©2025 SammyC

I turned in the blink of an eye and thrust my dagger toward Malcolm’s abdomen. But he surprised me with his lightning response. He blocked my thrust and, in the same motion, knocked the dagger out of my hand. It fell to the ground, a useless blade of meteoric iron with a pretty, bejeweled hilt. I tried to pick it up off the ground to try again but my hand hurt too much and he had already grabbed me by the waist, pulling me to him. I wasn’t sure he wanted to crush my slim torso or hug me tightly and kiss me. He had a mad expression on his face and burning eyes.

Suddenly, from behind, Amos extended his twin splints and struck Malcom on both sides of his head, dazing him momentarily. Before Amos could strike again, Malcolm blindly rushed him and knocked Amos to the ground. With a warrior-like growl, he menacingly approached Amos, who was just now trying to stand up.

“Don’t move, Malcolm!”

It was Merlyn gripping Malcolm’s crossbow in her hands, aiming it directly between his eyes. Her hands were firm, her right eye unflinchingly sighting her target, and her voice resolute.

“I wouldn’t try it, Malcolm. I’m a deadeye.”

Malcolm stepped back and held his hands up in surrender. I picked up my dagger and stood with Amos as we held him at bay.

“As a warrior, you should know better than to leave your weapons behind, unattended. There are others who can work a crossbow, boy. Even a garrulous old lady.” Merlyn smiled.

“What do you want to do with me?” asked Malcolm, his voice betraying the slightest hint of terror. His eyes grew large as Merlyn continued to aim the crossbow between his eyes.

“Luna! Come here, girl! Get the rope from the saddlebag on Malcolm’s Hobnob. Yes, I took a look at what you carried on your Hobnob.”

The girl ran off in the direction of where the animals were lashed to a row of trees. A quick minute later, she returned with the coil of rope in her hands.

“Help Princess Rani tie Malcolm’s hands together. Make sure it’s tightly tied. March him over to the corner over there. Rani, use your dagger to cut off some of the rope and tie his feet together.”

“Are you just going to leave me here?” Malcolm was discovering I knew how to make a good, strong knot as his struggles to set himself free were in vain.

“Use the crossbow, Merlyn,” urged Amos. “He was going to feed us to those cannibals.”

“And I thought I could trust you.” I gave Malcolm a baleful stare.

“I knew it was strange for any outlander to rescue us back at the cave. No love lost between us and everyone who we banished generations ago, I’m afraid.” Using his splints like giant forceps, Amos raised Malcolm to his feet, facing Merlyn’s crossbow. “Stand like a soldier and meet your makers. Go ahead, Merlyn.”

I rushed to Merlyn’s side. “No, Merlyn. He’s no threat to us now. Just let his sister deal with him when they get here. We’ll be far away from here by then.”

“Now you want to let him live? Just minutes ago, you were trying to skewer him like a fish with your pretty little dagger, “ complained Amos. “Rani, he was going to trade us to a bunch of cannibals for some farm implements.”

“Well, he did say he wasn’t going to trade me. Just all of you…” I shrunk back at my own hubris. I was starting to allow flattery to cloud my thinking. Was I really starting to believe I was a beautiful princess? I turned to Malcolm. “Sorry, Malcolm. Amos is right. It was treachery of the lowest kind. Even if you did it for love—”

“Stop your nonsense, Rani.” Merlyn put the crossbow down. “Leaving him here for his sister to arrive would be just punishment for this manchild. I assume she’ll deal with him in a crueler fashion. And very slowly too.”

“No! Please don’t leave me here!” Malcolm somehow managed to fall to his knees and raise his tied hands in supplication. “Let me guide you to the Western Kingdom. You can have me thrown in a dungeon in chains. It’ll be better than what my sister will do to me. I promise you I’m not trying to deceive you now. You have my weapons. You can keep my hands tied. Just untie my feet. You can use my Hobnob. I’ll walk all the way if you wish. Have mercy! Rani? Please. I really do think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen—”

“Stop groveling, Malcom,” Amos barked. “Merlyn, let’s get this over with. We can head out again in an hour or two.” Turning to Malcolm, he taunted him. “Your sister can collect your body when she gets here by morning.”

