Pug climbed down, and Carline threw her arms around his neck, holding him closely for a moment. “Take care and stay well,” she said. “Don’t let anything happen to you.” She pulled away, then kissed him briefly. “And come home.” Holding back tears, she hurried to the head of the line, where her father and brother waited to say good-bye.
Tomas let out a theatrical whoop and laughed, while Pug remounted; the soldiers nearby attempted to restrain their own amusement. “It seems the Princess has made plans for you, m’lord,” Tomas gibed. He ducked as Pug stirred to give him a backhanded cuff. The motion caused his horse to start forward, and suddenly Tomas was fighting to bring his horse back into line. The horse seemed determined to go in any direction except the one Tomas wished; now it was Pug’s turn to laugh. He finally moved his own horse alongside Tomas’s and herded the fractious mare back into line. She flattened her ears and turned to nip at Pug’s horse, and the short boy said, “We both have accounts to settle with Rulf; he gave us two horses that don’t like each other, too. We’ll trade your mount off with one of the soldiers.”
With relief Tomas half dismounted, half fell to the ground, and Pug directed the exchange with a soldier down the line. The exchange was made, and as Tomas returned to his place, Roland came down to where they stood and offered them both his hand “You two watch yourselves, now. There’s plenty of trouble waiting out there without your looking for it.”
They acknowledged they would, and Roland said to Pug, “I’ll keep an eye on things for you.”
Pug noticed his wry smile, glanced back to where Carline stood with her father, and said, “No doubt,” then added, “Roland, whatever happens, good luck to you, too.”
Roland said, “Thank you. I’ll take that as it’s meant.” To Tomas he said, “And things are certainly going to be dull without you around.”
Tomas said, “Given what’s going on, dull would be welcome.”
Roland said, “As long as it’s not too dull, right? Take good care! You’re a bothersome pair, but I’d hate to lose you.”
Tomas laughed as Roland walked off with a friendly wave. Watching the Squire go up to the Duke’s party, and seeing Carline standing next to her father, Pug turned to Tomas. “That decides it I am glad to be going. I need a rest.”
Sergeant Gardan came riding back with orders to move the column, and they set off. The Duke and Arutha rode in the van, with Kulgan and Gardan behind. Martin Longbow and his trackers set off at a run beside the Duke’s horse. Twenty pair of mounted guards followed, with Tomas and Pug nestled between them and the baggage train at the rear with its five pair of guards. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, they moved through the gates of the castle and down the south road.
They had been riding for three days, the last two through dense woodlands. Martin Longbow and his men had turned east that morning as they crossed the southern branch of the river Crydee, called river Boundary. It marked the border between Crydee and the Barony of Carse, one of Lord Borric’s vassal provinces.
The sudden snows of early winter had come and draped the autumn landscape in white. Many of the denizens of the forest had been caught unaware by the sudden winter, rabbits whose coats were still more brown than white, and ducks and geese who scampered across half-frozen ponds, resting as they migrated south. The snow fell in flurries of heavy wet flakes, melting slightly during the day, to refreeze at night, making a thin crust of ice. As the horses’ and mules’ hooves cracked through the ice, the crunching of leaves underneath could be heard in the still winter air.
In the afternoon Kulgan observed a flight of firedrakes circling in the distance, barely visible through the trees. The colorful beasts, red, gold, green, and blue in color, raced over the treetops and dipped out of sight, then reappeared as they spiraled upward, with cries and small bursts of flame. Kulgan reined in as the train passed and waited for Pug and Tomas to overtake him. When they were alongside, he pointed out the display, saying, “It has the appearance of a mating flight. See, the more aggressively the males act, the more responsive the females. Oh, I wish we had time to study this more closely.”
Pug followed the creatures with his eyes as they rode through a clearing, then, somewhat startled, said, “Kulgan, isn’t that Fantus there, hovering near the edge?”
Kulgan’s eyes widened. “By the gods! I think it is.”
Pug asked, “Shall I call him?”