Chapter 35

(Sorry this is late, but I finally felt like writing, yay! :D Hope you enjoy!)


Cayle began to take off the armor, grateful to be free of it. He rolled his neck to loosen it, those helmets were heavy. He glanced at Deanna, who was now free of the clothes she had disguised herself with, but had stripped a piece of cloth from one of them and tied her hair back off her face. She had her eyes closed and her face raised to the sky.
"When do I get my horse back?" She asked.
"When we get that ankle taken care of." He said.
"I can take care of my ankle, but I want my horse."
"Ankle first." He said, glancing over at the kings' camp, where he saw Cadman walking back.
"Send one of your flunkies to go get him." She said.
He looked at her with an eyebrow arched. "'flunkies'?" he repeated.
She shrugged as Cadman walked up and handed her the water and a bandage. "Thank you." She said as she took them and began to fix up her ankle.
"Wow, she has manners after all." Cadman said, which earned him a glare in return.
"Cadman," She said, as she poured the cold water over her ankle, flinching from the cold. "Could you go fetch my horse for me?"
"Why?" He asked. "You can't go anywhere."
"And why not?"
"Because we have to claim the reward." He said and Cayle could have punched him.
Deanna looked up from her task of wrapping her ankle. "What?"
"You heard me."
"You, for lack of a better term, rescued me for the reward?" She said.
"Why else would we do it?" He said.
"Cadman, shut up." Cayle said, but he knew the damage had been done. Deanna looked back and forth between them and then slowly got to her feet, flinching when she accidently put weight on her ankle.
She glared at them both before she looked around until she saw the stables and began walking towards it, picking up her back and boots as she passed where Cadman had dumped them.
"Hey, where do you think your going?" Cadman called after her.
"Getting my horse." She said.
Cayle punched Cadman in the arm.
"What?" He demanded, rubbing his arm. He had removed his own armor while in the camp.
"You moron! Why did you do that?" He said.
"What? I'm supposed to not claim the reward simply because you've got a thing for her? She's a criminal, Cayle, whether you like it or not, and justice has to be given, that's how it works."
"But you didn't have to bring it up like that." Cayle replied.
"What would have preferred? Lying to her? Cayle, I didn't think you had it in you." Cadman said as he started off after Deanna.
Cayle fumed for a moment before following.
                                                                            * * *
Deanna reached the stable and heard a familiar whinny and smiled. He was here.
Relief spread through her as she reached the stable and saw him there, waiting for her. She dropped her things and hugged him.
She stepped back to make sure he was ok and he head-butted her as if to say "You know I can take care of myself, don't worry".
She smiled and patted his neck.
"You know I'll always worry about you." She said.
"Deanna!" She heard Cayle shout and she rolled her eyes and turn to face him as he came running up, right behind Cadman.
"Now what do you want?" She demanded, picking up a riding blanket and putting it on Krennan's back.
He opened his mouth to say something when they heard someone shouting. They all looked towards the camp to see a figure running towards them.
"Finn?" Cadman said.
Deanna set about getting Krennan ready to leave while they waited for Finn to catch up. When he did he almost passed out.
"Whoa." Cayle said as he steadied the swaying boy. "You alright?"
"Yeah," He gasped. "I'm fine; came to tell you that the soldiers are back, and the King has ordered everyone to pack up. They're leaving in an hour."
"The ruse worked?" Cadman said, and Finn nodded.
"The King has requested that we accompany him, for our protection." Finn said.
Deanna secured her pack to Krennan's saddle and leaned up against the stable to pull her boots back on. She unlocked and opened the stable door and led Krennan out before mounting.
"Well, have fun with that." She said. "Better luck next time, boys."
She kicked Krennan into a run and left the three boys in the dust.