Terror swept through her as they ran from the direbeast. If the beast caught them, she knew that the brave horse was going to be lunch! Amidst the wild images her imagination was tossing up, Aydra felt the horse stumble. With a sob of despair, she sat up and despite her every instinct to keep fleeing, pulled gently back on the reins to slow him down. He tossed his head as if exasperated with her, but obligingly slowed. At least part of his willingness to slow down was to do with the thick foam coating the edges of the bit, she thought somewhere in the back of her mind.
A huge part of herself was hoping that no matter what happened, the horse would live. He hadn't chosen to be out here and if it weren't for her, he would be safely back at his cozy stable! Only once they had slowed to a walk did she dare to glance behind her.
There was nothing there.
Disbelief surged up and she twisted halfway around to look again. Trees, rock and the usual things one might expect to see in the woods. But no men, living or dead and, most importantly, no direbeast.
Nothing but the woods and the slow drizzle of rain.
Facing front again, Aydra absently smoothed her hand reassuringly along the curve of the horse's neck as she puzzled it over. Had she imagined it all? Sleep deprivation could cause people to hallucinate after all. Was that what had happened to her? The whole scene a nightmare dreamt up by fevered imagination?
She shivered, clutching her cloak tighter around herself. No, that direbeast had been real. Even if she'd hallucinated the men - and she was pretty certain they had been real - that direbeast was very real. Real roaring, real claws and very real teeth. All of that giant predator was real. Not an image brought to life due to lack of sleep and freezing rain! And despite her certainty in its realness, it was not there behind her, ready to attack and rip her to bite sized pieces.
It was both relieving and more frightening at the same time. Relief because she and her horse were safe; frightening because if the damnable beast wasn't behind her, where was it?
That question kept her mind from worrying over the fact that her absence was definitely discovered by now. No doubt an exhaustive search was being made. It was this knowledge, combined with the desire to escape her husband's intentions to murder her and hide her body in the garden all mixed with a serious desire to not come face to face with the deadly predator that made for a great incentive to not stop!
During the following days as Aydra and the horse travelled straight into what was commonly called 'the wilds' (but in reality, was merely the unsettled neutral border between two countries), she was still puzzling over the possibility that she had imagined the entire event with the direbeast. When she started to see signs that the wilds might not be as deserted as she thought, she decided to put it out of her thoughts and focus on surviving. The trees were thinning a bit and through them, she could see glimpses of what looked like rocky foothills between the widening gaps. At least, she thought she could see them. It could have been another hallucination!
She'd been stopping at points here and there to take care of urgent nature calls and took those opportunities to try walking. It was twofold – stretching her legs as well as trying to give the horse a break, sparing him just a bit of work. However, that was easier said than done because for each step she took one way, the horse was just as determined to take two steps back in the other direction. Aydra strongly suspected he was wanting his warm stable and that was the direction he was trying to turn into.
He'd finally, reluctantly, agreed that she was in charge. They were going to continue in the direction she wanted but only when she gave up on walking to clamber back into the saddle. Although, if the baleful glare he'd sent her during their stops was any indication of his true feelings, she would have to pay careful attention that he didn't take advantage during a break to pull free and leave her alone in her insanity!
Aydra made very certain that she kept a firm hold on the reins when she got down and if she had to let go, that she tied him securely to something he couldn't pull free of. The last thing she wanted was to lose all her supplies and be left on foot in the wilderness – especially while trying to out distance that wretched direbeast. Or even worse to have Fyn's searchers lead straight to her by tracking the horse's back trail!
A weary snort came from the horse, his head turning to look behind them yet again. Almost as if he were asking someone, "Are we really still doing this?" It frustrated her, because she looked also. Every time that he had turned his head to look back the way they came she hadn't been able to resist looking as well, and yet, like all the times before, there was nothing there.
"Oh no, don't you start that up again, Thunder! There is NOTHING there! You aren't going to trick me with that old game any longer. Just pay attention to the front of us and never us mind whatever is not behind!" Aydra sniped crossly at the horse. He snorted again, shook his head as if he were scolding her back then with another huffing sound, kept moving forward.
"Look there, is that a village?" Aydra asked the horse, leaning forward and pressing her face into his neck in a half apology for her cross words of a moment ago. The snorting, shaking head and stamp of hooves was the only reply and she laughed a bit at herself. Talking to a horse! As if he were going to answer her! She thought to herself with a choked half giggle.
It turned out to not be a village however, but what looked like one of those secluded sanctuaries that her tutor had gone on about endlessly. The sort where people went to when they wanted to take vows of poverty and silence she thought. There were a few outer buildings that looked like little cottages clustered off to the side and in between them were some fenced off gardens. Between the sanctuary and cottages was a fenced in paddock with an open stable.
