When morning came, they walked out of the Forest in a row. First Diago, armed with his two-handed sword, then the girls, then the spy, and finally Lau, on the brown horse named Squirrel. The spy had received the automatic crossbow and was very happy about it.

“Uhrhrr wrrrhh hrrr drrd thrr frrrgh urhrr,” said Heyra, whose voice was unrecognizable. The effort of screaming through the gag had made her throat terribly sick.

“I wonder how did they found us,” translated Feyra.

“I wonder too,” said the spy. “This is beyond strange. They didn’t follow us when it was easy, near Ohst, yet they brought savages from the islands now and here. It means they knew where we are going and have the means to bring all sorts of mercenaries from all over the Realm.”

“There is no way they brought the head-hunters after we ran,” intervened Diago. “It takes near two months to reach the South. They brought them to Ohst before, together with Lau’s companions and the Nords. They guessed our destination and brought the savages with a ferry to wait for us here. It’s a little strange, but I’ve seen stranger things.”

The Forest remained behind, turning to the northwest, while their path went straight to the northeast. They were atop a small hill, a big pasture with thick high grass, yearning to be cut and transformed in hey, stretching for two miles in front of them. At its end was a valley with a dirt road and a brook, then other hills, with meadows, pastures, and orchards. It was a stupendous view.

“Hrr hrr hrr!” said Heyra

“It’s so beautiful,” explained Feyra, in a bored tone.

“Over that hill is d’Ornia, the homonym capital of my country. Looks we’re safe now,” said Diago.

Just as he said that, Pumpkin raised his head and neighed. Lau glared at the duelist.

“You bad jinx, could not shut up?”

“Let me guess, he smelled the cannibals,” said Feyra.

“They’re not cannibals,” explained Istainn, but no one was listening. One hundred yards away, about fifty head-hunters were exiting the Forest. They had flint spears and axes, which didn’t look so menacing on their own, but the quantity had become a dire quality in those numbers.

“Let’s hurry to get to the road,” proposed Diago. “There, I can take the princesses with me on Pumpkin, and you two can ride Squirrel.”

But as much they tried to hurry through the thick grass, the pursuers were gaining on them. Annoyed, Lau started shooting, and from three arrows, he killed two enemies. That made the head-hunters reconsider strategy, and they spread out, hiding in the grass, advancing in jumps and not all of them at the same time, communicating between them with their strange clapping.

The girls tried to shoot at the savages as well but missed. Despite their mediocre aim, though, the head-hunters were slowed down; the initial hundred yards separation was now one-hundred and fifty. Lau nodded his approval.

“You cover for us; I keep my arrows for when they count.”

“Good job, my ladies. Now I’m sure we’ll make it to the road before them,” stated Diago.

Providence didn’t like him very much that day because on the road, just beneath them, a dozen mounted knights had appeared. A few had lances and the others crossbows.

“They may be friends?” asked Lau.

“Those are not d’Ornian,” stated Diago. “They are Ohstians.”

“The house of Karul, I recognize the flag,” spoke Feyra at the same time with the duelist. “They were not friends of the Royal House, that I can assure you. If I’d have to bet which noble house is involved in the plot, I’d bet on them any day.”

During their discussion, the head-hunters had approached again at one hundred yards, while one knight was looking at them through a binocular. It was soon evident the soldiers were preparing their weapons to attack, putting bolts in their crossbows and taking of the protections from the lances’ heads. And after another few seconds, they started trotting uphill, directly toward them

“We have to fight,” said Diago. “My ladies, take Pumpkin, and ran. We will buy you as much time as we can.”

He took Feyra by the waist and put her on the war stead, behind her sister.

“We will not abandon you here!” “Hrr hrr hrr!” spoke the twins vehemently.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to send them away,” said Istaìnn. “What if there are more enemies around? I have a better plan. Come follow me! Hurry!”

He had assumed command without any vote, but the others trusted him and obeyed. He ran as fast as he could to the east, following the hill’s contour, neither down nor up, just keeping the same height. The head-hunters, seeing that no more arrows came and their foes were running, hurried to follow them, while the knights started to mount the hill, weapons at the ready. The path chosen by the spy took the group away from the crossbows’ line of fire, turning around the mountain.

