~ For Argaland ~

Chapter VII

"Do you think we are safe now?" I asked Essie as I pulled my horse to a halt.

"We are never safe but I believe we have escaped the prison guards," she answered.

I nodded and dismounted my horse. Just as I was tying her up a thought struck me, "Essie! We need to find Adar, he doesn't know we've escaped!"

"He will figure it out," she replied, tying her horse, "word will get out that we have escaped."

"Even so we need to find him," I stated, worry creeping into my heart, "he is out there alone, being hunted by the entire army of the dark prince. If word doesn't reach him of our escape and he goes back to the prison and we're not there, he could be captured!'

"Amirah, Adar is The Archer!" Essie exclaimed, placing a hand on my shoulder, "that man is powerful and incredibly intelligent, he can take care of himself. When he sees that we have escaped he will know we have continued on the way to the capital."

"But what if-."

"Stop troubling your mind over what might be," Essie cut in, "what's done is done, even if Adar was captured we still would continue on to the capital, this is our duty to the kingdom."

I wanted to protest but I kept silent as I thought over the situation while we set up camp for the night. I knew Adar was powerful and able to protect himself from a multitude up enemies. Yet I still worried over him like a fretting mother hen; I was confused by my emotions, they didn't make sense.

                                                                                    ~~~~~

For the next three days, Essie and I pressed forward to the capital. Although the thick woods were difficult to navigate and our horses often lost their footing on the rocks, it was good. If we had to travel on the road we most certainly would have been captured by now, but under the cover of the tall trees and bushes, we were practically invisible.

The sun was high in the sky as we rode along, my mind clouded with thoughts of our mission that still lay ahead, and worry over whether Adar had escaped the dark prince's scouts that infected the land.

"Amirah," Essie called, waking me from my thoughts, "there is a small town here, let us tie our horses to this tree and go purchase some supplies."

"Of course," I answered and dismounted my horse, stroking her soft nose before tieing her reins.

                                                                                       ~~~~~

An hour later the two of us were on our way out of the town, trotting our powerful horses down the forest path. We soon came to a place that looked rather exposed to prying eyes. There were only a few trees spaced out every few meters, and there wasn't a thicket to been seen.

"Essie," I said, pulling my horse beside hers, "do you think it's wise to travel this way?"

"This is the way the path goes," she replied, "we must cross it."

I breathed out shakily, "I do not think it is safe."

"We haven't been safe ever since we stepped onto that ship to make our journey here," Essie answered, then smiled, "and we've survived so far."

"Well then," I nodded, "forward into our destinies."

Essie giggled softly, "very poetic. We will ride hard through this scarce forest until we find better protection; let's go!" She called kicking her horse into a gallop.

I followed close behind, and soon was riding side by side with my friend. And I believed that a person watching could not tell if there were two horses, for their legs pounded the ground at the same pace. And we moved our bodies in perfect sync with the rhythm of our horses and each other. With nothing but the wind in my face and hope in my heart, I felt happy.