Based on the quiet and desolate air of the place, the complete lack of any people sounds whatsoever and the overgrowth of the gardens, Aydra had the impression that the place was deserted. She mentally crossed her fingers and hoped so anyway. This would make a perfect place to stop for a rest for a few days. That way, she could decide if this was far enough to stop and stay, or if she needed to keep moving.
The gate into a paddock was tied shut with a crumbling rope that started falling to pieces when she gave it a gentle tug. The gate swung open easily enough after the rope was gone though and Aydra grimaced, brushing the gritty remnants off her hand.
"Well Thunder, looks like this will have to do for you for a resting place for a bit while I have a poke around. Do you think there's any water in that trough?" Aydra mused, pulling the gate shut behind them. She eyed the gate for a minute with a doubtful mindset as to if it was safe to leave it for a bit or if she should tie it closed. Eyeing Thunder and keeping in mind his determined on turning around every chance he got, she decided that tying the gate closed was the smarter option.
Then with a deep sigh, she turned to rummage in her pack of dwindling supplies to see if there was something she could use. A pair of thick woollen stockings was at the bottom of the pack and she blinked at that find, confused. She didn't recall having packed them, but she must have!
As tempting as it was to use them to tie the gate, the idea that she would need their warmth come winter made her hesitate. Just as she was willing to sacrifice future warmth for current convenience, she spied a thick length of board lying next to the fence.
Satisfied that the board wedged in between the gate and the gate post would keep the gate closed, Aydra dusted her hands and turned to investigate the stable and water trough. Thunder, as she'd taken to calling him based on not knowing what he was actually named, had beaten her to it. He was snuffling around the hay net, lipping at a few pieces before dropping them and going for another. Shaking her head at his fussy eating act, she went to the trough, giving the pump a tentative poke. Glancing at Thunder, Aydra felt determination surge up. He needed water and there was no other way she could see to get it for him.
It took both hands to get the pump moving and for the first few moments she doubted any success. Then, a rattling sound followed by a wheezing whoosh sound was the only warning she got before a thick brown sludge of liquid burst from the end of the pump.
"OH YUCK!" She gasped, jumping back and shaking her hands as if the sludge had gotten on them through the pump handle. Thankful there was no one around to see her completely idiotic and girly reaction to the mess, Aydra shook her skirt out and with a shudder, reached for the pump again. She shook her head at herself, musing that as a child she hadn't even blinked at being messy and yet here she was now, squealing over even the thought of it touching her!
How the mighty have fallen! Aydra thought, her lips twisting in wry amusement as she recalled a childhood playing in the mud. Well, before Ardra appeared and put a stop to all of that anyway!
Perseverance was the key she decided when a few minutes later clean, clear water came pouring out. The water must have passed the sniff test for horses because Thunder nudged her out of his way as he lowered his head to drink deeply. Her satisfied smile as she patted his shoulder gave way to a yelp of dismay as he tossed a mouthful of water at her in response before resuming his drink.
"You brute! See if I care for your comfort first again if that's the thanks I get!" Aydra snapped, jumping back and swiping it all off indignantly. There was no response from Thunder of course and with a roll of her eyes at how silly she was for actually expecting one, Aydra turned to the structure.
The more she looked at it, the less it looked like anything resembling a stable and the more it looked like a shabby lean-to. Three walls with a few slats of wood missing here and there, a roof that despite its age looked to be intact and a dirt floor. There was a hay net hanging there with a small remnant of hay and an old bucket that she suspected at one time might have carried grains. No door and no cloth to provide even the tiniest bit of a barrier.
"They actually expect this to be a horse home?" Aydra tossed over her shoulder to the indifferent Thunder, perplexed. How could a house that looked like this not care for their horses better?
"Naw, missy. Thas jus' somewhere a visitin' horse get a bit o' a feed an' a nap whilst here."
Aydra froze. Despite all the wild stories she'd heard from her father's servants about the impossible, magical things to be found out in the wilds of the northern wilderness, she hadn't actually believed any of them. Yet here it was, proof that at least a few of those stories were real! To think she'd been keeping company with a talking horse! She spun back towards Thunder, eyes wide and heart hammering painfully in her chest.
"If you can talk, why did it take you so long to say something?!" She blurted out breathlessly. Immediately, she felt humiliated and silly because standing next to Thunder and remaining just outside the fence, was a frail looking elderly man.
.
"If I'd said somethin' afore now, ye'd nawt heard me, I reckon." Was his mild rebuke and Aydra flushed brighter red with further embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry! I just thought... I mean it was ... well. What a silly thing I am! I thought Thunder was talking to me is all!" She blurted, casting one embarrassed glance all around to see if anyone else had snuck up when she wasn't looking and pressing her hands together to stop herself from flapping them about making a further spectacle of herself.
