56. A fair bargain.

Fear was really a frighteningly powerful thing. Who would have thought that she would be the one holding onto the man she was desperately running from in the first place?

Barak thought she was a very foolish woman, in fact she was probably the most foolish woman he had ever had the privilege of meeting. And he could not understand how a person could be cunningly smart and also foolish at the same time.

That was what he was thinking as he ran into the forest but seeing her trembling miserably, desperately holding onto him for dear life, he could not help but pity her. He couldn't help remembering his father's words.

'She is just a child'.

On reaching the barrier that protected the capital from the forest, Barak's rented horse refused to take any step further into the forest. So he was forced to leave the poor animal and venture into the forest himself.