CHAPTER 4
A NIGHT IN THE JUNGLE
First thing in the morning came much sooner than Aurora had anticipated. Bidding farewell to her roommate and her father, she fastened the scarf around her face and pulled her hood over her head. Today, she would be heading straight for the forest with the prince and the other knights. She tried to calm herself and prayed they wouldn't find out about her true identity.
When she got to the stables, her saddlebags had already been strapped to one of her favorite horses, Storm. A magnificent grey stallion.
"Hey, Storm," she whispered, reaching her hand out to stroke the beast's neck. Storm lowered his head and neighed softly.
Mounting her horse, she guided him out of his stall and towards where the prince was conversing with Neil and Ram.
"Red," Neil called, flashing her a smile. Even though she had no interest in him, she would be lying to herself if she hadn't thought his smile disarming.
Damn you, handsome boy, she thought.
"Where's Jon?" she asked, remembering to keep her voice deep.
"He'll be with us soon," Isaac told her.
"Is everyone prepared already?" Jon asked, leading his mount towards them.
"Yeah," answered Neil. "What took you so long?"
Jon shrugged, a devious smile playing on his lips.
"Now that we're all here," Isaac said impatiently. "Let's go. I want to make it further into the forest before nightfall."
The five of them set off into a gallop on their mighty steeds. The moment they had left the palace walls, they knew they had a long journey ahead of them.
They rode on for hours, only stopping twice to rest. They passed the neighbouring village and only rested a few minutes before they were back on course. By the time they reached the forest, it was twilight. The sun had just set, leaving the sky a breathtaking shade of purplish-blue. But there had been no time for staring up at the sky as Isaac lead his knights further into the forest.
Aurora nearly fell off her horse when the prince had told them to set up camp for the night. Finally, they could stop riding. She was sweaty and sticky and really tired. A hot bath would be really pleasant at the moment. If she were a witch, that would have been done with a snap of her fingers. But she wasn't. And unless she could wish for that to be true, she was stuck smelling like horse and sweat for the rest of their journey.
Dismounting, she prepared her sleeping bag on the ground.
Since a certain prince had insisted bringing tents would only add extra weight to the horses which would reduce their speed, they were all going to sleep in the open. This terrified Aurora even more. No sheilding from the elements or whatever creatures roamed about. Maybe she could sneak back to the safety of the palace.
No, she told herself. I can do this. I'm a knight and I will not be frightened by such trivial things.
Jon started a fire while Ram and Prince Isaac unpacked the sleeping bags.
"Is this my bow?" Neil asked, holding it up. "It feels different,"
"Dinvar enchanted our weopons so that we would have a better grip on them," Isaac stated. "He made sure they would be able to protect us somehow."
Aurora unsheathed her dual swords and weighed them in her hands. They did feel lighter and easier to hold.
Thank you, Dinvar.
YOU ARE READING
Red Hood
Fantasy(COMPLETED) No one knew his real name. No one saw his face. He was a skilled knight in training who always wore a red hooded cloak during the training sessions. So the other knights called him Red Hood, completely oblivious to the fact that he was a...
