The Early Chronicles Book Five: By Desert Divided

Chapter 3

"Swanwhite, you must rest and eat something."  Goran said gently as Swanwhite rushed about the stables, trying to help in preparing the horses and supplies.  She shook her head and tossed some bags of feed into a wagon. 

"There is far too much to be done.  I will rest and eat later."  She said and started to go back into the stables, but Goran stopped her with his strong grip.  "Let me go, please."  She said with annoyance and struggled.

"Is that an order?"  He teased and kept his hands on her arms.

"Yes."  She stared at him defiantly.  He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I'm sorry but I'm not listening to you this time."

"I could have you thrown in the dungeon for the afternoon for that."

"By all means, go ahead."  He teased.  Swanwhite finally relaxed and looked towards the many attendants and soldiers working.

"This worries me, Goran.  There are too many forces working against us."  Her tone turned serious.  Goran released his grip and his eyes grew sad.

"I know.  But there are also many forces working for us."

"There is so much to do--"

"It will get done."  He stroked a strand of hair away from her face that sent a pleasant warmth through her.  "You must rest and eat while you can.  Then you will be able to work again with full force."

"You are good to me."  She ignored what others would think of her and she stood up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek for a lingering moment.  Then she drew back and smiled at him before walking up the palace steps.  

"Shall I pack you two cloaks or one?"  Genevieve asked as she began folding clothes and putting them in a satchel.  Swanwhite swallowed her bite of cheese.

"One should be fine, thank you Genevieve."

"Perhaps I should back you several pretty dresses in case Goran decides to propose."  She smirked.  Swanwhite nearly choked on her sip of water.

"Why on earth would he choose to propose on a trip through a desert with a battle at the end?"  She said with shock as her cheeks heated.

"I think it would be romantic to be proposed to on a battlefield."  The Dryad sighed and twirled.  Swanwhite felt a somberness in her mind.  So many girls Swanwhite's age had said they would love to be fought for and proposed to with violence and war around them, but Swanwhite felt those thoughts were completely foolish.  If Genevieve had seen what battles were really like, she would think otherwise.  

Shaking off the depressing thoughts, she changed the subject.  "Genevieve, do you know anything about surviving a trek through the desert?"

"I am a Dryad, my lady.  I would not survive long in such a climate."

"Right, of course.  You haven't heard anything from any other creatures?  Is there an oasis of some sort?"

Genevieve pondered while she smoothed out some folded clothing in her arms.  "I believe I talked to a Hedgehog once who mentioned traveling through the desert."

"Yes?  Go on."

"He did say there was a pool in a deep gorge in the desert.  I'm not sure where though.  I'm sorry, my lady."

"No matter.  That is more information than I could have hoped for."

Genevieve stopped her work and sat down beside Swanwhite.  "How do you do it, my lady?"  She looked at Swanwhite with her large round eyes.  "How can you go into such danger so many times, not knowing what the outcome will be, and still be as brave as you are?"

Swanwhite raised an eyebrow.  "I assure you, Genevieve, I am far more frightened than I appear!"  She laughed.  

"How do you not show it?"

Swanwhite thought for a moment.  That question had never crossed her mind before, she had always just silently battled the fear herself.  Her mind flew far back in her memory to the many times she had felt fear.  What had helped her overcome it?  "Remembering Aslan's face and how he said he was watching over me.  That usually calms my fear a great deal."  She smiled at her Dryad friend.  "Also, bravery is not the absence of fear.  I am never without fear but there are things I have to do in spite of it.  I am afraid before the first step, but once I take it, it gets better."

"I see."  Genevieve said.  "Promise me you'll be careful, my lady?  I know I am only your maidservant, but I would like to think of you as my friend."

Swanwhite's heart warmed and she embraced the Dryad warmly.  "Oh Genevieve, I think of you as practically my sister."  She giggled. 

"You are so good to me, my lady."  Genevieve's eyes glistened when she drew back.  

"As are you to me."  Swanwhite patted the girl's hand.  Genevieve smiled and resumed her work. Swanwhite finished her mid-day meal before allowing Genevieve to tie her hair up and then rushing downstairs.

"Ah!  There you are."  Rufus grunted.  "You and the general must select your men to come on the journey."

Swanwhite took a deep breath.  This was always the hardest part.  "Where is Goran?"

Rufus nodded with his head towards the stables.  Swanwhite wormed her way past the men and beasts roaming the courtyard tossing supplies into wagons.  The earth tones of the Narnian attire was mixed with the fierce brightness of Archenland silks and gave the whole courtyard a beautiful maze of colors.

"I've assembled the usual," Goran said when he reached her.  He held an unrolled scroll of parchment and a quill to write names. "Sir Ethan, Oliver, Merrick, and the others that we took on the journey to the North last year."

"Right.  Have you any other instincts of who we should take?"

Goran scribbled on the parchment.  "Would your majesty be against my taking some new young knights?"

"Not at all.  How many men does King Rynard take?"

Goran looked up and seemed to be calculating in his head.  "He carried thirty men here, and I believe we will be joined by more when we pass through Archenland.  He means to bring one hundred."

Swanwhite nodded.  "Very well, we must match his number.  Bring young and strong warriors.  The desert will be brutal on any with poor health."

"Indeed.  Goodness knows Lord Thasian would jump at the chance to travel with us, but with his wife expecting a child, I thought it best he stay with his family."

"Yes, of course."  Swanwhite agreed.  She smiled at the thought of Laurel and Thasian as new parents.  She saddened when she thought of all the other determined young knights, and even the experienced ones that were taking a great risk traveling through the desert.  Some of them may not come back.  Would any of them come back?

"We will make it, don't worry."  Goran seemed to read her mind. 

"I know.  I'll try."

Goran looked at her intensely with those piercing blue eyes that stood out against his jet-black hair and stubble.  "We will all be right there with you."

"Thank you, Goran."