A Legend's Tale Season 2

Part 4 - The One I Care For

The convoy of the queen rides to the Capital through the woods of the Boglands. They try to avoid the swamp area's as much as possible but in this place that's pretty much impossible. Anthea still sits in her wagon as she looks at the scenery. Joyce and Julian ride on horseback side by side in front of the queen's wagon. Julian is on his guard, as he always is, but Joyce tells him to relax. There are no barbarians for hundreds of miles. When there isn't a giant battle going on, they find the Boglands to be rather peaceful. Dull and grim to be sure, but peaceful. Joyce tells him that he should enjoy the last bits of quiet nature they get before they reach the World's Beginning. The giant wall that had been build by mayor Alexander, also known as the man who defied king William back in the day. He had manned the wall with catapults, canons and thousands of soldiers, not to forget that he reinforced the whole thing with steel. Nothing would ever enter the Late again. At least that was the plan until king William and his army arrived. The giant wall that took forever to build and even longer to reinforce was breached within the day. Nowadays, the wall stands for the border that separates the Ancient from the Late. The Watchgate is the giant pass through which any man or woman can enter or exit the Late at any time they want. It's the only way in or out, thus that's where the queen's escort is now also going. The moment they pass the World's Beginning, the only thing they will see are grass fields, villages and even more villages, all of the finest infrastructure you could imagine. Much finer than in the Ancient anyway. Julian smiles as he knows he shouldn't worry too much. He can't stand the Capital anyways. The grandest city of all time they call it yet it's nothing better than an ant's nest. Millions of people crammed together and one power hungry mayor to rule them. Joyce mentions how she has heard that the sunset is claimed to be beautiful if you find the right spots. They say a hundred ships pass through the river that divides the city. She has always wanted to go on vacation there. That makes Julian laugh, royal guards aren't exactly the ones who can go on vacation like that, they need to do with what they have. Joyce looks at Julian and casually says how she's happy with what she has. Julian smiles as Joyce does too. They know that they'll have to be by the queen's side most of the time, but they both wonder if they wouldn't get some time to enjoy the beautiful views and such. Julian knows that they need to be careful, but when the time is right, they might be able to have some timer for themselves.

Riding through the forests of the Ancient, Ryland, Hardwin and Renata are heading towards the fortress of queen Anthea with great speed. They stop at a river to rest a bit. Hardwin has never ventured so far from his home town in all his life. Renata on the other hand loves the fact that they explore more of the world and finds it amusing how Hardwin is constantly on edge, as if they are deep behind enemy lines or so. Ryland still has some difficulty with his leg but Renata helps him as he gets off his horse to go to the water. Hardwin doesn't want to stay for too long and neither does Ryland. Ryland wants to keep his reputation and not become known as the next coward who deserted the queen, yet Hardwin simply doesn't like the unknown. Ryland asks Renata why she doesn't share the same nerves as Hardwin, to which she responds that she is originally from the Forest of Valmoor on the other side of the continent. She asks where Ryland has been in his life. Ryland, being the man he is, of course has been all around the world almost. From the plains at the east to the mountains of the west. Hardwin and Renata have known nothing but the woods for all of their lives, they can hardly imagine anything other than trees covering the whole scene. Renata grew up in a forest and then moved to another forest years later, only just briefly passing a few fields and mountains in the distance. They ask Ryland how the other parts of the world look like, to which Ryland starts to tell stories about mountains, the Distant, etc. He has even heard that the Late has desserts, but Hardwin and Renata don't know what those are. However scared and on edge Hardwin might be right now, he does promise Renata that he will take her there one day, much to her pleasure. Ryland looks at the couple together and can't help but feel slightly envious. He's never had a woman all his life. There's only Sarah but she doesn't really count. To him, she's only a fellow fighter and a very good one, but he can't imagine anything more. Whatever interest there once might have been has definitely disappeared now. The only thing he hopes for right now is that he can still rescue his reputation.