The Medieval Marine - Cauldron Simmering
Copyright© 2025 by somethin fishy
Chapter 10: On the Run
“It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only by defying it that the brave escape.” – Voltaire
Isfahan, Seljuk Empire. September 1078
Since Tuija was more familiar with the city, she led the way to the gate. By this time, the people were panicking as fires broke out throughout the city. As Luke ran, he ensured to cause plenty of mischief. In the city, he didn’t need fire bombs; steel and flint worked just as well. When they passed something easily flammable, Luke paused for a few seconds to start another fire. He also grabbed other supplies he could use, like pots and water skins.
When they finally reached the gate in the outer wall, the post was abandoned, and the gate open. It didn’t take much time to determine that the guards had seen the fire and fled. Luke didn’t care since it was less he had to do.
Luke wasn’t sure which gate they went out and didn’t care. If he was going in the wrong direction, he would fix that when the sun came up. As they moved, Luke also made a list of everything that needed to be done so his escape would be successful. First, he had to get horses for everyone and clothes to cover his British uniform. After that, it was only moving as fast as possible. Part of the reason he chose to escape when he did was that winter was approaching, which made travel in the Middle East easier.
It didn’t take long for Morvarid to fall in beside Luke, and he knew he couldn’t hold her off any longer.
“What can I do for you?
“My brother...”
“Is still alive. At least he was when I left. As long as someone finds him before the flames reach him, he should survive, although he’s going to have one hell of a headache.”
“Thank you, Luke. He might have made me angry, but he’s still my brother.”
“I know the feeling.” Luke chuckled. “Many times growing up, I wanted to kill my sister. However, I’m glad I didn’t because she was there for me when I needed her the most.”
“Can you tell me about your sister?”
“Not right now. You wouldn’t understand.” Luke hadn’t told her he wasn’t of their world. It was something he hoped not to tell her until he was back in Britain.
“Why wouldn’t I understand?” Guzal and Tuija were closely listening as they wanted to know, too.
“Trust me. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe me, and right now, it’s far more important that all of you trust me.”
“But, how can we trust you if you’re keeping secrets?”
“Everyone has secrets, Morvarid. Even you. I pray you allow me to keep mine. I will tell you, though, that my secrets will in no way threaten any of you.” Morvarid thought for a moment, then nodded.
“As long as you promise to tell us as soon as possible.”
“Agreed.”
“Luke, what is your plan?” asked Guzal.
“We get horses and head west.”
“How?” asked Morvarid. “We don’t have that much money.” Luke smiled and held up the bags of money he swiped. “Oh.”
“Courtesy of your brother. We have enough money to get home, and I’m sure I can get more if we don’t. Now, does anyone know what direction we are traveling?”
“North,” said Guzal. Luke nodded.
“Good enough for now. Does anyone know where we can get horses nearby?” All three shook their heads; their knowledge of the areas outside the city was pretty limited. Luke shrugged. “Let’s find somewhere we can stop for the day since it will be light in a few hours.”
To the women, that meant an inn or at least a barn, although Morvarid would rather avoid that. None of them knew what Luke really meant was a thicket in the woods, preferably with some streams to help throw dogs off their scent. After walking for another hour, Luke found what he was looking for and quickly left the road with the three confused women following.
Moving up the hill, Luke soon stopped and had the women keep going until they passed him. It only took Luke five minutes to place his first booby trap. Once done, he took the lead and continued. Within fifty meters, Luke had placed another while the third was on the backside of the hill as soon as the trail crested the top.
Luke stopped with the traps and crossed another hill before stopping and telling everyone to relax. The ladies collapsed, exhausted. None were used to walking so much, and Morvarid was feeling her wine. Luke quickly gathered firewood and started a small fire. From a nearby stream, he gathered water in a pan and began boiling it as soon as the fire was hot enough.
“Why are you doing that?” asked Morvarid.
“Water often has microorganisms in it that can make you sick. Boiling the water destroys them. While there are other ways of cleaning water, this is the easiest.”
After the water had boiled enough, Luke set the pan aside to allow it to cool before placing it in his water skin. Luke missed his metal canteen. Once the water was cool, Luke filled his water skin, then repeated the process for the women’s water skins. While boiling the water, Luke found a straight sapling and cut it down. He quickly tied a knife to the end to create a primitive spear. It wasn’t too long, but it was enough for him to hunt with.
Since they were on a game trail, Luke went up the trail a kilometer and climbed a tree, instructing the women to hide and informing them that they would stay quiet if they wanted to eat. They were in a position to watch, which allowed Luke to keep an eye on them. As the sun rose, several sheep walked the trail Luke was sitting over. While not his preferred meal, the sheep were too good an opportunity to pass up, so he dropped on the last one, driving his spear through the animal and into the ground.
