Their ride out of the castle grounds was interrupted by trumpeting horns and the castle banners approaching the south gate. Kimba couldn’t quite understand what everyone shouted about and stopped their daily duties until finally she could hear a servant drop his hammer right onto his workstation. He gasped at the trumpets, then began to shout, “Fetch His Majesty’s indoor boots! He’s back! He’s back!” I couldn’t tell if the idea of indoor boots was ridiculous because I had grown accustomed to what Kimba was used to, or if the idea was ridiculous in the first place.

“Did he get—is that a boar?” asked one plainclothes person to another.

“Oh, I bet they’ll put that right in the dining hall!”

Prince Theone of Cudwi had returned from whatever hunting trip he left for last week. Apparently he had picked up quite a large boar head to display in the dining halls, so large that it took up more wagon than the lingering supplies did, and all the hounds were exhausted from fetching quails and ducks. Their tongues drooped out of the side of their mouths as they poured through the gates, the sound of their dragging nails on the stone like drops of rain.

“Quite the hunter,” Nina muttered as they stood in a line, paused at the road while the set of a dozen men on horses made their way through the gates.

The first horse with the red and blue banner of Cudwi came through, followed soon after by a man in very expensive traveling clothes. Spotless. No blood, no scratches, no tears. The supposed hunter and prince himself, a man that I nearly missed. He nearly blended into the background threads, with how little he mattered. Kimba stared at him, surprised, amused. It made me take a second glance at him. I didn’t quite see what made her laugh under her breath, or why she seemed to be so smug until after they’d finally made it out the gates, themselves. They continued their trot until the castle gates were a couple miles behind them. They walked the horses through the dirt streets of the city, Kimba in front and with Nina and Rin in the back, for another couple miles until a simple, wooden fence marked the edge of a person’s field for their pigs to roam free.

They still had about an entire day of riding until they made it to the country boarder. But out here, in the rolling green hills of Cudwi’s open country, it was a beautiful mid-day and the horses had a bit of a jump to their step.

The group fanned out a little more, confident. Rin and Nina remained in the back while Kimba remained the lead, hardly ever looking back to see if Tallo and Fulmosk followed. But whenever she did turn around, Kimba seemed to find it just as funny every time that she found Tallo there.

Sunset was only a few hours away, and so about half a mile from the main border of the Kingdom of Cudwi, Kimba led the troupe off of the main road to find a large oak tree to camp under.

She was first to jump off her horse, to hang a bell for the horses from a low-hanging branch. When she saw everyone dismount and grab their bags, she rang it once for the horses, and dropped her bag off under the tree.

“See if you can’t get enough wood for a small fire from that tree over there,” she said to Nina. The others arranged their bedrolls in a circle, with Fulmosk and Tallo picking the closest spot next to the tree. I could tell that was a mistake, just by Kimba’s attempt at hiding her laughter. It only took me a moment to spot the bird nests above, but maybe Tallo and Fulmosk didn’t mind those.

The night grew cold quickly without the sun to warm them. As the sun disappeared beyond the hills, a bright, full moon poked through the few clouds in the sky. At least they would have a lot of light throughout the night.

Kimba used a collapsible shovel from her equipment bag to dig a small pit for the fire while Nina and Rin gathered wood. Fulmosk went off to another tree to “attend a gentleman’s business” while Tallo his bedroll with a dinner cake from his rations; at this time, while they were alone for a moment, Kimba decided to explain why this entire trip was suddenly so funny.

“You know,” she started, as she stuck a twig into the center of where she thought the fire should go, “you’re not the first bastard I’ve escorted. Just the oldest.”

“Excuse me!” His first words for the entire day to anyone, let alone to Kimba.

“I’ve been around the world a bit.” She shrugged. “I just want you to know, your secret is safe with me. I literally do not care about Cudwi.” Even I thought this was an odd thing to say, especially since Tallo didn’t appreciate the first thing she said. But rather than communicating his displeasure, he stared at Kimba, scowling. He scoffed at her. “What?”

He gapped for words, and could only shake his head.

“You mute or something?”

“Appalled.” At least he spoke now. His tone absolutely reflected that of a learned person used to writing his replies rather than speaking them. Kimba rose to her feet and put a hand on her hip.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were offended.” She was a woman not used to being questioned, let alone like that. Her weapons were on her horse, at least. But she still seemed as if she intended to cut anyway.

Tallo, full of words, now, said, “And here I thought you knew better.” It was now Kimba that was mute. Her jaw dropped, but the scribe returned to his dinner cake and left her gaping for a few moments more until her companions returned with ample firewood for the night.

“What, is there a stray out here?” asked Rin as she made a full performance of looking around.

“It looks like a cat has got your tongue!” her sister finished. They laughed for a moment, but it only took one glance from Kimba until they quieted and settled into preparing a proper fire for the night.