Greenwood Knight

Chapter 43

Gil was quiet, but she felt his muscles tense and knew he was fully awake despite his posture.

"Aye." Gil whispered. "I make out three...can you wake Rin without causing him to stir?"

"No need." Rin whispered. "I heard her wake you."

Resisting the urge to turn, she hid both her surprise at the soft voice so near her ear and the smile that followed. Instead, she kept her eyes ahead on the road and tried very hard not to tense her shoulders or stiffen visibly. She did not want to alert the watchers that her men were now awake and knew of the potential threat.

"And what do you make of our...company?" Gil whispered barely moving his lips.

"I think it might be trouble." Rin mumbled.

"Sofi," Gwyn said in a low urgent voice as she cast a glance at the lumpy blanket directly behind the seat, "Sofi are you sleeping?"

"Yes." She grumbled.

Gwyn smothered another smile. Sofi did not like her sleep interrupted any more than Gwyn did.

"Listen to me carefully, sweeting. There are bad men that might come and try to stop us. You must snuggle your back up against the seat. You must be very quiet and do not come out from under the cover or say anything at all, no matter what you hear."

"I will, Mama...but Shelba is scared."

"I can understand, sweeting. Tell Shelba that it is okay to be scared. You can be brave and still be scared inside. Courage is really just being brave when you are really scared inside. You hold Shelba tight and make sure she stays brave and quiet and still."

"I will, Mama."

"Sofi." Gil whispered. "I will keep you safe. If those men try to stop us or try to hurt us, Rin and I might have to fight. It will be loud and sound awful. You must obey your mother. I do not wish them to know you are hiding there."

"I know that you will keep me safe, Papa. I know that you and Rin were knights once, so I shall pretend that the bad men are dragons. I shall be the brave princesses. I shall be so quiet and still that the dragons shall never even know that I am near."

"What a good girl you are." Rin whispered. "I hope that if I ever have a little girl of my own, that she is as courageous as you are, Princess Sofi."

"Get ready." Gwyn said as the shadow she had been watching in her peripheral shifted. She felt Rin and Gil tense though they moved not a whisker.

"Oy!" One of the men shouted as three riders emerged from the shadows and charged toward them.

"Shall I stop?" Gwyn whispered.

"Nay, unless they..."

Before Gil finished, the three riders rode onto the road and blocked the way, one to each side and one directly in front. Gwyn was forced to stop else risk harm to the mule.

Rin and Gil feigned waking.

"What is it?" Rin mumbled rubbing a hand over his face as he looked at Gwyn and pretended not to notice the men.

"Why have we stopped?" Gil asked at the same time as he yawned and gave a mighty stretch. He pretended to be startled by the presence of the men and reached for his crutch.

"Be still." One of the men warned. He was stout and strong and stank. He also had a scar from below his eye across his cheek and down to his neck. He pulled a sword and pointed it toward them. "We want your coin."

"And wine." A second filthy man who was only half dressed save for a strip of fir draped across from hip to shoulder and pinned with a rather grungy looking pin with missing jewels.