“Mate, please stop!” said Diago, after a few minutes. “I have to keep some strength for fighting, else they’ll just run over us. This does not look at all like a good plan if you ask me!”

But just then, a lot of noises reached their ears: neighs, shouts, cries of pain, weapons meeting other weapons. Behind, the two groups, the savages descending the hill and the knights ascending it, had finally met, and they had started to kill each other with plenty of enthusiasm.

“Now we can breathe a little,” said the spy.

“How on the Realm did you make them fight?” asked Diago. “Sorcery?”

“No, my dear friend,” replied Istainn condescendingly. “Just deduction. Obviously, those two groups were not aware of each other, or the knights could just have followed the road around the hill and cut our retreat. I hoped that when they’d met, each will think the others are on our side. And this confirms something I suspected. There are several factions in the plot, and they don’t know what the other does. The hypnotizing letters were funny, but that monster in the Old City didn’t look like a guy who likes jokes. That makes at least two different approaches, thus two factions, plus the nobles, three. And they don’t trust each other, that’s why they hired various mercenaries: archers, Norsemen, head-hunters. This is an indication that there are some competing interests here; we just have to find and exploit them.”

“Boss is intelligent!” stated Lau, with a serious tone, which made the girls laugh and hrrr.

Meanwhile, the fight behind was reaching an ending. The savages had numbers, but the knights had armor and better weapons. No head-hunter was standing anymore, while three knights on horses and one on foot had survived unharmed.

“Well, I like our chances a lot more, now,” said Diago. “I suggest the princesses go away another hundred yards, just to be safe, and meanwhile, we’ll dispatch those fellows. Looks easy.”

While four knights against them three didn’t look so fantastic for the spy, he did agree to have the girls away from harm’s way. He nodded his approval to Hera and Feyra, and them looking at him like he was in charge was a most pleasant sensation. They trotted away, followed by Monster, who, despite his laziness, was very active when saving his hide was on the line. The spy prepared his crossbow and hid behind a bush.

The four knights exchanged a few words. It didn’t seem they agreed because the three on horseback spurred their horses, while the one on foot shouted: “Stop, stop!”

The first rider had a spear, the other two crossbows, and they were already aiming. The spy released a bolt. To his dismay, it hit a branch of the bush and bounced astray. Swearing, he tried to find a better spot, but by then, in two seconds, Lau released as many arrows. Both killed their target, penetrating the leather armor like it was nothing. A third arrow bounced harmlessly from the steel armor of the lancer, though.

"Leave him to me!" shouted Diago.

Letting aside Lau’s fantastic archery skills, Istaìnn was scared senseless now for his other friend. The lancer's galloping horse was at less than five yards from Diago, and the duelist looked unprepared. He was lazily dragging the tip of his greatsword behind him on the ground, twisted in a position which was, in the opinion of the fencing teachers the spy had at the academy, totally inept.

In the next second, the duelist burst into action. His body twisted forward like a released spring, and three noises ensued: a shpoum, a tick, and a shdrang. Spraying blood and splinters all over, the horse and his head, the lance and its tip, and the rider and his head, separated and went on different ways. Calmy, Diago took a step aside, letting the beheaded falling animal dig a trench in its momentum, then walked to the knight’s head, whose eyes looked still alive, and kicked it with his boot, sending it far below in the valley.

The spy's eyes and mouth opened wide, in awe.

Goodness!

Now there was only one knight left. His horse had been killed by the head-hunters, so he was approaching on foot, armed with a sword. Lau was already nocking an arrow on his string, but Diago made him a sign to stop.

“I provoke you to duel, one by one, if you have any honor in you,” shouted the knight. “If not, just do your worse. I’m not afraid!”

“Dear sir, I’m afraid me fighting you would be not fair,” said Diago. “But my colleague here – he pointed at Istaìnn – has some skill. I’ll give him a sword, and you can duel.”

