Hilda - The Challenge (46 page)

Hilda laughed, as did William. They felt good
being out of the cart and in the air, wind in their faces and hair.
"We'll be back again, don't worry," Hilda yelled down at Captain
Lambert. "Just proceed, we'll catch up with you!"

Captain Lambert and Peter pulled the reins,
stopping their horses. The entire caravan behind them came to a
halt also as everyone peered at the two shapes on horseback, that
flew higher and higher.

"What do we do, Captain?", a few men
asked.

"You heard her," their leader sighed, "we'll
proceed. And hope and pray that they won't get shot down. And
Peter, next time I offer to escort a witch or wizard or so, kick me
where it really hurts, okay?"

"My pleasure, sir," grinned Peter. He looked
back and waved his hand. "Come on, gang, onwards. They'll come
back."

With rattling noises, the small group started
moving again.

In the air, Hilda and William flew side by
side. Their horses were probably amazed by the difference in level,
but they did not comment. They seemed to enjoy their sudden freedom
and ran like mad trying to go even faster. To no avail.

"Ooooh, this is good," Hilda cried out, "I
was going insane there. Maybe we should go ahead a bit more and- oh
crap."

The ground crews that kept watch for
unannounced flying visitors were awake and they had seen the two
riders in the sky. As a result, a small tree in the shape of an
arrow was fired at them. As they were high up and still far away,
it missed by several hundred feet, but still the warning was
clear.

"Maybe we should turn back and see- crappedy
crap."

There were three more arrows coming their
way, and this time the distance to them was worrisome.

"We'll go down and ride back to the
carriage," William said. Hilda nodded, and they both dropped their
horses to the cobblestone road.

"Such a shame," Hilda pouted, "we were having
such fun. And we weren't even bothering anyone."

William laughed, leaned over and kissed Hilda
on the cheek. "When you're right, you're right."

Her eyes flashed blue. "Am I ever not
right?"

"Yeah, right," said William.

Before Hilda could question him on that, the
soldiers had caught up with them.

"Honourable witch and wizard," said the
captain, visibly agitated, "would you please not do that
again?"

"You, Captain, are no fun. A spoilsport."
Hilda hopped off the horse and handed it back to the original rider
who had emerged from their carriage.

William let the other rider take over the
horse he had been flying and grinned at Captain Lambert. "Can't
help it," he said with a wink. Then he grabbed Hilda, threw her
over his shoulder and with her screaming at him he walked to the
carriage. The soldiers did not dare to laugh, afraid of any
consequences.

"Was I convincing?", Hilda asked as they were
in motion again. She grinned. "That was a bit of a surprise for me,
you carrying me off, so some of the screaming was real."

"You did well, little witch." William hugged
her. They had conjured some wine and toasted to each other. The
trip out on horseback had been a good one. It would be their last
one, they knew, so they were going to keep the memory.

They arrived at the border to king Herald's
land, crossed it without problems and proceeded inland a while,
until they reached a road station just past the town of Frad where
they had been before, the town with the strange open wall that
everyone had to walk through.

The resting place was off the main road a
bit, hidden in a forgotten patch of woods. The travelling group was
happy about that, as the view of nothing but rock was very
mind-numbing. After dinner, where they all sat together again, the
guards were again talking about the deal with the bedroom door.
Whether or not they would be allowed to sit on a chair in front of
it, as all night standing got them sore legs. Captain Lambert
agreed on the chair, so that was easily done.

William and Hilda had been plotting though,
and retreated to their room quite early. They waited until things
in the corridor had calmed down and their guard would be halfway
asleep, or at least on his nodding way over there.

"I think he's gone," said Hilda who was
listening at the door, a smile on her face.

William nodded and, using his wand, turned
their two chairs in two brooms. "Looks good like this?"

"Very nice, will do for an evening," Hilda
said as she picked up one of the brooms and balanced it on her
hand. William took the other as Hilda opened the window. They were
on the upper floor. Not high, but high enough to break a neck when
falling down.

They mounted their brooms and lifted off,
first in the room to get a feel for their new rides, then they shot
out of the window, making the thin curtains flap for a while.

At least there were no inhibitions, or trees
shot at them here. They could fly and be free for a while, alone
without the ever-present soldiers. As darkness had unfolded itself
over the land, they enjoyed their solitude even more. The light of
the half moon lit enough of the area for them to see where they
were. They raced over the stone plains, sprayed water around as
they flew mere inches over the surface of a lake.

After a good deal of unleashing their energy
in flight, they lay together, on an elevated rocky platform
overlooking a sea of boulders that had probably come down from a
nearby slope long ago.

"I feel alive again, William," said Hilda,
her hand over his.

"So do I. This is what we have to do."

"It is what we're born for," Hilda agreed. It
made William smile, hearing how naturally she included him in the
experience, the idea. "Too bad we have to go back to the resting
place, before they miss us."

William sat up and looked at her. "We can
stay here for the night. Wake up early and fly back. No one is
going to get the idea in their head to wake up a witch in the
middle of the night, right?"

"Unless there is an emergency," Hilda said,
nodded.

"And usually you create the emergency, so
they should be all fine," William grinned.

"You flatterer," grinned Hilda, pulling his
sleeve to make him lie down again. From that position it was much
easier to snuggle up to him and kiss him. "I think you have just
convinced me that your idea is a good one."

Using magic, they pulled a comfortable and
warm cover over themselves and that way they fell asleep.

The next morning, as the sun was rising, they
woke up. Stiff, from lying on the hard rock, but happy that they
had escaped from their watchers. They got up and flew back to the
place where their bed was waiting for them, unused.

Their return did not go as unnoticed as they
had hoped: several of their guards were already up and about,
checking on the horses, so there was a bit of disturbance as they
shot into their bedroom.

