Richard Parker - Elsewhere

“Tomorrow,” she said and then she kissed him again, silently dismissing all the reasons why she should not do so.

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Prince Phillip Toranado pushed back from the front lines and headed to the rear, away from the fighting. Arrows fell sporadically around him, but he paid them no mind. He could do nothing about them in any case. If he was hit, he was hit. There was no possible way to avoid them in such close quarters. He was just happy that the Rhondono had so few archers.

“This way M’lord,” the messenger said, leading Phillip back through the lines of grimy, sweaty soldiers, until finally they were in a safe zone. They were now far enough back that the enemy archers could not threaten them but even so they were still surrounded by soldiers. The Scar Gap was only around a hundred yards across in this area with a pair of steep rocky cliffs on either side, hemming the fighting in. To make matters tighter, tall pines grew close to the rock face and just the center channel was clear of obstacles. The narrow confines allowed for only a limited engagement, less than two hundred men could face off at any one time. It was a place where a small group of determined fighters could hold off a much larger force, Captain Jima and his small band of soldiers had illustrated the fact quite nicely not six months ago when he held up the entire Deutzani army for nearly a month. But the narrows of the Gap also made for intense, high energy fighting as fresh troops were constantly rotated forward to relieve the tired, the wounded or the dead. Prince Phillip, thanks to the heavy training he received with Gwaynn and the Massi, had occupied his position at the front for well over an hour, hacking and stabbing at the enemy. When the messenger arrived he was nearing the end of his stamina, so he did not argue too much at the idea of moving back for a rest. Plus a sword tip grazed him in his right side. It was a minor wound, but it needed to be tended, plus a few ribs were beginning to bark at him from hard blows his chain mail managed to deflect.

“It’s a relatively small force of Rhondono soldiers,” Captain Trammel said as Phillip stretched his right arm up over his head and gingerly felt his ribs with his left hand. The two men walked side by side through the outskirts of the camp and into the large command tent. Doctor Ryebald moved forward and began pulling off the Prince’s armor. Phillip allowed her to do so without complaint, feeling that he might need a few stitches before heading back to the fighting.

“How…” Phillip began.

“Laynee,” Trammel answered with a nod at the girl who sat quietly in one corner watching closely as the doctor stripped the top layer of clothes off the Prince. She colored slightly as Phillip smiled at her.

“What of the Knights?” he asked her, no longer uncomfortable with the fact that so much depended on such a young girl…a pretty one at that.

‘She is going to be a rare beauty when she blooms,’ he thought as his gaze swept over the small Traveler and he noticed for the first time that her young breasts were now quite prominent, though when they first appeared he could not say. She noticed his look and her face colored a bit more, but she did not try to hide or cover herself. She wanted him to look…desperately wanted him to look.

“Zebo says they’re still nearly a hundred miles from Cape,” she answered and allowed her own gaze to travel over his body. She winced slightly at the bloody gash in his right side, and quickly looked away as Ryebald began sewing.

Phillip caught the young girl’s expression and chuckled then winced as the thick needle pierced his skin.

“It’s not a large force,” Tabernas said as he pulled the tent flap aside and strode in, his hair slick with sweat and matted against his head and neck. He stopped short as he caught sight of the doctor with his Prince.

Phillip shrugged. “It’s nothing,” he said then added. “We’ll leave come dark, move back to Manse.”

No one said anything, but they all felt the same regret. They could force their way through the Scar Gap eventually, a small force could not hold them up forever, but each knew it could hold them up long enough for the Knights to cross the open plains of Massi and trap them in the narrow confines. And if that happened they would be fighting on two fronts and in all likelihood be destroyed.

“The Rhondono have been giving ground all day, tempting us to move farther into the Gap,” Tabernas said flopping down in a chair. He was tired. He’d done his share of killing. He hoped the Rhondono force facing them was indeed expendable, because they were taking a beating against the Toranado heavy infantry.

Phillip nodded. “They’re underestimating us if they think we would fall for such an obvious trap.”

“Yes, or they want us to think they are underestimating us,” the Weapons Master quipped.

Phillip thought about that for a long moment, considering this new angle, then barked out a laugh.

“If I believed that, I would be overestimating them. No one that’s subtle,” he said and then glanced again at the young Traveler. She sat there gazing at him with her long hair and large eyes.

“How far can you project?”

Laynee shrugged. “I practice every other day. It makes me tired,” she answered then jumped down off the table she was sitting on and shook her hair free so that it rippled down her back like a long blonde river of silk. Tabernas smiled at the young girl’s obvious advances toward the Prince.

‘They learn so young,’ he thought, ‘or perhaps it’s instinctual.’

“I can’t make Manse yet,” she continued with a frown, “or Cape, which is farther, but I can get to Colchester,” she finally added with just a hint of pride.

The Prince smiled at her. “That’s very good,” he complimented. “Tomorrow, when we’re finally out of the Gap, I’ll want you hunting the Knights just in case. I don’t want to get caught in the open. I need you to contact Captain Tanner, tonight if you are up to it?”

Laynee nodded then shivered. She approached the Prince and looked more closely at the wound in his side. The doctor was finished stitching and was beginning to clean the area. Laynee reached out and took the wet rag from her then began to clean the Prince’s wound with soft gentle strokes.

“Captain Tanner and Zebo will be out of Manse,” she said quietly. “They should be easy to reach,” she added confidently then slowly looked up at the Prince who was looking down at her with those dark, dreamy eyes of his.

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de Baard woke confused and thirsty, gazing up at the canvas ceiling of the tent. At first she did not know why she was here, in bed, when it was clearly daylight, but then she made a move to rise. Pain exploded through her entire body and she dropped back on the cot, dizzy and panting. When the stars finally faded from her vision and her breathing slowed to normal she shifted her head slightly, again pain reared up at her like a guard dog on an intruder and she was still. But she managed to move her head just enough to see that she was not alone. She was in the main medical tent and in the bunk next to her was a young man who was smiling at her.

“Doc, she’s awake,” the young man said happily. “We weren’t sure you’d make it,” he added, then pointed down at his foot. de Baard only shifted her eyes to follow his movement.

“Busted my leg,” he informed her as Van Valencia came into her field of view.

“Hello Cyndar,” the young Deutzani said looking down at her. “Doc Linkler will be around shortly. Are you thirsty?”

de Baard shook her head ever so slightly and pain again bloomed in the garden of her mind, like a weed. Her eyes watered as Van turned away. He returned quickly with a bowl and a clean rag.