Yuragwyn: Yours

---Chapter 16

∞Kaitra∞

A wet nose snuffles my cheek, and I lurch backwards, blinded a bit by the sun coming over the horizon. The pegasus shies away, but curiosity brings him back in short order. I kick Traugott's shin as I pet the creature gently.

After a few more jolts he rolls over, opens one eye, and grumbles, "What Kaitra?"

"A pegasus."

Now both of his eyes are open, and he grabs a length of rope out of my pack. The pegasus takes the makeshift bridle rather calmly, and Traugott and I scramble to pack up and get going.

He sets me on the beast's broad back and slides up in front of me. I wrap my arms around his waist matter-of-factly, no emotion. He shows none as well, and I slap the pegasus to send us on our way. We burst into the air, my still undone hair fluttering about in the breeze. I long for a hot shower or bath to wash away the days of grime caught up in it. Many a time our hunting knife has tempted me to cut it all off and be done with the mess, but I keep it, remembering my mother's love of long hair. I will want it when I get home.

We fly for an hour or two before we spot the mass of soldiers on the horizon. Traugott swerves out to the right, and only a few arrows even come within view. I study the enemy closely as we skirt around them. They seem mostly human and man-horse, like the Yuragwynians, and they too have pegasuses. They wear maroon and grey and carry swords and bows. One thing they have that our little group does not, though, is tents: long, brown rectangles that could probably fit twenty or more each.

"Why don't they fly up here themselves and shoot at us?" I ask, eyeing the beasts on the ground warily.

"We have bred some pegasuses to be flightless. It can be easier to fight with them that way. Perhaps they have only flightless ones with them."

And then a thought comes to mind, "Traugott, isn't Granziar to the west? Aren't we in the east part of Yuragwyn?"

"Yes."

"Why are they all the way over here? Wouldn't they have met some of your soldiers already?"

"They aren't after our army," he says quietly. "They want you."

₰Traugott₰

I turn back to face her for a moment to judge her reaction. The light catches her eyes and sets them on fire. They are almost like coal smoldering, alive yet apparently dormant. "Me?"

I nod, and I feel her grip tighten just a bit more before it loosens to a mere safety measure. If she would only trust me, she could see that I'm ready, willing, and able to protect her. She has to give me a chance.

"Why?" She whispers.

"You represent Yuragwyn becoming a stable and safe country of prosperity and peace. You mean the downfall of their power and hold on us. If they can get you, they have, in essence, Yuragwyn. That is why they would send two units of their army here for the sole purpose of capturing you," I answer. She knows nothing of her destiny, and I don't blame her for being frightened. I remember when Briallen accidentally cut her left ring finger sharpening a kitchen knife, and the whole country waited breathlessly for something to confirm that as the answer to the prophesy. We watched for a year, maybe more, but nothing ever came of it.

Kaitra has come at last, from the house of Llyendal no less. I now can recall vague memories of a small toddler with sienna hair and those big, dark eyes. She was here for at least the first year or two of her life, but I guess she left soon after, too soon for memories.