Turn Me Back!

Episode 12 - Infiltration and Larceny

You never know how fast you can run until you have something really scary to run away from. By the time I've managed to slow down, I find myself halfway back to the camp. Although I'll admit this has less to do with my running skills and more to do with how ridiculously slowly Princess Isla was walking today. We've made almost no progress in getting away. If the bandits sent out a determined search, they'd find us easily. But there's no point in worrying about that right now. I'm not going back to haul the prince and princess onwards to a better hiding place. Shudder!

It crosses my mind that, under normal circumstances, the best course of action I could take for my personal wellbeing, and indeed my sanity, would be to ditch them altogether and simply move on with my life. I would abandon this job as a failure, chalk it up to experience and look for a better gig in another kingdom. Course, there's an excellent chance I would never be able to show my face in Druinberg again, but I'd survive.

But who am I kidding? I'll never get such a prime chance to fulfil all of my curse requirements at once. Being selfless and nurturing, rescuing a love affair and... whatever the other thing was. I'm pretty sure the current situation has it all covered. And when my brave and noble deeds are written into the public record of this turbulent and chaotic wedding journey, the witch will have no choice but to admit I've satisfied all her demands and turn me back!

Besides, the thought of abandoning those overgrown babies to their fate in the wild gives me an uncomfortable feeling. I hate to say it but I must have somehow grown the tiniest speck of conscience in my weeks spent with the royal party.

So that's settled. I'm sticking with the job of royal babysitter, for better or for worse.

Since I'm close by I decide to sneak onwards into the camp and scope out the situation. Maybe everything's fine. Maybe Kayla and her group got the better of those attackers in the chapel. Maybe they're anxiously waiting for me to bring the prince and princess back. Maybe they...

A familiar multi-tonal screeching noise reaches my ears. It's coming from the camp. Maybe everything isn't fine. I break into a jog.

It's already full dark by the time I arrive at the outskirts of the grouped tents. The moonlight shows a weird scene and I have to stop and stare to work out what I'm looking at. The tents are all still there and seem mostly unharmed, but strewn between them is a mass of... something. Dead bodies?

I go a few steps closer and poke at the nearest bundle of it. Nope, just clothing. It looks like the entire contents of the tents has been dragged out and strewn across the ground. I doubt the skeleton staff we left behind here decided to have a spontaneous spring-cleaning session, so I guess this means the camp is in enemy hands. Someone is snoring in the tent nearest to me and I doubt it's the tent's original owner.

I sneak onwards, now and then tripping over piles of objects on the floor. I'm grinding my teeth, thinking of what these bandits might have done with the spare knives they found in my personal luggage, when something sparkly on the ground catches my eye. A tiara! What's that doing there? It'll get dirty lying there in the mud like that. I pick it up, glance down at the lack of free pockets in my flimsy slip and then place it on my own head for safe-keeping. A few steps further on there's a necklace. Then more necklaces. A bit to the left there are a few rings that are all too massive for my little fingers. I thread them onto a necklace.

I creep onwards, flitting between tents, keeping one hand on the gems around my neck to stop them clacking together. In the centre of the camp I spot a rough wooden pen that's been rigged using the wooden panels from the former barricade, along with tent poles and tree branches and god knows what else. Inside are stuffed all the wedding guests and camp staff. Most of them are sitting or lying quietly, but some are groaning or sobbing. I don't recognise any of the princess's soldiers or guards among them. A shiver runs down my spine. I hope that doesn't mean they've all been killed. As I stand watching, another chorus of shrieks comes from a group of the princess's ladies, who're being menaced by two bandit guards. The guards jab their weapons through the slats of the enclosure, narrowly avoiding stabbing anyone, and guffaw over the screams that ensue. I shake my head. Don't these men have any concern for their hearing?