Luke dressed the animal using the same knife and carried it to their campsite with the women following. None had seen such a thing, and they tittered as they followed Luke. Luke smiled, predicting their reactions to his forcing them to learn how to butcher an animal.
The prediction was only partly accurate. Morvarid didn’t want to get her hands bloody, while Tuija proved Luke wrong when she jumped and helped without his asking. Guzal only helped after Luke asked for it. To Luke’s surprise, the twins knew how to butcher an animal, and together, the three made short work of it. Morvarid didn’t help much, but Luke thought there was hope for her yet. Morvarid took a drink of water and spit it out.
“Luke, this water tastes horrible.”
“Too bad. Drink boiled water or risk getting sick. If you get sick from doing something as stupid as drinking water that hasn’t been boiled, I will leave you behind.” Morvarid stepped back like she had been smacked.
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that! I’m a princess of the Seljuk Empire.”
“You are free to leave at any time. Of course, if you do leave, there’s a good chance I’ll put a knife in you.” She gasped, and Luke looked at her. “It shouldn’t surprise you. I’m going home and refuse to let anything or anyone get in my way.” Morvarid stared daggers at Luke, then looked at the twins.
“Sorry, Morvarid. I’m staying with Luke,” said Tuija. Morvarid shifted her gaze to Guzal, who looked like a trapped animal.
“Well, Guzal will come with me, won’t you,” Morvarid confidently stated. Guzal was nervous, which Morvarid noticed. “Guzal,” Morvarid growled.
“Guzal, look at me,” said Luke softly, continuing when she looked at him. “It’s time to decide what you want in your life. Do you want to continue serving Morvarid, or do you want more?”
Guzal looked at her sister, then Morvarid, and then back at her sister as she tried to make up her mind. Morvarid tried to say something, but Luke told her to shut up; this had to be Guzal’s decision. On one hand, Tuija was her twin sister, and they had always been together. Tuija was her other half, and they were all the family either had left. On the other hand, Guzal had promised to follow Morvarid wherever she went. However, that promise was made long before another option was available. Guzal closed her eyes and stood perfectly still. Ever since she was a child, this has been her preferred method of thinking when faced with a difficult decision.
Eventually, Guzal opened her eyes and hugged Morvarid.
“I’m sorry, Morvarid, but I cannot leave my sister.”
“But ... You promised.”
“I know we promised to stay with you, but my allegiance to my sister means far more than the one I owe you. I’m sorry.”
“Well, Morvarid, what now?” asked Luke. “Are you coming to Britain with me, where you can be whatever you want, or will you stay here?”
“It looks like I have no choice,” hissed Morvarid.
“You have a choice. You have always had a choice. It’s time to decide what you really want in life.” Morvarid sighed.
“I don’t have a choice, and you know it. Since I helped you escape, I will be considered a traitor and will be lucky if my execution is quick. Even if I turn you in, it won’t help me.”
The twins gave Morvarid a heartfelt hug, and Luke’s reward was a kiss on the cheek that caused Morvarid to blush. Luke smirked while he put meat on the fire to cook.
With some meat cooking on the fire and other meat drying, Luke began teaching the skills needed for self-defense. The twins were passable, but to Luke’s surprise, Morvarid showed real potential. Soon, Luke had to stop to catch his breath. He was getting too old for this.
“All right, Morvarid. You’ve been holding out on me. Where did you learn all that?” Luke panted. She smiled.
“I’ve been dancing since I can remember, and many of your moves are similar to how I danced.”
“Ah, that makes sense. I have to tell you, you are by far the easiest person I have ever taught.”
“Thank you.” Morvarid smiled and moved quickly to Luke, where she delivered a solid kiss before he could react.
“Well, if that is how you will thank me for teaching you, I’ll have to teach you more often.” Morvarid smiled widely. “Just remember that when I get back to Britain, you’ll need to talk with my wives before anything else happens.”
“What about us?” demanded Tuija.
“Same goes for you two. Marion has the final say but will take into strong consideration the feelings of my other wife, my mistress, and her wife. I just want everyone to remember that.”
Morvarid was pissed to be reminded that her man was already married and uncomfortable that Tuija had designs on him. Guzal didn’t care, although she wouldn’t mind a roll in the hay with Luke if the chance arose. Her taste in men ran toward men a year or two older than her, not one 20 years older.
After eating, Luke banked the coals and laid more strips of meat on a wooden rack to dry them. He would have loved to keep the sheep’s skin but had no way of preserving it on the run. With the coals banked, he quickly made a bed for everyone. To help protect themselves against ambush, they would sleep against a small cliff, and Luke strung trip lines around the campsite to alert them if anything came near. Finally, he cut some brush and laid it around them and their campfire. With everything done, the twins laid down first, then Morvarid, and finally Luke. He wanted to be on the outside in case something happened.
