The Seeress

Chapter Twelve

Looking back on what happened, there was nothing that they could do. Edwin and John had no idea how to stop them. They were merely mercenaries compared to the red soldiers of Westhaven. No match for their ferocity. John knew all too well about them, as he almost fled immediately upon seeing them. 

He remembered how his horse was ruthlessly cut down as if a butcher cut a beast down.  He looked at the horse he was at, the stubborn yet strong beast named Mary. A miracle, that he managed to tame it fast enough to flee. How Harold could ride the horse, was beyond him.

Edwin looked from behind, no one in sight. It was daybreak, and both Edwin and John were tired after seemingly a day of fleeing. They were terribly sure that no one could find them now, and prayed that was the case. 

"Are they gone?" John asked as Edwin looked at the back again. No one was pursuing them, and that both the father and son were terribly vulnerable to any attack. Suddenly, Edwin could hear faint panting, as he pulled his sword immediately. Only to hear it was rather just his father instead.

Surely enough, Edwin looked around as he realized the careless, stupid mistake that he has made as he panted terribly.  "Where's Agnetha? Edwin asked as she was nowhere to be found. He then turned to his father, who looked more or less relieved, before realizing that his son would not see it that way. 

"Damn her, Harold is right," John said with relief, although he felt inside, he lost the opportunity for wealth. But now, John had to think less about the gold, and more about how he had to save his nephew from his own mistake.

"We can't possibly leave her right?" Edwin said as if he was pleading. John looked at him as if he has gone daft. His son always had a habit of stating the obvious.

"I say, as soon as Harold comes, we leave Nordlund, as fast as we can," John said with finality, his voice assuring himself that it will happen. But deep in his soul, he knew that such a feat of him returning would be terribly hard to do. The only way, John felt, that could be done is divine intervention. Something that he could not imagine could happen at all.

And yet Harold never came. For seemingly two hours they waited for him to come back. John and Edwin looked cold, even more so with his liking towards her. Their hearts shiver for they did not know what happened to him. In a way, John deep down knew, that they could leave before the troops can find them. But he could not leave his nephew like that. 

"Well, where is he?" Edwin said, taken aback as his cousin was nowhere at sight. He himself struggled to get ahold of Mary. It was true that it was John that have agreed to Agnetha's offer, but he did not forsee this, in his defense. 

"Well, father. What should we do now..."

"Silence!" John hushed, as he saw what was a horse, and a rider on top. Without words, John and Edwin rushed towards them, not caring whether Faizal came with them or not. As the rider becomes more visible, their fear soon turned to disappointment. 

"Erik?" John asked as he saw the Nord's face. He looked downtrodden, panting after the fierce battle that preceded it. 

"I couldn't stop them," Erik said, gritting his teeth in anger. It was a failure that tortured his mind. "Did you see Harold, is he alive?" Edwin asked him.

"Damned if I know," Erik panted, his breath becoming shorter. "Maybe he lives, who knows..."

"Is he alive?" John said as he gripped his collar of Erik. Erik felt the urge to strike the Westerner holding him, but he knew that he would fall off his horse, and will make him vulnerable.

"The guards, they took hostage of everyone who was there," Erik said. John then let go, although he pushed Erik hard enough for the latter to nearly tumble. Soon afterwards, Edwin finally realised what he was about to say.

"Agnetha, she made it, didn't she?" Edwin asked. Erik simply shook his head, in a way ashamed that he could not prevent that. Edwin looked agog as John curses away in anger. Not that he cares, as they were the only ones alone.

"So be it then, maybe she's fated to die," John said, as Edwin looked at him weirdly. "What about Harold? They got him too," Edwin said. John nodded his head, his heart knowing that he would have to come back to save him. John looked at his son again, wanting to slap him but realizing that he is all too right. They were effectively trapped here. 

"You're going back, right?" Edwin said to Erik, to whom the latter nodded silently. "Whether by life or death, I have to repent, I have to get the princess back," Erik answered as he giddied his horse.

"And you're also going to save Harold, correct?" Edwin asked the Nordic hunter. Erik shook his head, knowing how hard it was to already save her. His eyes showed no sympathy towards him. "It would be suicide to try to save both of them," Erik said without remorse. Said with the frankness that John could appreciate.

"So you leave him to die?" John said angrily. Erik looked down, knowing that they won't compromise until their Harold would be saved. Erik knew the Western troops well. Unlike those in their motherland, they were more ruthless and more fierce in their dealings with fugitives. By any chance, Harold does not have a good chance of survival.

"When I first proposed to you about our deal back there, you did not answer," Erik said as John nodded in agreement. 

"I accept, we will escort your princess," John said in a hurry. "But you would also have to save Harold as well. Wouldn't it benefit us all if we worked together?" Erik took a moment to take in what he said, before nodding his head eventually.  

"Very well, you have my word," Erik said, relieved that there was no further escalation on his part. For all he knew, Harold might be dead before they can reach him. But those two Western mercenaries should help him enough to save Agnetha. Whatever it takes for him. Even if it was possible that they might be the ones who will kill him.

The same thing could also be said for John and Edwin. How long before they will outlive their usefulness? Jarl Kjartarn could end up ordering their deaths. But they know that Harold was captured, in part to John's decision. John knew he would have to save him.

"Alright, where do we start," Edwin asked impatiently.

...

Harold coughed up, his eyes are barely awake to see himself in a cart. His body was surrounded by half a dozen Nords, hunters who like him were captured. Harold raised his hands, only to see it in chains. 

In a few moments, the cart jerks into a stop, as Harold himself nearly fell to his knees. He knew he was captured, and in his time being a bounty hunter, he knew the dangerous repercussions.

"The princess, is it really her?" a voice came from outside, as Harold could barely hear it himself. "Round up the captured," another voice said, as the cloth covering the cart was pulled open.

Everyone in the cart was pulled out, as they were quickly immobilized to prevent any further escape. Harold grunted, as he soon saw the blue-robed lady taken away. Just then, he saw a bald, imposing figure wearing tougher armour than the others walking in front of them. Harold looked at him, as his eyes widened in shock.

"Cuthbert... is that you?" Harold said, seeing how much he has grown, and that he was surrounded by so many subordinates of his.

"You know him, sir?" one of them asked. The thegn looked at him, without any hint of emotions as he shook his head. As if a cry from a heretic, he whisked it off as unimportant. 

"Take them all to the dungeons," the thegn said as they were all rounded up. Harold moved his body to see his old friend, but the thegn looked all the more indifferent to his pleas. He could not even look him in the eye. 

As he was kept lower and lower inside the castle, he knew that the chance of escape falters. He then remembers his father and cousin. Perhaps they could save him... No, they would most likely die trying. And Harold would be alone.

He was very alone in this regard.