The Servant Queen

Who's Ronny again?

POV: Ani

"Back there, you didn't need to risk your life for me," Walter said.

I rested on the horse while Walter sat behind me.

"My arms hurt...Walter."

"When we get into the city, I'll get you bandaged."

"I was bleeding a lot..."

He laughed.

"Shut up already. You only got a few small scratches, and you stopped bleeding." He paused for a few seconds. "Why did you say your name was Ani anyways?"

"That's the name my mother gave me."

"I was going to give you a different name. But I guess Ani is a...good name too."

Walter smiled. We rode for a awhile.

"Look. There's a large fire back there," I said.

Walter turned his head to look back. "It's probably some accidental fire made by a someone who forgot to put it out their campfire. The Guards probably placed it out already. See? The smoke is already light gray."

"Oh..."

The sack that Oliver gave us kept hitting my leg. I picked it up into my lap.

"I forgot!"

"What's in there?" Walter asked.

"Oliver said that there's food and medical supplies in here."

I rummaged through the bag, and took out the bandages and the ointment. I put it all over myself. The cloak took up most of the space, so I pulled it out.

"It's a cloak," Walter said.

He took it from my hand. A folder paper fell out onto the ground. He stopped the horse, and picked it off from the ground. He read it.

"Don't tell me that insane idiot knows my plan..." he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He handed the paper to me. I forgot to read it when Oliver gave it to me.

"I'm entrusting her to you, Mr. Green. She probably has more use to you than to my family, and besides, I trust in your cause," I said.

He crumbled the paper in his hand and got back on the horse. "What a surprise. So you do know how to read. Want to tell me why you tried hiding that?"

I forgot.

"I..." I began. "Someone taught me even though I wasn't suppose to learn."

"It's fine. You're not a servant anymore. Just put the cloak on, Ani. We need to cover up the number on your arm. And I think I already see the main road that leads to Central City."

Due to the bumpy trail, I struggled putting the gray cloak on. It didn't have any buttons or anything.

"Just put both of your hands up, kid."

I did. He helped pull the cloak over my head. I heard the main road before I could see it. People were chattering away, and I heard the rumblings of wagon passing by on the road.

"How are we going to go onto the road unsuspiciously?" I asked.

"Don't fret. People probably would think that we just took a short cut through the forest."