Reincarnated - A Solitary Love

Chapter 17 - The Doves

[Isdenna Caranor, second Lord of the Caranor family. Periphery of the city.]

The knights appeared from the walls a discreet moment later. Both of them on horseback.

I pointed at the bridge as soon as I saw them turning towards us, hopeful that they would understand.
They did, sprinting towards it and slowly made their way through the mass of people still spectating our little 'show'. 

"Where do you intend to take her, my lord?" Chalice spoke, holding the girl to her other side.
It could look almost like a motherly pose, with a hand resting on the child's shoulder and walking almost on top of each other's feet…but I knew better - and I think also the girl was aware of her situation -. The demon who pledged herself to my side has never been one for unduly affections.

"For now, I'm thinking of one of the active barracks. The place has everything she needs right now and I doubt anybody would be opposed. Alternatively, I can rent an inn for the night."

"I would tend to the first option. Inns are unwatched and…unguarded." 

The child looked at me in doubt, but I had no answers for her. I could easily guess a couple of meanings of her statement, but none were anything that should be said to a nervous child.

Returned on the road, we both grabbed the reins of our mounts - delivered by the knights who in the meantime had also re-made a path through the crowded bridge - and, despite her unfamiliarity with horses, Chalice 'kept' the child with her.  
With 'soldier's grace' the demon raised her onto the horse and, immediately after, she was once again in that courteous prison. 

I waited for Chalice to get comfortable -long skirts are quite the hindrance when any kind of movement is involved- before taking a leisurely pace towards our homes.
The child, demonstrating patience uncommon for her age, stood perfectly still for the whole time, resting between the demon's arms and staring slightly downwards, like an oversized doll.

A couple of the crowd's onlookers took the courage of the whole mass and asked what was going on. 
Without breaking the pace I gave the quickest and truest answer I could. 

"A small but flashy misunderstanding." I waved at them with tranquillity.
A placid tranquillity which kept us company for most of the travel. 

I joined in the exchange between the knights, recalling old acquantances, and happily remembered the months I spent between riverbeds of magma and lava, shielded by walls of the most artistic city I could imagine.
Still engrossed in the narration, my eyes spotted six dots at the end of the road, and I instantly knew what they were.
My words stopped for moment and a moment only: time needed to decide between an illusion of ignorance,and thus a bit more relaxing seconds, or acknowledgement…and the irritation which would come with it.

I chose the first…but my companions did not agree. I tried to gain their attention a couple of times…but it didn't last.

A couple of minutes afterwards, the child started to sense the growing seriousness of the group, firmly glaring at the squad of knights which, with less and less distance between us, made their presence gradually more nitid.

The two knights escorting us grew stiffer by the second while my hand ordered Chalice to put me in between her and the incoming nuisance. 
Her horse came from my right side to the left, close enough for me to be able to pat its neck gently.

_-'_-'_-'_-'_-'_-'

In brazen display, two sharp smallswords and a small disk not bigger than a food plate hanged firmy on their hips. The six men, wrapped in an armor of metal plates and hidden layers of chainmail, kept much of their mobility even under all that weight. A long mantle, displaying their holy Symbol - the Two Unnamed Saints holding a dove with a crown of mayflower's branches pending from its beak - stood partially firm on their back, held down by the exquisite lance: