He led Robert up the stairs, and when they got to the first room, he pushed open the door and found an officer in the tabard of Ylith, sound asleep on a bare floor. Two other men sat eating. They glanced over, and Erik waved at them in apology and closed the door. He moved down to the next door and opened it, finding the room empty.
Inside were two simple mattresses, woolen blankets sewn together and hay-stuffed; to Erik they looked inviting. He struggled to get out of his boots, and by the time he did, the corporal had arrived with two wooden bowls of hot stew and two large mugs of ale. Suddenly fatigue was forgotten as Erik’s mouth began to water.
As the corporal made to leave, Erik said, ‘Make sure someone wakes me an hour before dawn.’
‘Yes, Captain.’
Robert said, ‘I don’t envy you an early morning after a day such as you’ve just had.’
‘No need for you to envy anyone, magician. You’re up at first light, too.’
‘I suppose it’s necessary?’
‘Yes, we need to be out of this town before the enemy gets here. It’s the difficult part of this mission, keeping one jump ahead of the foe. When they reach Wilhelmsburg, they are to find only fire and ruin.’
Robert said, ‘Such a waste.’
‘It’s more of a waste to give the enemy anything to aid them on their march.’
‘I guess so.’ The magician ate a couple of spoonfuls of food, then said, ‘Pug said things were dire, and while he wouldn’t be specific, he led us to believe that there’s even more at risk than the sovereignty of the Kingdom. Or is that an exaggeration?’
‘I can’t say,’ replied Erik between bites of food. After he had swallowed a healthy drink of ale, he said, ‘But let me put it that none of us can afford a loss in this war. None of us.’
Robert sat back, resting against the wall, with his feet stretched out. ‘I’m not used to all this walking.’
‘I offered you a horse.’
‘Truth to tell, they scare me.’
Erik looked at the man, then laughed. ‘I have spent my entire life around them, so you’ll forgive me, but I find that funny.’
Robert shrugged. ‘Well, there are many who are frightened of magicians, so I guess I can understand that.’
Erik nodded. ‘There was a time when I was a boy in Ravensburg when I would have been worried about you, if not frightened, but I’ve seen enough over the last few years that I choose to worry about things that I can face with a sword in my hand, and let the gods, priests, and magicians worry about the rest.’
‘Wise man,’ said Robert with a sleepy smile. ‘If you don’t think it overly rude,’ he said, putting down his bowl and mug, ‘I think I’ll get some sleep.’ His head barely touched the mattress before he was snoring.
Erik finished his ale and lay down, and it seemed only a minute after he closed his eyes when he found the young corporal shaking his shoulder, saying, ‘Captain, it’s time to get up.’
Roo motioned for everyone to stop. Luis was semiconscious, his feet tied to the stirrups of one horse - with the rope passed under the animal - so he wouldn’t fall, as he hugged the animal’s neck. His wound was still seeping blood, and Roo knew he would not survive another night without rest and better care than they could provide on the trail. Willem rode with his arms around little Helmut, while Nataly rode with Abigail before her. Roo, Karli, and Helen led the horses.
They had left the cave the morning before, trying to find a safe route to the northern road. Twice they had found themselves at impassable points in the woods, and Roo had followed his plan of going east when he couldn’t go north, then turning north when he could no longer go east.
Only once had they found themselves blocked on the north and east, and he had cast back to the west and found another northern route.
Roo had halted them because of the sound of riders, some distance off, but close enough that he started looking for a place to hide. ‘Wait here,’ he said softly, handing the reins of the horse he was leading, upon which Luis sat, to Helen. He drew his sword and hurried off, looking for some elevation to give him a better view.
He found a rise to the east and climbed it, which led to another, and that brought him to a relatively clear ridge. Sound was echoing, but when he stood still for a moment, he could hear that the riders were to his north.
‘Damn,’ he said softly and hurried back to the others.
The children had fallen into silence, as they reacted to the obvious fear their parents tried to hide. Roo said, ‘A large band of riders to the north.’
‘That road you spoke of ?’ asked Helen.
‘Yes, I think so.’
‘What do we do?’ said Karli.
‘We go quietly, and slowly, and we hope those are Kingdom cavalry.’
Karli was handling her terror far better than Roo would have guessed. He admired her willingness to put aside her own fear to protect her children. Roo glanced at Luis, who had lapsed into a half-doze, barely able to sit upright. Perspiration ran from his face, although the morning was cool, and Roo knew he had fever from his wound.
‘We’ve got to get Luis to a healer,’ Roo said, and Helen and Karli both nodded.