Horses and Helpers

In the dark, Katherine couldn't see much besides the carriage and some distant lights behind her. Feeling with her hands and feet, she more slid then climbed over the rattling wooden top and onto the coachman's seat. The horses were about as fast as a jogging man now, so it was less likely to fall off. However, the reigns had fallen from the coachman, and flicked about in the air. Sitting on her knees to stabilize herself, Katherine leaned forward, and stretched out her hands to catch them.

Only a tiny bit more, she thought, but the reigns were moving too swiftly. She couldn't get a grip of them. Beneath her, she could see the ground flying by. Cautiously, she leaned forward a bit more. Come on, you damn horses!

Suddenly, the carriage jumped over a cobble in the road. Katherine wobbled, and just caught herself in time to not fall between the big wheels. She breathed a sigh of relieve, her heart was pounding from the shock.

Alright, she thought to herself, I need to try it differently. They were trained horses, right? It should be possible to call them to stop when their first shock was over.

"Hoh!", Katherine made, and tried to sound authoritarian and soothing at the same time. She used the same sound she used when she wanted Bell to stop. "Slow down. Come on, my beauties. Hoh."

She saw the horses move their ears in alert, and their pace slowed down a little. They nervously turned their heads to look back on whoever made the sounds, but the blinkers blocked their sight.

"Yeah, like this. You are doing great.", Katherine encouraged them softly. "Come on, slow down a bit more, so I can catch that - aha!"

With the speed dropping, the reigns didn't fly about as wildly anymore, and she managed to catch them.

"Good horses!", she called out, and looked backwards. The lights from the camp were out of sight now, so maybe she got lucky and they didn't follow her directly. However, it could also be a trap, so she couldn't stop yet to free the horses of the unnecessary carriage. "Alright, let's get away from these baddies."

With the reigns in hands, she led the horses to move faster again to shake off any unwanted pursuers. She wasn't sure if it were Nathaniel's soldiers or an accident that caused the horses to flee, so going back alone was a bad idea. If there were no helpers or in case they were losing against her kidnappers, she would only get caught again. No, it was best to make her way back as fast as possible.

On the next possible crossroad, she turned right. About half an hour later, she turned right again, in the direction back to the capital city. After all, the King she needed to save, would most likely still be in his city. He was her father in law. She never thought the King of the Icelands would one day be her father in law.

Finding it somewhat funny, she smiled, only to turn it into a scowl when she remembered how he had been ambushed and the palace taken over by these strange attackers. She really would be in big trouble when she went back. However, now it was Nathaniel in trouble alone instead, so this was even worse. At least when they were together, they had each other's back.

Suddenly, she remembered Hazel and hoped the girl managed to hide herself when it all began. Not so long ago, she had promised to protect her, and now when the trouble started, she was not even there. The poor girl would be frightened to death.

With worry in her heart, Katherine let the horses run faster.

.

Some hours ago, Hazel wondered how her Lady was doing. After helping her with the dress and reassuring her as much as she could, she had to leave while Katherine went to her wedding. It was down-casting to not be able to stay with her on this important moment, but as a maid, she was not allowed to attend the festivity.

Instead, she worked on the writing exercise her Lady gave her, though she was hardly able to concentrate. From time to time, she caught herself gazing in the air, or biting her lips while furrowing her brows in worry. Though she was sure her Lady could do anything, she didn't trust that grumpy, cold-hearted devil of an Earl - Prince or not.

Sometimes, she questioned herself why the kind Lady Katherine was so smitten with a devil like him. For Hazel, the dreadful red eyes and scary aura of the Earl of Hymirhall outweighed all possible good factors. He was a devil, and a devil could never be good. That was it.

Despite this, even she couldn't deny that the devil was less gruff when the Lady was around. However, in her opinion, that was not enough to make him likable. She would have preferred a nicer husband for her Lady. Since her Lady was a goddess, she deserved the best there was.

That was the moment, Hazel noticed that she herself could never be the best, and her shoulders fell. Really, what right did she have to stand up against a goddess and tell her which man was the best for her? Surely, Lady Katherine knew better what was right for her than Hazel herself.

With a sigh, Hazel wanted to continue working, when she heard noises from outside the room. Someone was yelling orders in an unfamiliar language. Tensed by the unfriendliness of the voice, Hazel laid down her pen, and went to the door to peek out.

Since she returned to Lady Katherine's old chambers in the guest room for the writing exercise, she wasn't surprised that there were people of different countries here who spoke a different language. However, the tone of voice was a bit unnerving to her. It sounded dangerous.

When peeking through a slit between the door and the frame, she saw many people in colorful clothes that carried weapons on their waist. They marched up and down, inspecting everything and going into the rooms of the guests without even knocking. From somewhere down the hallway, she heard a woman scream, and was reminded of Lady Brandon, the only other guest in the house beside the Lady and the devil. Hazel's heart pounded, and a whimper nearly escaped her throat when she saw the palace guards usually guarding the guest house tied up and unconsciousness in a corner.

Hurriedly, she closed the door again and leaned against it with her back. What should she do? These people had broken into the palace, even knocked out the guards. Soon they would come in here, and when they saw her heaven knew what they would do! Trembling like a frightened mouse, Hazel's mind was stuck on the image of the tied-up guards. She couldn't think of anything else. If those people found her, she would end up like the guards, or maybe even worse. She didn't want to know what these bandits would do with her.

Suddenly, the steps on the other side of the door got louder and louder. The bandits were nearing. Hastily, she ran in the direction of the bedroom. Maybe she could hide there till it was all over. However, her knees wobbled so much she stumbled over her own feet.

Before she fell, there was suddenly an arm to support her. As she was just about to scream in alarm, a hand covered her mouth.

"Excuse my encroachment", a voice mumbled in her ear. It was a voice she was very familiar with, though she hadn't heard it in a while. Automatically, her trembling eased a bit.

While guiding her to walk, the person added: "We need to leave this instant, if you want to get out of here alive. You can thank my master for this later."