Light Warriors. Vlad Vas
begun to decay,» answered Geoffrey, barely smiling. – But come on, Richard, you should talk about beautiful things with the ladies of the kingdom! We are, in fact, on the hunt, and we have other aims. We’ve been walking for three hours without seeing much but a couple of squirrels,» he said, slightly annoyed at his last sentence.
– Exactly, dear brother, so that the three hours are not wasted, learn to appreciate every moment and enjoy what Mother Nature gives us,» the first replied, picking a maple leaf from the tree and smiling while breathing in its fragrance.
– The battle the day before yesterday did not go unnoticed after all, alas, my friend, but you have gone mad! – The other said gravely, but chuckled at the end.
– Thank you! Perhaps you are right! – laughing uncontrollably, Richard replied, which infected the joker, and their laughter melded into a single echo in the deep woods. Suddenly the laughter was interrupted by the crunch of a branch.
– Quiet! Did you hear that?! – Geoffrey asked sharply, but almost in a whisper, taking off his hood, to which Richard answered in the affirmative with a nod. – You can tell by the sound that the beast is at least a hundred pounds, perhaps a moose, a big boar, or even a small bear,» Jeffrey continued, preparing his crossbow. – The noise came from the east; let’s split up and try to trap the prey.
Richard said nothing again, only shook his head, and they rode off in different directions. On the right side, where Richard rode, there was nothing to be seen. He jumped off his horse, drew his sword, and rode on unhurriedly, listening to every detail.
Geoffrey, on the other side of the forest, remained on horseback, but also kept his ears open. He stopped his horse and at that moment he heard another branch crunch from a thick part of the forest, the knight immediately headed in that direction. As he rode a little closer, he saw someone’s silhouette rushing through the bushes, just barely catching the brownish color of the object, but still not being able to see it fully.
Then he stopped and took aim at the end of the bush, expecting his prey to come running out of the thicket right at him any minute. His expectation was not in vain, for in a few seconds the branches and leaves were shaking, and he was ready to shoot the first thing that came out, but suddenly he saw his brother a little to the right of that spot, giving him a sign with his hand not to shoot. He didn’t quite understand why Richard was asking for it, but he put the crossbow away nonetheless and climbed down silently from his horse.
Richard put his sword away and began quietly creeping up behind the unknown man.
– Sweet lady, you are not lost… – Before he could finish his question, the «beast», who turned out to be a beautiful girl, pounced on him with a dagger in his hand with the savage cry of a hunted, desperate animal struggling for its life. Richard staggered backward, caught his foot on the mighty root of the tree, and fell. She jumped after him and wanted to pierce his chest in the heart area, but Richard freely, even in that position, knocked the stabbing weapon out of her hands. The girl jumped up from the knight as easily and quickly as she settled on him, then sprinted away with inhuman speed.
But her escape did not last long. For when she began to deliberately loop between the trees, getting lost behind them, the same circumstance played against her. As she squeezed between the two trunks, she ran into an obstacle: an arrow from Geoffrey’s crossbow, fired and flown just inches from her, struck one of the trees very richly and firmly, blocking her path. The arrow blocked her path at abdominal level, and she crashed into it, and then collapsed to the ground, crouching in unbearable pain and labored breathing, hugging herself with her thin arms, but not even crying out, only letting out a low moan.
– Did you shoot her? – I heard Richard’s agitated voice, rising to his feet and heading at a brisk pace toward the lying girl.
– Calm down, Richie! Just a little scare,» he said ironically, also hurrying toward his downed prey.
– So much for hunting,“ Richard went on, „you could have been more delicate and respectfully asked the girl to stick around. Your methods are primitive!
– Yes, but most importantly – effective! It worked, didn’t it! – Jeffrey answered, drawing his sword as a precaution, for he was almost at his destination, and besides, who knows what else the sudden stranger might do. – Are you alive? – he asked with indifference in his voice, stopping two meters away from her.
– Are you all right, pretty lady? – Richard, the true connoisseur of women, asked her when he arrived. She sprang to her feet, still clutching her stomach, and leaned her back against a tree.
She was of such extraordinary beauty that both brothers were speechless for a few moments at the sight of her. The black-haired beauty was young, about twenty years old, with very feminine, delicate features, with beautiful mysterious green eyes from which it was impossible to take your eyes off, they radiated a magical energy that strongly attracted and disarmed… However, now her eyes also held anxiety, it was obvious that the girl was very frightened and at this moment was in confusion because of the unknown people standing in front of her. She was dressed in a burgundy floor-length dress with long sleeves, made of expensive material, which already indicated that she was not a commoner, as well as a cloak with a hood in a color approaching brown, and a tone lighter boots.
– Please excuse us, young lady, we didn’t mean to hurt you or hurt or scare you, it was just so sudden,» Richard began the conversation. – Please don’t be afraid of us.
– Who are you, where did you come from, and why did you attack him? – Jeffrey asked the stranger coldly, pointing to his brother.
– My name is Adelaide. I am the daughter of Prince Nicklot, lord of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a region in northern Germany. My men and I were on our way to my companions in France to discuss our concerns about the outbreak of the epidemic and the cure for the plague, about security in our regions, and to ask for help on mutually beneficial terms,» she answered even more excitedly, but with less fear in her voice, realizing that since she had been interviewed and asked questions, they were not going to kill her yet. – But on the way we were attacked by about fifty warriors and destroyed, apparently, all who were with me. I managed to escape into the woods. And I attacked you out of fear, defending myself, because I thought you were one of them.
– Self-defense is good! – Richard spoke again, softly and good-naturedly. – I am Richard, and this is my younger brother Geoffrey. We have come to visit King Philip the Second Augustus of France, a good friend and ally of our father Henry the Second, King of England. We also came here to settle some matters from the same area, in view of the increasing danger from immigrants, Viking invaders and the rapid spread of disease. And so a few days ago we joined with French troops in a battle with the foreigners, driving them out of the king’s eastern possessions. It may well have been the same invaders who attacked you, my dear lady,» he added gently, even flirtatiously, with a twinkle in his eye and a smile, but only with the right side of his mouth.
– So I was going where you were going,» she said quietly.
– Apparently so. You’re lucky we have the day off, that’s why we wandered so far from the castle and decided to go hunting,» Geoffrey said again with his usual unemotional look.
– Yes, thank you very much! But you could have killed me! – she answered, raising her voice a little.
– You could have… But I was aiming for the tree,» he said in the same tone, to which she only stared intensely into his eyes, trying her best to show her great dislike.
– All right, come on, take it easy,» Richard said during the heated pause. – Give me your hand and get on your horse and ride to the place where you were attacked and see if any of your companions are still alive.
– Okay, but the attackers were, as I said, about fifty people,» said Adelaide warily.
– Thank you