“What?” exclaimed the spy. “Are you mad? What skill?”

“Didn’t I show you how to use the hilted broadsword during our trip?” replied Diago.

“Once or twice? Basic moves? But anyway, this dueling stuff is stupid, Lau, shoot him!” he asked, not trusting his little crossbow to penetrate the knight’s armor.

“Lau, stay put!” ordered Diago. “I’m disappointed in you, Istaìnn. Those moves you consider basic are the fruit of hundreds of years of experience; my family developed them. But nevermind, I’ll do it. I’ll just tie one hand behind my back.”

“I couldn’t accept such an unfair advantage,” protested the knight, taking out his helmet. He looked relatively young and had a very friendly face.

“Kid, are you suicidal? Haven’t you saw what he just did to your fellow? He’ll kill you even with both hands and feet tied, just surrender!” proposed Istainn, thinking that extracting some useful information from a prisoner is better than having another dead body.

To his relief, the knight threw his sword on the ground and raised his hands. Meanwhile, the princesses had followed the fight attentively, and now they were back.

“Thank goodness you are safe,” said Feyra, while Heyra was hrr hrr-ing along. “Brilliant plan, Istainn, brilliant fighting, Diago, and Lau. But what I don’t understand is why are you negotiating with traitors? Out with his head!” she commanded in a royal tone.

“Just a moment,” asked the spy, seeing that Diago was ready to follow the order. “We need information, for one. For two, this fellow here seems quite disoriented; I think something is amiss.”

Indeed, the knight was looking at the twin princesses with big eyes.

“Your highnesses? What are you doing here?”

“What are we doing, villain? Do you dare to ask that after you’ve attacked us? After your house plotted against us, killed our father, and made us run for our lives?”

The young soldier collapsed on his knees, crying, his hands over his face.

“Err…. Are you feeling all right?” asked the spy. Seeing the other was crying a bucket and was not responsive, he turned to the princesses.

“I have a theory. I think that not all the nobles know about the plot; the rank and file must’ve just followed orders and had been told some junk. This reduces risks. I’d bet this guy had no idea you were here or that there’s even a plot. Am I correct, young man? What’s your name?”

“Roybert…. Roybert Karul, Sir!”

Little by little and bit by bit, the spy asked questions, got replies, asked other questions, got further replies, added his ideas in between those. In about fifteen minutes, the situation was clearer, but not better.

For some reason, a few days after the events in Ohst, all available troops of the nobility had been sent in d’Ornia under the pretense of joint military maneuvers. Around ten thousand men. Some had traveled by sea, some by land. They had arrived a few days before and made camp near the capital. Strangely, the capital didn’t seem at all interested in maneuvers, quite the opposite, it had shut all gates. Then, the noble army had sent patrols all along the Forest edge, to intercept some dangerous bandits, that was the excuse. It was likely that the Sargent had been one of the conspirators because he had given the order of pursuit and attack as soon as he had examined the group, which meant he had recognized the princesses for sure. Back in the camp, many rumors were circulating among the low ranks, but only a handful of people, the highest in command, seemed to know what was going on. Nothing about a plot, or evil wizards, or mercenaries, had transpired in the rank and file. Roybert, meanwhile, had as well put two and two together and reached a conclusion too.

“All the big cheese is involved! I’m sure! I have friends in many families, all think the chiefs are hiding something…. But this? Betraying the Royals? I’d never would had imagined… this is crazy! Please, I know it’s much to ask, but let me free. I cannot let this be, I’ll tell my friends what I found out, and we’ll see if we can do something about it. I’ll keep your presence a secret. I’ll report we were ambushed by those creatures and a group of bandits.”

The spy consulted with the princesses and offered an answer.

“Look, you’ve been honest with us. We will let you free, but first, you have to swear to wait until we reach d’Ornia before you go to your camp. And we urge you to be careful with whom you talk.”

“Oh, don’t be worried; all my friends are trustful,” replied the knight with nonchalance. “I’ll wait until tonight, but not longer. If you push a little and make a little detour around that hill, you can enter d’Ornia from the north; there are no troops there.”