Robin Hood | Thief of Skandia

Chapter 5 (Escapee)

Song: Never Really Over by Katy Perry

The two men stood over the tangle of discarded ropes lying in the snow. Erak pursed his lips, then turned to Halt.

'Well, so far, you're right,' he said. 'The little beggar escaped once Olak pretended to fall asleep on guard duty.' He glanced sideways at the large Skandian who had been assigned to the last watch. 'You did pretend to fall asleep, didn't you?' he added, with a touch of sarcasm.

The warrior grinned easily at him. 'I was wonderful, Jarl Erak,' he said. 'You've never seen such a lifelike impersonation of a sleeping man. I should have been a travelling player.'

Erak grunted sceptically. 'So what now?' he asked Halt.

'Now, I follow him while he leads me to the main body of Temujai,' the Ranger said. 'As we discussed last night.'

After Robin had heard of their plan to wait out the night and let the soldier escape. She decided to double back and fetch her horse, hiding it closer this time so that she could easily ride it when it came to following Halt.

'I've been thinking about that,' Erak replied. 'And I've decided we're going to make a change. I'm going with you.'

And now apparently, she would be following the Jarl as well. That would make things easier.

Halt had been walking towards the spot where the horses were tethered. He stopped and turned to face the Skandian leader, a determined look on his face. 'We discussed this last night. We agreed that I would be quicker and less noticeable if I went alone.'

'No. We didn't agree that. You agreed that,' Erak corrected him. 'And even if you're right, you're just going to have to settle for being slower and noisier, and make allowances for the fact.'

Halt drew in breath to begin a protest, but Erak forestalled him.

'Be reasonable,' he said. 'We've agreed that circumstances seem to make us temporary allies –'

'Which is why you'll keep my three companions here as hostages,' Halt put in sarcastically and Erak simply shrugged.

'Of course. They're my surety that you'll come back. But put yourself in my shoes. If there is a Temujai army out there somewhere, I don't want to take a second-hand report to my Oberjarl. I want to see it for myself. So I'm coming with you. I may need you to track the prisoner, but I can do my own looking.'

He paused, waiting to see Halt's reaction. The Ranger said nothing, so Erak continued: 'After all, the hostages might ensure that you come back. But they're no guarantee that you'll give me an accurate report – or even an honest one.'

Halt seemed to weigh the statement for a few seconds. Then he saw a possible advantage.

'All right,' he agreed. 'But if you're coming with me, there's no need to keep my companions as hostages to guarantee my return. Let them go back across the border while you and I go find the Temujai.'

Erak smiled at him and shook his head slowly. 'I don't think so,' he replied. 'I'd like to think that I can trust you, but there's really no reason why I should, is there? If you know my men are holding your friends, it might make you less likely to stick one of those knives in me the minute we're out of sight over the hill there.'

Halt spread his hands in a an innocent gesture. 'Do you really think an undersized little runt like me could get the better of a big, hulking sea wolf like you?'

Erak smiled grimly at him. 'Not for a moment,' he said. 'But this way I'll be able to sleep nights and turn my back on you without worrying.'

Halt couldn't help the trace of a grin that showed on his face. 'Fair enough,' he agreed. 'Now, could we get going while these tracks are still fresh, or would you prefer to argue until the snow melts?'

Erak shrugged. 'You're the one who's doing all the arguing,' he told him. 'Let's go.'

Halt turned around towards his horse but not before he turned his even gaze to where Robin was hiding. Hood inwardly grinned and waited for them to leave before making her way to where her horse was hidden.

Robin Hood had been following the ranger and the sea wolf who were consequently following the escaped Temujai warrior's trail all day. After making her way through the Serpent Pass, she noticed that the pair had swung back in an arc from the Teutlandt border, and they were some thirty kilometres into Skandian territory once more.

She came to the crest with a sudden rush, her horse scrambling the last few metres through the wet snow. Below them was a deep, wide valley, and beyond that, another range of hills.

Below them on the vast plain, a mass of campfires sent columns of smoke spiralling into the late afternoon air, spreading as far as the eye could see – thousands of them, surrounded by more thousands of dome-shaped felt tents. The smell of the smoke reached her now. Not heady and scented, like pine smoke, but acrid and sour smelling. She knew the Temujai were burning dried horse dung as they were known carry their fuel source with them. A while back Robin had pulled a few heists on the Temujai Shashan so she knew some of their customs.

Robin had travelled a quarter of a kilometer to the side of them and now sidled closer to them. She looked to where the Temujai horse herd could be seen, a giant, amorphous mass that seemed to flow across the valley floor as the horses sought fresh grazing. There was ten to twelve thousand horses down there, that meant there was probably five- six thousand warriors.

The number was a daunting one. At best, Skandia could put a force of fifteen hundred warriors in the field to face them. Perhaps two thousand, at the outside. That meant odds of three or four to one. Unless she could do something, Skandia was screwed.

She tethered her horse close by to Erak and Halt's horses, before sneaking up near them. Now she could faintly hear them.