They ran. First down the hill, then straight into the Forest. The noises of battle, horses neighing, men shouting, kept ringing in their ears for minutes. They stopped for a few seconds to examine the map, then crossed a brook, took a hidden track, and pushed forward as fast as they could, keeping the pace for almost one hour, when finally one of them, Heyra, collapsed crying and sobbing. Feyra kneeled and took her in her arms, waiting for her to calm down.

“Let’s go, sis,” she whispered in her ear.

The other acknowledged and raised.

“Do you think he escaped?” she asked.

“I have no idea… I hope so… But for sure, he managed to lose them; otherwise, they would have caught up with us by now.”

“Providence, please help him escape! You do realize why he asked us to go to d’Ornia if he does not catch up, yes?”

“No, why?” asked Feyra, a little surprised.

“He thought not about being killed, but captured and tortured… How much can he resist before telling where we are…”

“Oh, Goodness! I hope he escaped!”

They walked quietly for a good while, a few hours. At some point, just in front of them, a deer jumped out of the forest on the path. It stopped, stunned by the twos. They looked at each other, three beautiful creatures, tall with long legs, auburn hair, big eyes, all fearful yet amazed. The magic stopped when the deer jumped on and vanished into the forest.

“Do you have the crossbow you were working at?” asked Heyra. “Just in case there are more dangerous beasts around.”

“Yes, I do, but I need to put the trigger mechanism on it. I hoped to do it this morning, but we had to run. Listen, is it necessary to go to d’Ornia? It’s so far…”

“We’ll wait a day and see. But there are not many options.”

“Sure there are; we could try to get to some port and take a ship to the Archipelago. Little brother is there, with our allies, the Great Families of the South. And those we can trust. “

“Yes, Feyra, but how? Don’t you think they have people in the ports? We have no option other than d’Ornia. Otherwise, maybe if we continue due North, we could find the Elves, but the Elves and the Dwarves don’t involve themselves in human business.”

“Well, that’s about to change,” affirmed Feyra.

“How so?”

“Didn’t you saw those mercenaries? They’re from the Far West, no? That area is in the Western Autarchy sphere of influence. If they begin to play politics on the Continent, for sure they want to encroach on the dwarven and elven territories and need us, well, the fake king, to put pressure on those from the south.”

“Then let’s hope they are not involved, sis. We most certainly do not need a continental war now... Hey, we’ve arrived!” she exclaimed, confronting the drawn map with the landscape.

In front of them, a gentle slope on a giant meadow. At the top, five hundred yards away, a wooden lodge. With large strides, they went toward their goal as fast as they could. As soon they arrived near the building, Feyra tried the door. Closed. They let their backpacks down near a wooden table and benches and hurried to the well to drink water and freshen up. They didn’t have any experience with buckets and wells, but they’ve managed to pull their first bucket without spilling more than half of them. On the second, they spilled even less.

“Please, don’t wash over the fountain; the purpose of the well is to have clean water, not to be a sink.”

They jumped up, scared. A tall and solid man had appeared, ash-blond hair, steel eyes, and he camed from behind the lodge.

“Sor..sorry!” stuttered Feyra. “We didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Please, sit down!” he invited them.

As soon as the girls sat down on one of the benches, he took a seat across the table.

“With whom I have the honor to speak?”

“We are Heyra and Feyra Ohstwald, sir, princesses of Ohst. We were instructed to come by this Excellency the Ambassador, to ask for your help. It’s for a Noble Cause,” Heyra said the password.

“Yeah, they all are. Don’t worry, when Diago Guerrefido – your servant, he made a reverence – appears, problems disappear, and those who cause them too.”

“Look, sir,” started Heyra. “This is a more delicate business; it involves more than assassinating someo…”

“Don’t you dare call me an assassin, Miss!” the man hit the table with his fist. “I do not allow anyone, be it a princess, to insult me!”

Scared by his sudden anger, Heyra began to cry, and Feyra made a gesture of running away.

“Sorry, sorry! Please forgive me!” the man rushed to apologize. “It brought some bad memories, that’s all. Here!” he offered his handkerchief.

Heyra took it, wiped his tears, blew her nose, and offered it back. He looked at it for a second and put it in his pocket; it was better not to upset her again.

“So, to be clear, I’m not an assassin. I am a judicial assistant.”

“A what?” asked Feyra.

“Well, you know, legal duels? When opponents agree to fight each other to see who’s right? I’m a duelist.”

“Ah, I see. Yes, d’Ornia still practices those,” remembered Heyra.

“Are you hungry? I can bring something to eat, and we can talk.”

They accepted immediately; the truth was they had barely touched the breakfast and were very hungry. The duelist went into the house, and Feyra noticed that the door was, in fact, open, but it had a safety device on the doorknob. The man returned with a big round bread, cheese, game pastrami, and a bottle of weak wine in a couple of minutes. The girls dug into the food like they were ordinary peasant girls after a day of haymaking. Slowly, between gulps, the princesses told their story. When the food vanished, the story was finished too.

“Providence, that’s a real mess you’ve been through! Poor things! I hope as well that the young man escaped, he showed a lot of courage. If not, we do have to leave tomorrow morning, as he said. But those are worries for another day; for now, let me show you where you’ll sleep.”

The lodge had one big room downstairs, with pantries, a large cooking stove, a day bed, and another eating table. In the back, there was an abrupt ladder that finished into a hatch.

“You’ll sleep upstairs. If someone comes, he’ll have to pass through me first. That’s easier said than done. Hey, watch for the…”

Before he had time to stop her, Heyra had gone up to the stairs and pushed the hatch. She almost fell when a giant dog head appeared and gave her a huge lick on the face.

“… dog,” finished Diago the sentence.

“He’s so sweeeet!” exclaimed Heyra, who now was up in the attic, scratching the dog’s head.

“Goodness, this is a dog?” asked Feyra while petting the animal too. The dog was as big as a poney.

“It’s a war dog, but I had saved him from the kernels when he was a pup. He’s as gentle as a mouse.”

“He’s adorable,” admitted Feyra. She scratched the dog’s belly while the animal was making a happy face, tongue out, and puppy eyes.

“Oh, Dear Sir, I see you have an artist’s soul!”

That was Heyra, noticing a bunch of romantic novels on a nightstand, next to a notebook filled with lines that looked like poetry.

“It’s nothing,” hurried Diago to gather his things.

He put a fresh sheet on the straw mattress, new pillows, and blankets, then went down, taking the dog on his back.

“I almost forgot,” he said when only his head was still showing. “The privy is behind the lodge. I suppose even princesses need it. The left cabin is for ladies. The Ambassador brings Missy here from time to time. And there’s a camp shower as well.”

They unpacked a few things, went to the mentioned facility and the shower, cleaned up, and dressed in t-shirts and shorts. It was already early afternoon, and they were tired. The shock, the walk, and the food made them doze and decide they needed a nap.

Under the blanket, Heyra fell asleep instantly. Feyra, on the other hand, was tired but unable to sleep yet. She took her sister in her arms and sat quietly, breathing slowly. The window was open, and through it came fresh hay and acacia flowers smell. After an hour or so, the hatch opened, and Diago pushed the dog inside. The animal sniffed them, pushing his nose in her shoulder, then cuddled near her and went to sleep too. He smelled of fresh soap.

Diago washed him.

Cuddled by the dog, her sister, the soft evening light, the soap and the hay, and the acacia smell, she finally found peace and sleep.