Chapter 14.4

"Unfortunately, my bodyguard is incompetent," Alina boasted. Despite the weapon, she didn't feel inclined to cower before this person and wouldn't submit to any of the other robbers either. "Our school is in contact with this bounty hunter, so I'll be assisted if any onlooker becomes too intrusive."

She would have liked to throw more words at the guy, but a shout interrupted her.

"Alina!" Eros' voice, she would have recognized it among thousands. Now it echoed thunderously from the trees.

He blamed her for being careless, and he himself displayed a volume that would have led anyone in the forest to their trail.

"Who is that?" demanded Dugol to know from her.

"Just my incompetent bodyguard," Alina explained. At the same time, she wondered what Ero's problem was that required her immediate presence.

Shortly after the sword sank, she seized the reins of the black mare. No instruction from Dugol was needed. Driven by the flowing water, she made her way back alone.

After a short distance, they spotted a young man who was anxiously wading in the water.

He was searching for something, but it wasn't yet clear what.

Dugol was about to shout, but the boy vanished from their sight around a bend in the river.

With her slow steps, a picture came into view.

"Oh!" Alina exclaimed.

Falira, tugging at the reins, pushed forward where the familiar dappled gray mare didn't know what to do. The harness left her no room to move forward, backward, or sideways. She trotted restlessly in place. A whinny joined them; her white legs and belly looked muddy, and behind her was the wagon, whose wheels could no longer move, no matter what the boy tried.

Belena hadn't behaved on the path. She wanted to follow her mistress. Past the trees and directly into the river, where the wheels dug into the earth and gravel.

Alina stopped. The tip of the sword poked her back as she turned to the people.

"You couldn't say I ran out of time to tie the mare?" Alina pleaded with one of her most beautiful smiles and folded hands.

The woman burst into laughter; the man remained relentless. With the sword's clear pressure, he forced her to keep walking. He was not interested in such childishness; his gaze spoke.

"Alina!" Ero roared again. "Get your ass over here right now, or else thieves and scoundrels will be your least of worries!"

This time it seemed serious to her. If they didn't kill the robbers, Ero would gladly take care of it.

"I'm here!" she made the boy aware of her presence.

He didn't pay attention to the people behind her first but immediately turned to reprimand.

"Please tell me how many times I've asked you, you silly goose, to tie up Belena as soon as you leave?!"

Alina stepped aside so that the sword threatening Dugol was revealed, only then did she begin to respond.

"Isn't it enough that I'm threatened with weapons?" she exclaimed. "Now you're trying to lecture me in my thoughts too."

Her steps hurried forward. At first, Dugol tried to stop her, but fortunately the woman stepped to his side and put her hands around his, from which the sword was held. Her kind eyes pleaded to let her go.

Alina quickly reached her mare. Falira's reins fell into the water, and she patted the mare's muzzle.

"What have you done here, my dear?" A sigh escaped her lips.

Not even the strength of two draft horses was enough to free the wagon from this trap, but under Alina's touch, the horse calmed quickly.

"Don't blame the poor horse for your neglect!" Ero admonished. He glanced back at the two people. "And who are you bringing here? Robbers? First your mare tries to cross the river, now this. Leave you alone once, and you immediately get us into trouble."

"Now take off your sword!" Dugol ordered at gunpoint.

Although he often devoted his attention to his wife, he never let his guard down, as both young people understood. Therefore, Ero complied with the request slowly and cautiously.

No false move that would have prompted the other man to act.

He threw it along with the scabbard onto the bank. Far enough from the water so that not a drop could touch it. Shortly afterward, he sat on the forest floor near the cart.

It wasn't Dugol who reached for the sword; it was the woman. She picked it up, interested, until the engraving was recognizable.

"A beautiful piece," she let her husband take a look. "Where did you get it?"

"A family heirloom," Ero lied.

"And the horse?" Dugol caught the horse's brand as well as his wife.

"The same," Ero replied, shrugging. "My grandfather recently passed away and thought to send me off with horse and sword."

"And what's your name?" Dugol came to a final question.

"Me?" The boy demonstratively tugged at his worn shirt and ruffled his hair, now cut by about a finger's thickness. "As you can see, I'm nobody of rank. What does my name matter to you? My task is to watch over Alina whenever she travels."

"As I said, the boy is merely my bodyguard."

Perhaps her demeanor was a bit too exaggerated. Dugol's mistrust didn't dissipate. Quite the opposite. He would have preferred to slit both their throats or beat the truth out of one of them.

Again, the woman became the calm anchor at his side.

"An interesting pair." A warm smile illuminated her lips. "If she asks, you should introduce them to your father. He would surely take pleasure in them, and they're unlikely to answer any of your questions."

She let the sword sink to her side, not without casting a second glance at the beautiful piece.

"You assume the boy could be the son of the cursed executioner; that alone would be of interest to your father. But I don't think such a boy would dare to come here. That would be sheer suicide. Besides, neither of them looks like feared murderers to me. They've just outgrown their childhood. What danger could they pose?"

Dugol didn't share his wife's opinion, which he expressed with a snort. But he complied with her wish.

"Be that as it may, my father will decide what happens to you. Come along!"

Ero leaned toward Alina. The girl was just putting her shoes back on. They would have to leave the two horses behind.

"Has my sweet angel developed a plan yet?" he whispered to her. Alina grimaced.

At that moment, she couldn't think of anything more than to wait, but they still had time; after all, they were only about to meet Morlo.