Seventh Crown XVII

Do not read if you had not read the previous parts.

Seventh Crown XVII

~

The morning came together with the rain. The Queen's group needed to meet the leaders of the village and lead them towards the house. Cage could feel how afraid they are from the way they talked and from the way they gazed at him. All the way to the beast's den the Queen was trying to calm down the women who were coming along with the leaders to bury their children. She could not know how they are feeling because she never had a child on her own but it was still breaking her heart to see this scenery of sadness.

"This will not happen ever again. The monster is dead and you are safe from it now." Skye smiled brightly and the young women felt relieved. Most of the soldiers could not handle the view of the big amount of dead bodies with missing body parts. The women ran away crying and only Queen's group seriosuly entered and started to take the bodies of the small children.

Jon was the one who could not do his job right. He was not a man who was scared from the blood or the dead bodies but he was terrified from the fact that these bodies are children's.

"Jon, if you want to rest, just tell me. You look pale." Skye patted Jon's shoulder and made him sit down. "Sorry.." He mumbled as an response and closed his eyes to make himself stop thinking about the scenery of horror. "Man, I know what is going with you. You are the only one from the whole group of guards of our Highness that has kids. It is pretty understandable. You just need to chill." Skye gave his sad friend one more cheerful smile and it made Jon smile back. They have known each other since kids and they never left each others' side even for one second.

"Skye, can you please help me a bit? I feel sick and I still have job to do. Cage will kill me if I stay here and be lazy all morning." He stood up and walked back inside the beast's den together with Skye.

Cage already had cleaned up half of the den and helped with the burials of the small children. The dead ones' parents prayed for them to go to heaven and be happy there as they were putting a beautiful flower on the grave of each child from their village.

Everyone thanked the guards of the Queen for the last time with a bow and tears over their eyes. The Queen only smiled and wished them the happiest future. It was already time to go and continue their journey towards the North. The clock was ticking and they had no more time to waste.

Skye helped Cody stand up and sit on his horse while the others were taking their stuff. They needed to leave the town before the night falls.It was already afternoon when they were ready to go. The small child which Cage saved cried, seeing him leave. That kind of warmed his heart. He left her with a soft kiss on the forehead and blessings that they will meet again. They gave their farewell to the leaders and rode away on their horses without turning back.

Everyone from the village who thought they need to watch them leave stayed there and waved their hands. Even the man familiar to Aaren, Will, was there with the shop owner.

Aaren thanked them for not hurting him then even if he was really suspicious. Well, not like they did not kidnapped him. At least they did not kill him then. He did not deserve this trust.

He shook Will's hand and traded several words with him for farewell.

"I feel like I will see you again, Aaren. Take care of yourself and next time, be sure to be more careful in a new town." Will gave him one advice and teased him a bit while laughing.

"That man..." The shop owner said, looking at the backs of the guards on their horses. He gazed at Cage's back and smirked. "That man was here and we did not know." He only said that and turned away, walking towards his small shop. Will was kind of confused but he thought that it is better to not ask what the owner meant by these words.

What is so special about that guard?

The rain had stopped and their route was all safe and sound. They needed to pass through a small forest before entering the other bigger town as it was marked on their map.

"Cage, we need to ride towards the forest, right? Through it?" Cody looked at the map and pointed at the mark over the forest on the map with his finger. Cage peeped in and saw the mark Cody was pointing at. "I think so. There is no other way to reach the other town. We will not be able to reach the other side of the forest today so we can just ride through the forest the next morning. Cody, you also need some rest so we will camp here."

Cody was going to say something against Cage's orders but decided not to start a fight for nothing. "Yes, let's rest for the night."

During the night Cody's condition got worse. When they woke the next morning, Cody was coated with sweat. Cage was getting steadily more worried.

"Cody," Cage began, "I think you need to turn back. Maybe spend the night at the village where we were before, and then ride to the castle." Here he paused, "Except, I dont want to send you back on your own." His brow furrowed as he considered what options they had.

Cody frowned, "N-no, Cage. I swear, I-im fine, sir!"

The Queen, hearing their conversation, walked over to insert her two-cents. "Cody!" She said, "You. Are. Sick." She spit the words at him like bullets. "You need to go back to the castle and submit yourself to the healers. If you dont, you're only going to get worse."

Cody sat up and stared at the ground, "But, I don't want to go back. 'Ive never been to the fort before, or anywhere except the castle. Please can I go with you, just a little furthur?"

Neither Cage or Rebecca really liked the idea of Cody continuing on with them. He really needed to go to the healers, they did not want him to die.

It was Cage who made the final decision, "Cody, you can come with us as far as the next town. If you are not better by then, we are sending you back. Do you understand?"

Cody nodded greatfully, "Thank you, sir."

They packed up their gear and then mounted their horses. They traveled until around noon, the sun was high in the sky and it was getting hot out. They stopped to eat when they came to a cool stream. Cage and Rebecca studied Cody closely, he was shaking harder and his eyes seemed to be having a hard time focusing. Rebecca walked down to the river with some rags, she soaked them and then took them to Cody. She laid one on his forehead, startling him.

"What's that for, Your Highness?" Cody asked.

She answered, "You're getting worse in this heat. The cool rags will help you cool down, and they will make you feel better."

Cody nodded and then lay back on the ground and ate his lunch of bread and dried meat. Twenty minutes later, they were on the road again, the day passed slowly, the heat made it seems as if they were riding through honey. But no one really cared about the slow pace; the day was beautiful. Big fuzzy bumble bees flew through the air, the trees rustled with the sutle breeze. When the evening came, and the sun went down to the edge of the sky, it was a relief. The coolness that came in the absence of the sun was just as relaxing as the heat had been. They made a stew from dried vegatables, herbs, and some squirrels that Skye had shot earlier in the day. After supper, they told jokes and stories until it was time to tuck in.

-to be continued-