Still

A Maiden

Ashlyn stayed silent in her wheelbarrow, just staring straight in front of her with big eyes. Sometimes she would turn and gaze at the trees, but she mostly stayed still, which The Soldier was happy for. She was lighter than he expected, but definitely not light enough. He raced through the woods, pushing her in front of him, going this way and that. The Soldier had began to wish he had thought it all out better.

After twenty minutes of progressive jogging, The Soldier stopped to let his heart and stomach catch up with him. He fell down onto the woody earth and leaned against a tree, ignoring the amber sap that slowly crept into his hair. There really was no need to run, but The Soldier didn't know how clever Ashlyn's captor actually was. Father or not, she should never be in arm's reach of that man again. The Soldier was going to get her to safety, even if that meant carrying her on his shoulder back to Caulorda.

She must be really taking everything in, The Soldier thought to himself. He felt pleased about this. There had been a lot of mess-ups during this quest, but at least he was able to help one person. Sure, Marian was still out there, probably scared and hiding in a tree until he would find her again, but at least he had Ashlyn now.

Thinking about Marian made The Soldier sad again. He really missed her witty humor and her stubborness. She would have been able to figure out where they should have gone. She also probably would have had some sleep spell with her that could have knocked out the sorcerer so they could have excaped easier.

Ashlyn's big eyes looked everything over once, then twice. She frowned, which wasn't the reaction The Soldier was expecting.

"We've arrived just where we started," said Ashlyn.

"What?" The Soldier asked. He had heard what she said, but it had to be impossible. Plus, she probably had never been outside before. How would she know?

Ashlyn pointed at the top of the trees, showing off tall, stone pillars. There was a window up there as well, and a room resembling the one Ashlyn had just escaped from.

The Soldier had only one thing to say about that, and it was, "Well, shoot."

How had they done that? Even with those sharp twists and turns he had made, he was positive he was going south. There was no way he had made circles around the castle. He wasn't the brightest, but even The Soldier was smarter than that.

Ashlyn pointed out another thing. Just behind the trees in front of them some half a mile away, was a village. She told him, "We can go there, if you want."

"Are you not angry?" The Soldier asked, completely flabbergasted.

Ashlyn shrugged, and a couple strands of her wavy hair fell from her shoulders and to her back. "I wasn't expecting to ever leave, actually. Papa spelled me to stay."

Of course he did. Why was The Soldier surprised? Still, they had that village. Maybe they could hide until the two of them could figure something out. Or even better, he could find a coin and use it to call Marian the way she did with Brair a few days earlier. It was the perfect plan.

"We're going to the village, then," The Soldier said. He gripped onto the wheelbarrow's handles again. "Yay."

He rolled Ashlyn the half mile it took to finally get on solid ground. Red bricks laid out a perfect path down the main street. It was a perfectly normal place, but it still have The Soldier a bad feeling in his gut. The last few towns he had been to ended with him embarrassing himself and gaining the witches on his back. Maybe travelling through a village was a really bad idea.

"Third time's a charm," The Soldier muttered to himself.

Ashlyn turned herself around, confused. "Could you repeat that?"