As he had 13 years before, Luke slept with one eye open to watch for danger. To his surprise, nobody came near all day. He wondered about Marion and what she was doing. Had she gotten remarried? Had she been able to move on, or had she broken down and crawled into a hole? It bugged Luke that he wasn’t home to comfort her or watch his children grow up. Would Alice stay with Marion this time or move out again? What about his favorite Sámi woman? Would Kukka still be there? Finally, Luke couldn’t sleep anymore.
Luke got up and found it was mid-afternoon. Checking on the drying meat, he found it was good enough to keep for a few days, and that was fine with him. That was all the time Luke needed before the group had horses and clothes to hide in plain sight. Gently, he woke everyone and gave them several strips of meat to eat and some water to drink.
Morvarid wasn’t happy about waking up since she had been in the middle of a lust-filled dream where Luke was pounding her while the twins were sucking her nipples. Once everyone was done eating and their gear was stored, Luke moved everyone toward the road, where he hoped to get some transportation.
Checking his traps, he found a dead soldier in the first one. Luke carefully approached and found the man still very warm, meaning he had just died. The man’s blood was still dripping and had barely begun coagulating. The man’s scream must have woken Luke’s subconscious, which drove him to get up. Luke stripped the man’s gear and hid the body. Although his clothes were bloody, the blood could be cleaned, and the holes could be repaired. One of the twins would wear his clothes since they were the closest in size. If there was one soldier, there must be more nearby.
Using his camouflaged uniform, Luke crept to the road and found the man’s horse tied to a small tree. Even though the bow was too small, Luke was thrilled to find a bow and arrows on the horse. He would make it work until something better came along. Tuija led the horse deeper into the forest to hide it from the road, and Luke hid to see if he could get more.
After an hour of waiting, Morvarid became impatient; she had never had to wait for anything. Luke smiled and shook his head. To him, Morvarid sounded like a child on a trip asking their parents if they were there yet.
Just as Luke was going to tell Morvarid to be quiet, he heard a horse snort. The snort didn’t come from behind them but from the side. Luke signaled Morvarid to be silent and hide as he carefully watched the road.
From around a bend in the road, Luke saw four riders on horseback. Luke knew they were standard cavalry, not the elite palace guards, from their uniforms. That meant the Seljuks hadn’t gotten around to sending out patrols yet, which was fine with Luke. The longer he had before the Seljuks started looking for him, the better his chance of escaping.
Since Luke was high in a tree, he stuck several arrows into the limb he was sitting on, which allowed him to shoot rapidly. Luke watched and listened as the riders passed by. They were talking about the fire and speculating on what may have caused it; apparently, the news that Luke caused it hadn’t spread yet.
Once the riders had passed, Luke drew the bow and let the first arrow fly. He targeted the man with a bow across his back with his first shot. Luke’s arrow hit the man in the back of the neck and passed more than halfway through. Before the others could turn their horses, Luke’s second arrow was in flight. It buried itself in the back of the man who appeared to be the leader of the little group.
As the second arrow hit, Luke’s third arrow left the bowstring and quickly found the face of his third target. Luke’s fourth target was on high alert, so he drove his horse off the road to escape the arrows. Ultimately, it didn’t matter because Luke was an experienced hunter and whistled once he was at a full draw. Luke’s whistle caused the man to make a fatal mistake and stop his horse to look for the source of the sound. As the man turned his head, Luke released the arrow, and by the time he saw it, it was too late. The arrow hit the man between the eyes and buried itself deep in his brain.
With the four riders down, Luke jumped out of the tree and went to the men on the road. The one with the arrow in his back was still alive, so Luke used his sword to end the man’s suffering. It only took Luke fifteen minutes to drag all the bodies off the road and collect the horses.
While Luke cleaned up and gathered the horses, the women stripped the dead men and inventoried the spoils. The horses were of roughly average quality, which was good since high-quality horses would stand out. The last thing Luke wanted to do was stand out any worse than he already did. All the other spoils were roughly average as well. The most exciting thing was that one of the men had a heavy purse, which was added to what Luke had taken from the Sultan.
Luke found some clothes that fit him and quickly changed, hiding his uniform in his horse’s saddlebags, although he kept his boots, pants, and shorts on. After a short argument with Morvarid, the ladies also changed into captured clothing. She wasn’t thrilled about wearing pants, but Luke didn’t care. He had been through this once before and knew how to force the women to do what he needed them to do.
Now that the four had a horse apiece and one pack horse, they could move much faster, although it quickly became apparent that Morvarid wasn’t used to riding. She continuously squirmed as she tried to find a more comfortable way to sit. Coming from the steppe, Guzal and Tuija were used to riding a horse, although they hadn’t ridden since they had been sold into slavery. Luke couldn’t help himself.
