the Queen.

After securing the warm fabric around the sleeping woman she walked back to Helle, she patted the saddle but the blanket was gone. She swung on her heel and saw that the Sovereign had folded it and was using it as a pillow.

Pursing her lips in disappointment she tied both mares down and sat in front of the fire. Her back remained cold as she pulled her cloak close to her body. It was Hadok's cloak and she wondered if the Queen would want it.

Shivering she rested her head on the ground and closed her eyes.