The Retreat (medieval historical fiction)

Chapter 31 Conversation from a Child

'He's awake.' A girl was sitting in the same cart as me. For a moment I did not know who I was. And I was nearly happy. Then my memories returned in full.

'Woah.' A horse snorted, the cart stopped and Count Stephen was beside us, seated on Tenebrous.

'How do you feel?'

'Sore.'

'Any fever?'

'I don't think so.'

The count nodded and gave me a wan smile. 'Have some water.'

Eagerly, the girl held a skin up for me and I drank deeply.

It was evening, near sunset and we were still in the shadows of a forest.

'Is it the same day?' I asked.

The girl looked at me astonished (curiously, she had one brown eye and one green eye). 'Yes. Of course.'

'What's your name?'

'Marguerite.'

'And what happened? Before we arrived.'

But Marguerite said nothing, only stared at me with her huge mismatched eyes.

Count Stephen shook his head. 'The poor innocents. They fled from Wuttgard straight into an ambush. The mutur were hidden at that outcrop. It was hopeless, given the confusion of their march and the fact we knights were absent. So the mutur were victorious and were gathering silver from the bodies when we arrived.'

'Who else lives?'

Silence.

I closed my eyes. 'The silver. Where's the treasure?'

Count Stephen pulled a sour face. 'I left it there on the road. There has to be a curse on it.'

'All of it? After everything ... ? Not even something for the girl?'

'Nothing. The treasure is what destroyed our little army and I could not stand the sight of one coin from it. And don't worry about the girl, I'll see her cared for when we get to Nangis.'

I sank back into the cart and looked at a tranquil azure sky, where an early star was visible between the gently swaying branches of a maple. High in the sky, a larch crossed my view, giving depth to the air above, while nearer, a bee flew past in a series of swerving lines. From the light scents of rose and lilac, I could tell that there were rich clusters of flowers near to us. The plants and creatures of the earth and air cared nothing for the affairs of men, cared nothing for the fact that they no longer shared the world with Cateline, Gerard, Jacques, Robert or any of my comrades of the retreat.

A sigh escaped me. 'Are you taking me to Nangis then?'

'Until you are well enough to ride. After that, if you still want to, I'll send you on the way home, with an escort as far as the Loire. Or you can stay on with me, I'll make you lord of four castles.'

'Thank you. Let's see if I live first, shall we.'

With an exchange of smiles at that, the count signaled for Tenebrous to walk on and soon – painfully – our cart jerked into motion. Around us, I could hear the hooves of several horses and I pulled myself up, hopeful. There were no other riders, however, just a line of horses with the count and Tenebrous at the front, then my pony and the cart, then four other ponies and lastly Argentus.

This pitiful sight was all that remained of Shalk's vast army. The thought made my head swim.

We did not travel much further before Count Stephen decided to stop for our camp.