“You would think, Morvarid, that since you’re the only Seljuk here, you would be the most comfortable in the saddle. Even in Britain, the Seljuks are famous horsemen. I guess that fame doesn’t extend to the women.”
Guzal and Tuija snickered. They found it hilarious that someone put Morvarid in her place, as she was always going on about being a Seljuk princess. Morvarid snorted at Luke and glared at the twins before trying to make herself comfortable again. Her biggest problem was she wouldn’t relax. Instead of allowing her body to move with the horse, Morvarid tried to stay in one place. Luke tried to help, but she refused to listen. He knew she would learn in a few days, but Morvarid would be one sore woman in the meantime.
As darkness fell, the four continued riding. Luke wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and Isfahan. During the night, two people would sleep in the saddle while the other two guided the horses. Everyone would dismount and walk every few hours to allow the horses to rest. Walking also allowed everyone’s muscles to get some work. After two hours, they would mount up and switch who slept and who guided the horses.
Morvarid stayed on the same schedule as Luke, so she had plenty of time to talk with him. Morvarid explained the political layout of the Seljuk Empire, and Luke explained the political layout of Great Britain. What stunned Morvarid was the checks and balances built into the British Constitution and the guaranteed freedoms enjoyed by all British citizens. If something like that were implemented in the Seljuk Empire, it would lead to a war with every noble, and it wouldn’t matter if they were noblemen or noblewomen. None would tolerate such a document.
Luke had to wonder how much longer the Seljuk Empire would last as loosely as the provinces were held. He knew the 1st Christian Crusade would be successful, and seeing the state of the Seljuk Empire, it was no wonder. Not for the first time, Luke wished he had studied medieval history in greater depth, but at the time, he had no reason to do so.
The group found an inn and stopped as the sun rose the next morning. They were hungry, and their horses needed rest. Luke had no intention of staying; he only wanted to eat, allow the horses some rest, and change out one of them since it appeared to have a bad hoof. It needed a new shoe, and Luke didn’t want to take the time to get it reshod.
Thankfully, nobody else was in the inn, so nobody recognized them. However, it also meant that all there was to eat was bread, cheese, and cold cuts. None of them cared since the bread was only a day old. Morvarid dozed off at the table, and Luke smiled. While the twins watched over Morvarid, Luke went to check on their horses and found the news was not good.
Instead of one lame horse, he had three to deal with. The other two had strained muscles. It was time for Luke to haggle with the innkeeper because, thankfully, the man had eight horses in his stable. Luke wanted all of them, and after much back and forth, they eventually agreed to a deal. They would exchange the five Luke had since they were slightly better than the ones the man had, and Luke would buy the other three with tack for one gold Dinar and two silver Dirhams. Luke knew he got the worst part of the deal, but they needed the horses, and the innkeeper needed to be bribed to forget the deal.
After they completed their business, Luke moved everyone’s gear to the new horses and ensured nobody saw his uniform or the large amount of money he carried. Talking with the innkeeper, Luke also discovered it was two days until they reached Kashan. There, Luke could find a bow that fit him properly. Once there, Luke could also upgrade their horses if need be.
With business completed and carrying food and drink for the road, Luke woke Morvarid. Much to the twin’s amusement, she cursed Luke as she tried to stand. Morvarid’s muscles had chilled and were now stiff. It took her a few minutes, but her muscles began to warm up and loosen, allowing her to move more easily.
As the group rode out, they saw the community coming to life. It was enough to make Luke nervous because the more people who saw them, the more likely it was that someone could report them. With two horses each, the group could ride all day and cover much more ground. As they rode, the group talked and debated various subjects. Debating was one of the things Morvarid loved, and she held her own against Luke. In Luke, Morvarid found herself a worthy debate partner who wasn’t afraid of her position or intellect.
Around midday, Tuija heard horses rapidly approaching behind them. Since there was more than one rider, it meant trouble, and everyone knew it. When they looked back, they could see the riders, eliminating any choice but staying on the road. Luke carefully readied his knives and moved his bow to where he could grab it. Finally, he drew his sword slightly from its scabbard and slid it back in.
Once the horses got close enough, Luke turned and saw it was two soldiers. These were not ordinary soldiers either but palace guards. Morvarid also saw them, and to make matters worse, she recognized them. One was an old friend, while the other she didn’t know enough about to have an opinion. What wasn’t in question was whether they would recognize her.
The two riders were messengers carrying an urgent message to Kashan. The reason there were two was that Ghiyāth suspected they would find Luke and wanted to ensure they could capture him. That was also why palace guards were delivering messages.
Ghiyāth sent the messengers because he was the only one left from Malik’s inner circle who wasn’t dead or critically injured. He had been out of the palace when the fire started because he couldn’t stand the sight of so many drunken idiots. So, with nobody else available, Ghiyāth took command until Malik recovered enough to take over.
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