After the two had had quick baths and cleaned
their clothes, they went to eat and then the journey was on again.
Today, they knew, they'd reach Heraldion.

As the town that was their destination drew
near, the magical couple fell more and more silent. Hilda stared in
the small crystal ball that William had brought with him, he was
paging through his special book. Suddenly there were some voices
coming in from the outside and the carriage stopped moving.

"Now what," William mumbled. Hilda was
already out of the carriage by then, and he followed her.

Captain Lambert was talking to a quartet of
riders that had come from Heraldion. "No," he said, "you can not
take them away from us. We have an obligation towards our king to
see to their safe arrival and return. I understand your orders but
they do not supersede mine."

One of the four, clearly the leader as his
trousers were covered in golden chevrons, stared past the good
captain. His eyes seemed glued to Hilda.

"Careful with that one," she whispered to
William, "he's magical."

William nodded. He had already sensed the
magic that was radiating from the man on the horse.

"You two will come with us," the rider
barked, drawing his sword. He pointed it at Hilda. "I am
serious."

"Wrong," said Hilda. "You four are coming
with us, and if you don't like that, go back to Lamador and cry on
his shoulder. We were summoned by King Herald, not by one of his
doormats." She prepared for an attack from the man who held the
sword. She was certain that he used that as a wand.

Venom all but dripped from the rider's eyes.
"You are going to regret your words, witch." The man's voice was
cold. Ice cold. "We are going to take this whole troupe into the
city of cities." He tucked the sword away again and barked commands
to the three that were with him. "And you two, get back inside the
cart!"

Hilda ignored the man completely and walked
up to Captain Lambert. "Captain. Thank you for being the man you
are," she said. Then, after a glance at the barking man, she turned
and slowly walked back to the carriage.

As soon as they were seated, the convoy went
ahead again. The barking leader tried to push Lambert into going
faster, but the captain was steadfast and maintained the speed they
had held for most of the journey.

An hour or so later, after Heraldion was well
within view, the carriages and horses clattered into town. The
streets seemed to empty themselves of people: the oncoming mass of
horse bodies did not give reason to believe that they would stop
for anyone. It was only as they approached the castle of King
Herald that their speed dropped to a mere trot.

Hilda and William were ordered to exit their
carriage before going inside the castle walls. It was clearly an
attempt to humiliate them, making them walk inside as people of low
importance. They had however discussed that option already, Hilda
bringing it up as she was well versed in things like those. As they
had talked about this, they had also called up Captain Lambert and
told him to inform the other guards that William was to be seen as
a non-magical person. That message was of course a strange one for
the guards but they would do as Hilda asked. After all, she was a
witch, and witches were known for being obsessively opposed to
anything normal.

The witch and her companion found an insane
amount of Herald's soldiers around them. Hilda insisted that
Captain Lambert and his men were to accompany them as well, or she
would not walk on. The magical, harsh leader of the Heraldic men
cursed her and tried to make her move on magically, but her power
combined with that of William kept her standing where she was.
Grudgingly he gave in and allowed their own guards to come
along.

Hilda grinned. This little trick had shaken
up the bullying magician, Gountar, quite a bit.

He had not expected her to counter him that
forcefully. His somewhat increased respect showed immediately in
the way he treated her. "Grimhilda, please enter the castle."

Hilda frowned as he only named her and did
not bother about William, but decided that this was probably a
beneficial thing and let it slip. They walked along, with their
legion around them.

William looked at the armed men everywhere.
Men with lances, swords, bows and arrows and men with nothing but
chain mail. These unarmed ones, he assumed, would be magicians or
wizards. Good to know that Herald had a truckload of those
around.

The magical couple was taken to a rather
secure wing of the castle. The security clearly showed through far
too many soldiers everywhere. Gountar and his horde took them to a
nice suite where they could freshen up and rest.

"The king will call for you towards the
evening. Dinner will be brought to your chambers. Do not attempt to
leave the room. Lights in this wing will be extinguished
magically." After that shorthand message he and many of the others
paced away. A servant was left in charge of housing Lambert and his
men.

Captain Lambert wished the witch and the
wizard a good evening. "I hope we will see each other again soon,
getting ready to go home."

"I second that, Captain," said Hilda. "We'll
do our best."

The captain saluted her and William, then the
group followed the servant.

There were a mere four guards remaining in
the corridor, and they were clearly waiting for Hilda and William
to go into their suite so they could lock up.

They went inside. The door closed. No sound
of a lock being moved. Hilda checked the door and nodded. "Magic."
William took the dice from his pocket and Hilda inflated their
luggage. Then they had a look around the quarters they were
assigned to.

They had their own large bedroom, with two
separate beds. Hilda looked at that construction and shook her
head. "That's never going to work... we can't stay afloat all night
to be together..." She took her wand and fixed the error. "That's
more like it."

William appreciated her wandiwork. The bed
was wide, looked very comfortable too. It was made of wood, painted
as white as the outside of the castle was and had fine carvings
along the side. The pillows and covers were red and looked as if
they were made of satin, although the fabric was different to the
touch.

Then they had a look at the bathroom, which
was quite large. Everything seemed marble or at least very much
like it, laid out in beige tones. Red thick towels lay waiting to
be used. That got the seal of approval too, as did the living room
they had at their disposal.

The living room offered three large windows
that looked out over the city, Heraldion. The windows were closed
and not meant to be opened. Thick carpets in brown and green lay
scattered over the floor, with a large stone table and six stone
chairs in the centre, three chairs on each side of the table. All
of them were dark grey with light grey streaks in the stone, and
everything was polished to a shine. Everywhere they found low stone
tables with a large candle on it.