"Who be Thunder... ah... the horse? Ye be thinkin' tha' yer horse were talkin' to ya?" The twinkle in the man's eyes wasn't reflected in his voice at all, much to her appreciation. The man nodded and rubbed his hand lightly along his sparse white hair and leant against the fence railing.
"Nothin'd be a shocker in these parts, an' I s'pose a talkin' horse'd be no more o' a marvel than a tame direbeast, ayeh?" The man said in a contemplative tone and Aydra bit her lip, her breath hitching in alarm.
"T-tame d-direbeas-t?" She hardly managed to say, shaking a bit and focusing all her attention on the man. He nodded his head, inclining it a bit in the direction of the trees from where Aydra and Thunder had come from.
"Ayeh... thas as tame as I seen yet." He confirmed and with a sinking heart, she turned to see a direbeast standing there, head lowered as he fixed his gaze on her. It was the same one from before.
"Oh no..." Aydra breathed, her hands raising to press on her mouth tightly to keep in the cry of alarm. Shuddering, Aydra reluctantly admitted that Thunder had been right. There had been something following them this whole time!
"Ayeh... thas a direbeast a'right. Ye ne'er seen one afore?" The man shuffled along the fence towards the side of the wooden lean-to, pausing to push Thunder's inquisitive head out of his way as he lifted the lid of a box there and leaned down into it.
"I have, actually. This exact beast in fact, but I think he is most decidedly NOT tame at all!" Aydra got out in a loud whisper, never looking away from the glittering gaze locked on hers. She knew it was impossible for the beast to have heard her whisper, but the way his head tilted to one side and his tail lashed behind him, it certainly seemed as if he had heard.
"Oh well then. Iffen ya seen thisun afore, an' yer still in one piece an' breathin, tha' mus' mean he is tame. That or he's taken a likin' ta ya'. Teh wild'uns don' leave any livin' thin' behind 'em." The placidness of his reply had Aydra's head turning to stare at him in shock for a few heartbeats before she snapped her gaze back to the tree line. However, in that one brief moment that she'd taken her eyes off the direbeast, the wretched creature had vanished again.
"WHAT?!" She exclaimed, turning in a circle to double check the surrounding open spaces. The beast was indeed gone.
"Again?!" It was a cry of pure frustration from the depths of her being at this new development.
"Makin' a habit o' sightin' ye afore leavin' agin, ayeh?" This time there was no doubting the amusement in the man's tone and Aydra shot him a baleful glare of her own. "Tha's a bi' o' a laugh, tha'tis."
"I fail to see anything worth laughing about in this matter!" She huffed, annoyed. Then, her brain caught up to what she was seeing.
"WHAT are you doing?" She asked in baffled confusion. The man flicked her a glance of mild reproach as he finished tossing the flakes of hay into the hay net from the side.
"Feedin' yer horse. Tis indeed a bit o' a laugh, ayeh. Tha' beastie be playin' wit' ya, I reckon. He's a mite bit cheeky, I spose." He said blandly and then dusted his hands off while turning away.
"Come an' meet m'missus, missy. Time ta feed yerself now. Don' worry... no beasties o' any sort dares invade Maisie's kitchen so ye be safe enuff gettin' a bite ta eat."
It was easier to just go along with it all rather than to make try and make sense of things, Aydra reflected as she silently pulled the packs and saddle off Thunder. He stood patiently as she did all that and didn't seem to mind her grooming him using the old worn brush hidden in what she'd assumed was the grain bucket but had turned out to be grooming gear instead.
Thunder stood at the hay, munching slowly with his eyes half closed as she tended to him, muttering softly to him as she worked the mud from him as thoroughly as she could. Under the dull mud matting his coat, he was actually a lovely deep brown shade, with his main and tail nearly black. It was no hardship to admire him as she groomed him carefully.
"Imagine that! A direbeast playing with us! Like a cat playing with a mouse is what it is! As if anything in that is funny?! What will that strange man think up next, right, Thunder? Outrageous! Although, given the size of the direbeast compared to me, it is rather amusing to think of him playing hide and seek, don't you think?" She paused, tipping her head to one side and glancing at the horse who, predictably, did not answer.
"Ah well, as long as he leaves you alone when he decides to stop playing cat and mouse, I suppose it's all well and good. You're the best horse ever, Thunder and you don't deserve to be a direbeast's supper." Here she paused to step back and look closely at Thunder, her brow furrowing a bit as a shudder swept through her.
"Would you just look at all this mud! Shameful, really! I'm sorry I haven't brushed you properly all this time ... but that will change, I promise ..." Aydra switched back and forth between a mild rant, a pouting grumble followed by an apologetic wheedling as she worked. All of it was very magnanimously ignored by the long-suffering horse.
