Running up another wide staircase, Ginny and Garreth reached the torch-lit corridor where their chambers were.
"So... I'll pack my trunks and leave them here, ready to be sent to Father's castle next week. What shall I bring for the journey?" Ginny asked, sounding out of breath with excitement.
Looking at his cousin's shiny green eyes, rosy cheeks, and heaving chest, Garreth replied, sounding oh-so-serious, "Composure. You won't fool anyone if you don't calm yourself; no knight behaves like this. A corset or a bodice, whichever will make you look... hmm, flatter, definitely, a couple of the plainest shirts you have... and I'll have to give you the rest. We can't carry many things, we'll only have our saddle bags. We'll need some food, money, a tent..." he continued, speaking to himself as he left the girl in front of her chamber and walked towards his. "I'll be back later!" he called absentmindedly before he vanished beyond his door.
Ginny, with the help from a few maids, was ready, bored, and impatient long before Garreth returned, knocking on her door, a huge pile of clothes in his arms.
He threw it on her bed and she inspected it, piece after piece, giggling as she imagined herself wearing the tight, woolen hose, the thick gambeson-- a padded defensive jacket that was bound to make her look twice her size, the funnily shaped shoes that did not fit Garreth anymore, or the large, shapeless hats he chose for her.
"Don't laugh. You'll need those to cover all that hair of yours. And remember not to giggle; men don't do that. Also, the less you talk, the better, I think. Your 'male voice' is good, so is the way you walk," Garreth said, recalling some of his cousin's imitations of their friends, "but still. The less we risk..."
"Fine, fine, stop worrying, Garreth, will you?" Ginny said, jumping off the bed and pulling him in an embrace. "This shall be fun! We'll take the visitor to Londinium, there's so much to do there, and Windsor, but we must be careful not to bump into Father, not that he goes much into the village... And the seaside..."
"Let's plan the tour later, all right? Let us reach Dudley Castle first, talk to Lord John, and find out what the guest wants to see and do. Meet me in the courtyard at sunrise, Ginny, don't be late. I'll get the food, you only need to bring your clothes. Don't forget anything." Garreth instructed, looking at the over-excited princess.
Smiling, shaking his head at her excitement, he added, "Good night. Try to sleep. It will take us hours to ride to Dudley, it won't be as pleasant and comfortable as you think..."
With that he left, but Ginny wasn't listening to him any longer, so absorbed she was in choosing what she would wear for the first day of their journey and what she would pack for later use. She didn't get to bed until long past midnight and was up again with a lark.
Dressed in a brown hose, white shirt, and the padded surcoat of an unattractive, mousy-grey hue, she observed her reflection in the mirror. It wasn't the fault of the polished metal, or the flickering, insufficient light of the lambent fire that the rings under her eyes looked so dark, and her cheeks so pale, making her freckles look conspicuous and plentiful. It wasn't their fault either that her face looked ridiculous, framed by Garreth's green velvet hat.
On a sudden impulse, she took it off and undid her long braid. Reaching to her belt, she pulled a small knife from its scabbard and cut a part of her hair with one swift move. The result was a not perfectly straight, thick fringe covering her forehead and eyebrows, casting shadows over her green eyes.
That's better, she thought, smiling at the new reflection her mirror offered as she braided her hair again and hid it under the hat.
Ginny glanced around the chamber one last time as she put her knife back, making sure that she had packed everything. Then she grabbed her two small bags and ran into the corridor and down the staircases-- taking only one shortcut through a secret passage, making the cook jump when she materialised in the gloomy corner next to the kitchen's enormous fireplace-- to meet Garreth in the courtyard.
He laughed when he saw her. "What have you done to your hair?! You look like... the miller's son, rather than a princess!"
"And you look fat in that gambeson, if you ask me, Sir Garreth," she replied in her best 'male voice', bowing to him as became a courtly knight.
"I don't! I look... strong," Garreth, as fussy about his looks as any young lady, said, eyeing his brown padded jacket suspiciously. "Give me those and take these. Keep them within your reach at all times," he added, taking the saddle bags from his cousin and passing her first a crossbow, then a sword, making her stagger under the unexpected weight.
"Why?" she asked, almost panting with extortion, as she slung the crossbow across her back and attached the sword to her side.
"Because we don't know whom we might meet along the way," Garreth replied, making her think that he knew something she didn't until he added, banishing that thought, "and we are supposed to act as guards and protectors, aren't we, Gi... What do you want me to call you now?"
"Sir Geoffrey, in your service," Ginny said haughtily as she settled into the saddle of her horse. "Why do we need a third horse? What's in all those bags?" she asked curiously as Garreth tied the horse's reins to his own saddle once he had put their luggage safely in place.
"A tent. Food. Spare clothes and shoes, and our habergeons."
"Ooh... that sounds great..." the girl said dreamily, imagining herself putting on her cousin's chainmail coat on the first occasion.
"No, Ginny, you won't wear it for fun, forget it." Garreth reproached her as if he could read her thoughts. "Knighthood is a serious business..." he continued his sermon as he led his horse out of the courtyard, which was only now starting to come to life.
Ginny, following him and their spare horse across the drawbridge, stuck her tongue out at him. Unfortunately, he did not notice.
Whenever Garreth got lost in his fantasies about knights, the world could crumble to dust around him, and he would not notice, she thought, a smile playing on her lips.
What she would never admit was that she was just like her cousin-- with her head in the clouds as much and as often as Garreth, if not more. So, lost to the world as they were, none of them noticed Countess Ealasaid watching them through one of the many windows of the castle, nor that she wasn't alone...
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