Chapter 103

Hydrangea stayed still, the dead body of the soldier lying directly to her left. Eventually her mouth opened and she drew in a breath. With her eyes still wide she sat up and observed that her dress, still wet and cold from the rain, was spattered with blood.

She gasped and began to try and rub it away but her numb fingers became stained. She became frantic in her attempts to clear the blood from her dress and skin.

"Hydrangea, Hydrangea." The Sovereign said next to her. She looked at him and saw that he was leaning on his sword, his face beaded with sweat and rain, as well as streaked with blood. She stood up and walked a few paces away, there was too much blood.

"We'll find a river and you can bathe in it and clean your dress… if you like." He said, but his voice was slurred and she looked back at him and saw that he was near sleep; his lids were dropping and he was reclining against a tree.

"Sovereign, you cannot sleep." She said in outrage and fear. He mumbled something in reply but his words were lost in the damp grass.

She whined in consternation and began to pace on the squelching ground as she thought of what to do. She walked to the edge of the forest and tried to ignore the corpses that were littered nearly everywhere. Peeking out from behind a row of dripping saplings and berry bushes she spotted that the swine farmer's cart was in the same place. The swine farmer nowhere in sight.

She bit her lip in thought and from the stress of the situation her eye began to twitch. With a groan she stomped back to where the Sovereign was passed out and sat down with a huff, ignoring the chilling moisture that had accumulated in the ground.

He had an arm rested over his eyes and his free hand held his sword loosely. The blood was not singularly on his face but covering is hands and clothes also. She grimaced and began to feel queasy. She kept a careful eye on her surroundings, keeping an ear out for any footfalls or other hints of enemies approaching. Every so often a raindrop would drip onto a tree limb and she would jump.

As the light began to fade along with it the intensity of the rain, Hydrangea tucked her head into her knees and pulled her blood and mud stained cloak close to herself. She realized that it had been over a day since she'd had any food. Ariston's face appeared in her mind and she sighed deeply.

A grunt sounded next to her and she snapped her head in that direction. Twilight had set in and she found it difficult to make out her environment. Initially she believed that it could possibly be one of the soldiers that had been lying unmoving for the entire day. But luckily it was the Sovereign.

She blinked at the thought. 'Luckily?' But, she realized then that she couldn't imagine what life would be like if he'd never awoken. A massive epiphany dawned on her; if the Sovereign died, then Cadarama would be lost. Hadok was right. If he died, then she would die, or fall by something worse. If he died, what would she do? She would die. Just like Ratri-kar had told her all those weeks ago.

"Hydrangea?" He asked quietly and she nodded.

"It's me."

He exhaled and sat up, "Was I asleep all day?"

She nodded once more, "You were." After a few seconds passed he stood and helped her to stand as well.

"We can't have escaped that place for nothing, let's get to the border." He said in a strong voice. His face was still filthy from the fighting, which made her assume hers was the same.

As they walked through the woods together, the path being illuminated softly by the moon Hydrangea thought silently to herself. She'd never thought too deeply about her relationship with the Sovereign before. She'd chosen not to. When the thought of him dying had occurred, fear had grown in her. What would happen if he died?

It wasn't what would happen, but what would it be like without him? Would she go back to live with her family? Without him. She was fine with that, of course she was. He was nothing more than a-a pig who cared only for himself.

"Why were you tired enough to sleep for that long?" She asked as he assisted her in traversing a narrow log straddling a ditch.

He was quiet for a few seconds, then he answered, "I believe it must have been exhaustion from the strength that Samadur had given me."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked Samadur for the strength to defeat all of those soldiers. And he gave it to me, but as soon as I'd slain the final foe, I was overcome by tiredness and I apologize for not trying to get you to safety." He walked on but she paused momentarily.

His apologizing had caught her off guard. It was uncharacteristic of him, or was it? He was certainly becoming more of an enigma these days.

When she noticed that the Sovereign was quite a ways in front of her she hurried after.

"Ariston said that it would take us three or four days to reach the border once we left the city." He said out of the blue.

She grabbed a branch as she followed him down a hill, "But, we have no food. And no horses,"

"We survived in Waxingville and most of Wanington without food. We'll hunt and forage," He stopped and turned to her, "Same as we did there. And we can walk."

She stopped and nodded her head, but another dilemma arose in her mind, "And what about shelter, the cold is severe here, and even more so in Viskogorny. How will we survive?"

He seemed to think on this for a few moments, "I have no idea." He shrugged and began to head off in the same direction.

She raised up her skirts just a little and she jogged after him so she was in step with him, "And how do you know we're heading in the right direction?"

He sighed and tossed his head back. She frowned at his annoyance; she was asking important questions.

"I'm following the stars. We're lucky that it's a clear night."

"You can do that because you're a boatman, right?" She asked watching the overgrown forest floor before her.

A gasp came from his lips and she glanced up. His face was that of utter appallment, "I'm a sailor, Hydrangea."

Her brows raised in a way that showed how little she cared.

"There's a difference," He said as he continued on, "Boatman are like Babang, and sailors sail the seas, charting new places, meeting new peoples." His voice took on a wistful tone, but a part of it sounded forced.

"Do you like sailing?" She asked compulsively.

He was quiet and they continued in their steps, the leaves crunching beneath their feet. The rain had not reached this place it seemed.

"Yes and no. It taught me many things, I see that now. But it was not what I desired to do." He said in a calm voice, she could tell that he was being genuine.

But despite herself, she asked in a mirthful tone, "And what was that?"

He was once again quiet and she glanced over to see an almost serene appearance to his features, "Reading."