Chapter 8

Plasevain Woods, the Kingdom of Wuthia, 1125

Mabel Laenas

No one said a word as we rode through the Plasevain Woods, leaving behind the town of Freymount and everything we knew. Richard rested his head on my shoulder, snoring and mumbling in his sleep. We rode for hours, never stopping, and only continued onward to Olnfield. Hoping that we can start a new life there, away from everything that has transpired in Freymount.

I looked to the left of me. Solomon was still up but was fighting to keep his eyes open. He tried his best to keep his head up, but every so often, he would slowly sink his head before quickly raising it back up in resistance. I giggled a little bit. Poor Solomon, trying to be strong. I know the feeling. Trying to maintain a composure of strength and bravery can be quite exhausting, but what choice did we have?

Sitting around moping about our pain and losses wouldn’t get us anywhere. And on top of that, we’re probably wanting fugitives now. The killing of a priest, especially one like Sigric who had great influence, is a very serious crime. Even though he was the one who committed the act of violence first. But no one would believe us. They would automatically believe a false assumption of what really happened and put the blame all on us, the remaining Laenas members.

Richard’s snoring cut through my thoughts.

I bumped him in the chest with my elbow to wake him up. He woke up quickly. “Wake up, sleeping beauty.”

He let out a yawn. “How far away are we from Olnfield?”

“Two days out,” I said, staring at the map one more time before placing it back in the sack.

“This is going to be the longest ride of my life,” he moaned. “I can’t even feel my ass on this mule.”

“You don’t see Willow complaining?” I said to Richard. Though he was the oldest of the Laenas children, he didn’t act like it. He is only a few years older than me, and I always thought it was a cruel twist of fate that I wasn’t the oldest. I was more mature, more reliable. He has been the opposite for as long as I have known him. He even lost his innocence at a young age, with some farm girl whose name I could no longer remember, while I and Solomon remain the only virgins of the Laenas family. It seemed that life had always given him things on a silver platter, while I had to really prove myself as a woman and one to be taken seriously.

“I’m just saying,” Richard said. “Taking a rest stop would benefit all of us, including Willow here.”

I looked over to Solomon. “What do you think, Solomon?”

“Taking a rest,” he started. “Seems like a pretty good idea.”

“See,” Richard said, “even our baby brother thinks taking a stop is beneficial. And besides, we are pretty far away from Freymount for anyone to recognize us.”

He did have a point. We are hours away from Freymount, and I don’t think anybody is going to be looking for Priest Sigric, especially on a night such as this.

“Fine,” I said. “We can make camp. I think I see a nice stream just up ahead where we can make a base.”