"I wonder if I should scrub the mud off this saddle now, or wait until we decide are we staying or going? I don't suppose it really makes a difference, but I ... what's this? Trixie? Why does your saddle say Trixie? Oh dear ... is this not your saddle after all?" Aydra paused in her rambling to look at Thunder, confused. For his part, his ears went flat and his lip curled back over his teeth.
"Don't give me that look, Mister Horse! I'm not the one that put the wrong saddle outside your stall! And even if it isn't the wrong saddle, I most certainly will not be calling you Trixie! Imagine that, calling a horse such a ridiculous name!" It felt good to be able to talk out loud and say all the little thoughts that entered her mind after years of getting a slap every time she uttered a sound. Thunder's looks weren't nearly as scary as Ardra's and he hadn't told her to stop her nattering on, (though Aydra was convinced that if Thunder actually could talk that would be the very first thing he would say!) and he certainly wasn't boxing her ears either.
"Well, that's all I can do for you at this time, so I will leave you to it and go see what that gentleman and his Maisie will take in trade for supper for me. Mind your manners, Thunder; no running off into that forest. There's direbeasts in there, remember?" She hesitated, glancing at the forest before stepping over to Thunders head and gently rubbing her fingers on his cheek before pressing a kiss to it.
"I'm rather fond of you now and don't like to think of you being any beasts supper!" She said shyly.
After that, rather than risk loosening the gate, Aydra scrambled over the fence with a breathless admonishment to Thunder to not try and follow her bad example. Had she looked at the tree line when she did so, she would have seen the direbeast sitting there, head tilted and ears twitching as his heightened hearing helped to hear every word she said.
There was no sign of the elderly man when she stood on the outside of the fence, shaking her skirt straight and dusting the last remnants of mud off her hands. A perplexed furrow of her brows accompanied her careful look around as she tried to puzzle out where the little man had vanished to.
"Here now, missy! Wha's the hold up? Maisie be thinkin' I dreamt ye up." He stuck his head around the wall, a bit of a grumble in his voice but his sharp gaze went straight to Thunder and an approving glint shone as he took in the care she'd taken of the horse.
"Leave 'im there, missy. He's right enough for supper he is." Aydra shot the man a questioning look.
For a moment there, he hadn't sounded like a wild's dweller at all but more like one of the imperious sounding nobles that had graced Lord Fyn's hall. The slight lift of his eyebrow was followed by a hint of a wink as he waved his hand in her direction before pulling back around the wall.
"More energy than ..." and here, Aydra stopped. As freeing as she found it to be able to give voice to her thoughts, she couldn't find it in her to say anything actually rude about someone she felt deserving of respect and kindness. Swallowing what she'd been about to say out loud, she finished the comparison of the man to a jack rabbit in her mind as she stepped to the corner and around it.
There was no denying that the woman Aydra came face to face with was just as startled as Aydra herself was when she came to a stop inside the walled courtyard.
White hair was braided and wound up around the crown of her head, held in place with flowered pins. Her dress, as worn and faded as the man's, was just as equally tidy and clean. Her apron however was streaked with flour and other food scraps. Sparking green eyes met Aydra's astonished gaze and something in her expression prompted Aydra's lips to curve in a friendly, happy greeting.
The courtyard they stood in wasn't a courtyard so much as it was a small kitchen yard complete with a well and small garden of its own. The garden was well tended, with an overflowing basket full of what looked to be freshly picked vegetables waiting to be taken inside.
Aydra found herself yearning for her own place just like this as she felt the soothing aura of peace wrap around her like a gentle hug from a motherly presence. Unexpected tears welled up and she had to take a huge gasping breath to stave off the sobs of longing that swiftly followed.
"Oh bless me, dearie! Malcolm wasn't dreaming ye up after all, now was he?!" The woman exclaimed, raising one hand to lightly brush tangled hair back from Aydra's face.
"Ah, little sweets, been through it, have ye? Come here and let ol' Maisie have a good look at ye, and maybe a hug or two, yes?" Aydra couldn't recall a time in her entire life that she'd been hugged. Certainly not by a maternal figure and it was alien and familiar all at once. Overwhelmed by it, she sniffled, her head resting naturally on Maisie's shoulder as if she'd been raised to it.
"See Maisie, a real little missy, as I said!" Malcolm murmured, gently resting one aged hand on Aydra's shoulder. It was a feeling like none other, like that of coming home and Aydra couldn't grasp how she felt like this with complete strangers when even amongst her own family she had never felt this welcomed or cared for.
"I would imagine thatyou're a trifle hungry coming all that way from the settled lands? Come along,let's go sit and have a bite and some comfy. There, there ... it's going to beall right now, little lamb!" Maisie somehow managed to keep her arms wrappedaround Aydra as she ushered them all into the entry of what turned out to be asizeable kitchen.