Golden Swords

Escape

Within five minutes she was back in the stables again. The men were gone and Ebony (She was calling her mare Ebony) was back in her pen. She pulled open the door and saw, with delight, that they hadn't bothered to unsaddle her. She let Ebony nuzzle her hand before leading her out of the stables and swinging up onto her back. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew one thing. She wasn't in adventuring shape at the moment. Seven months of being a perfect lady had rendered her muscles almost useless and her golden swords felt heavier in her hands than the had before. She needed to get away somewhere to train.

She clattered out of the courtyard and toward the gates. They were open, but soldiers stood on either side, and they stepped up smartly, crossing their spears to bar the exit. "I am Lady Mycena, the mistress of this household. Let me pass!"

"I am sorry, Mistress, but the lord Datsar had forbade us from letting you leave." So that was how he was going to play it, was he? She was furious. He couldn't lock her in his house! She wheeled Ebony around, pretending she was heading back towards the stable, but spun at the last minute and charged headlong at the men. Ebony flew over the outstretched spears like she was born to leap. The men shouted after her, but she was faster than the wind. She was smaller and lighter than them, and she'd known as soon as she saw Ebony that she was the fastest horse in the stables. They wouldn't catch her on horseback.

She rode straight for the forest, heading along a small track. She went for about forty minutes, before she stopped in a clearing. She let Ebony graze freely, hoping that the horse would come back to her when she needed to ride again. Then, she took out her swords and started going through the warrior moves she used to practice every night. It was sort of like dancing, and sort of like fighting, but with an invisible opponent and in slow motion. Her arms soon started to ache, but she revelled in the pain. It had been so long since her body had felt this sort of tiredness.

She had been practicing her moves for half an hour when she first heard the hoof beats. They had followed her quicker than she'd thought. She sheathed her swords and ran towards where Ebony was grazing across the clearing. Her horse backed away at first, but then allowed Mycena to mount and they were away, flying along again with her braids snapping behind her.

The thunder of hooves was right behind her as she flew along the path. The path branched and she took the left, ducking as a branch whipped towards her head. The trees changed here, going from a mix of willows, oak and birch to tall, looming pines. She heard a shout from behind her as one of the men crashed through a branch. She hauled on Ebony's reins, sending the horse flying down yet another path. Suddenly, the trees fell away and she was galloping through a meadow full of goldeny grasses. The sea glittered under a warm summer sky, bringing her heart to her throat at its beauty. She'd lived for seven months in Dastar's mansion, and she'd never realised it was only an hour's fast ride from the sea. She'd loved the sea ever since she'd first seen it, and she wanted a boat almost as much as she wanted a horse.

The first knight broke free from the forest, and she nudged Ebony into a canter again. Her horse was light on her feet, and, despite the hard riding, looked like she could go on forever. A light wind was blowing off the sea, and she gloried in the smell of salt as they raced along parallel to the shoreline. She twisted around to see the knights falling away behind as Ebony lengthened her stride and began to truly fly. She might have been unrideable, but Dastar knew what he was doing when he brought the midnight horse. Dastar. Her heart wrenched at the thought of him. He was going to be so angry when she returned. But she'd had a taste of riding and exploring now, and she wasn't going to give it up.

Dastar would be sure to take or even kill Ebony if she returned the horse to the stables. That meant she would have to find another place to keep her, somewhere within running distance from the mansion. She didn't want it to be too far, because she wasn't sure if she could outrun Dastar and his men on foot. She could find another stable to leave her, or an abandoned shed that she could bring hay and oats to. She stood up in the stirrups, peering past Ebony's flying mane, at straw roofs and stone buildings appearing over the next rise. A village!

She turned to see that the soldiers had given up, turning and heading back the way they'd come. She slowed Ebony, as they skirted around a field full of corn. They trotted softly into the village, Mycena looking around for somewhere she could buy oats and hay, or for a stable she could ask to leave Ebony. Although she did wonder if the stableboys would have ever seen anything quite as wild and highly bred as Ebony ...Perhaps a shelter somewhere would be better.

The man who she brought the oats off looked faintly surprised as she handed over her diamond necklace in payment, but it was way over the price so he wasn't going to refuse her. She also brought some saddlebags and a blanket for Ebony during the night. She set off back toward the house, heading through the woods. She had spotted a ruin just off one of the paths, and enough of the roof was still standing to give at least a little shelter. "Why couldn't you be some useful little pony?" She berated her horse jokingly, "Then you could just live in a field and eat grass all year, and I wouldn't have to bring you oats every day.." Ebony twisted her head round to stare at her, giving her a look that said, yeah, right, you'd want that wouldn't you.

She hopped off Ebony's back, leading her horse by the reins round and into the ruin. And stopped short. For in the shelter of the last remaining chunk of roof, there was the remains of a campfire, a sleeping mat and bedding, and some small shelves with stores of food. She was just in the process of backing slowly away, when she heard a voice behind her. "What on earth do you think you're doing?" She whipped round, startling Ebony in the process, to see a young man wearing green hunting gear standing in the entrance to the ruin. He had a yew longbow slung over his shoulders, and a couple of rabbits swung from one hand.

"I...I didn't know this belonged to anyone... I was just going..." She tried to back away hastily, but tripped over a fallen chunk of masonry hidden in the grass.

What were you doing anyway?" asked the man, pushing back a strand of shoulder length hair where it had fallen from his hood. It was the colour of gold, with hints of red and brown.

"I was.. I was thinking I could leave my horse here. I can't stable her anywhere else." He looked at her quizzically.

"You haven't stolen her, have you?" he moved closer to Ebony, who backed away, but he shushed her and she stood for hm to run his hand over her flank, "She's a beautiful animal, you can see the Arabian in her face." He gave Mycena another glance. "So, where'd you steal her from?"

She could see no way out of this. There was no way he would believe a sixteen year old girl if she said that Ebony was hers, and she could only hope he wouldn't turn her in. "Lord Dastar," she muttered.

"Huh, the big lord on the hill," the man grumbled, before realisation dawned, "Wait. You look like... I'd heard that Lord Dastar wed a southern princess earlier this year. You wouldn't be his wife making off with his horses, would you?"

"No," she replied calmly, "I am princess Mycena's handmaiden. However, I tired of life in Dastar's court so I removed this untamable horse from his possession and took my leave."

He raised his eyebrows at her.

"So, Princess Mycena, where might you be hoping to be going on your husband's fine horse, may I enquire?"

Her shoulders slumped. Maybe her skills of deception needed a little work. "How did you know?"

He smirked at her grouching. "I've never yet met a handmaiden who braids real gold into her hair. You can leave the horse round the other side of the ruin if you want. There's a wood and canvas shelter that's just about still standing."

She blinked at his sudden change of heart. "Um, thankyou, I guess..."

She left Ebony in the shelter as directed, rubbing her down with a handful of hay and making sure she had water. Ebony peeped her dusky nose out as Mycena said goodbye and headed back down the path to Dastar's mansion, and the argument that was sure to happen. She had carefully stowed her golden swords, and already she felt almost naked without them. She caught a glimpse of a merry cooking fire and the back of the strange hunter's hood as she passed the side of the ruin. It wasn't until she was nearly home that she realised she didn't even know what his name was, or why he was hidden in a ruin in the woods. Perhaps he was a renegade, he certainly wasn't fazed by the fact she had stolen a horse. Stolen. She shivered slightly to think of it in that way. She wasn't a burglar...was she? Would Dastar ever forgive her? It felt like her heart was tearing itself to shreds, loving Dastar so deeply but unable to make herself be the wife he wanted. He didn't deserve to be tied to someone like her. She bit her lip fiercely, smearing away a tear that crept down her cheek. She had followed her heart, but it felt like she'd broken it in the process.