“Amos,” I pleaded. “He can be useful to us. He knows the way to the coast better than you or any of us. He’s right. Without his weapons and his hands tied, how can he be a threat to us? And where can he go now? Senshi won’t certainly welcome him back home. I sense she’s pure evil. And bloodthirsty too—”

“You’re falling for him, aren’t you, Rani?” Amos asked in exasperation. “Maybe he’ll think differently of you when I tell him—”

“Children, children! Hush! I’ve made a decision.” Merlyn stepped close to the kneeling figure of Malcolm and looked down on him. “We find ourselves kilometers away from the trade routes we were supposed to follow. Even you Amos aren’t sure of where we really are. This creature can be helpful to us, disarmed and shackled as he is. I’m certain he fears his sister’s wrath more than he fears my arrow at this moment. Alright, Malcolm, your death sentence is provisionally suspended. However, remember. Any further tricks and I will show you how much of a deadeye I am.”

Amos spit on the ground and turned away. “I’ll take ownership of his broadsword just in case your first arrow misses.”

We rode through the night once again, with Malcolm leading the way on his Hobnob. Against Amos’ objections, Merlyn and I decided to allow Malcolm to ride his Hobnob. Even with his hands tied, he could manage the reins of his steed well enough. For good measure, Merlyn continued to sit behind him on the saddle, the crossbow slung over her right shoulder. She lectured him on moral philosophy and religion all the while. Under the light of our planet’s two moons, we could see Merlyn’s animated gestures accompanied by Malcolm’s occasional nods. I laughed at the sight and turned to Amos, sitting with me atop our Rumperdon, but he wasn’t laughing. Instead, he had a look of concern on his face.

“What is it, Amos?”

“I still feel we’re headed in the wrong direction. North instead of west. I can’t help but think we’ve doubled back instead of going forward. We’re still in Malcolm’s hands. And I’m not comfortable with that. I don’t know why you trust him. Of course, he’s never called me the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen—”

“What’s our alternative, Amos? We’ve got Senshi hot on our tail on one side and a wedding date to save the world on the other. If Malcolm can get us there before Senshi catches up to us and feeds us to cannibals—”

The first rays of the morning sun emerged from behind the hills. In front of our caravan, Merlyn raised her crossbow above her head to signal us to stop. She shouted to us that we would camp here, a nearby stream providing the water we would need for a multitude of uses.

The members of our party set about their different tasks. Luna and Daisy, my lady’s maid, fetched water from the stream to boil over the fire Merlyn and Amos had started. Our manservant, Edward, took the animals to a patch of grass for them to graze. They would drink from the stream.

Merlyn came over to the fire to check on the progress Luna and I were making on boiling the water for our herbal tea.

“Almost done, Merlyn. Who’s keeping an eye on Malcolm?”

“Amos. He’s got that broadsword in both hands, pointed at Malcolm. Really, I don’t think he’s going to try to escape, Rani.”

“Yes, I agree. He’s more interested in escaping his sister’s clutches.”

“Oh, that’s not the only reason. He’s smitten with you, Rani. I believe he’d follow you till the end of time.”

“Well, if we don’t get to the Western Kingdom before the Dagger of Heaven strikes, it’ll truly be the end of time…for all of us.”

Merlyn stood up and looked down at me as I dropped the herbs and spices into the pot of water.

“I’m sorry we had to do this to you, Rani. But it’s the only way. Perhaps we can look into a proper annulment after the Dagger is averted.” She started to walk away and stopped. Turning around, she mused, “That is, if you find being called the most beautiful girl anyone’s ever seen too troublesome.” She turned to walk away again.

“Oh, Merlyn. I meant to ask you last night.”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t know you could shoot a crossbow.”

“I can’t. Who said I could?”

It was almost mid-day when I opened my eyes. Shielding them from the glare of the sun high up in the cloudless azure sky, I looked around to see everyone in our party staring at me.

“I fell asleep?”

Merlyn kneeled at my side. “Yes, child. You seemed so tired that we thought it best to let you rest for as long as necessary. I hope your little nap has refreshed you. Malcolm says we need to get on the road. He’s sure that his sister and her men started up again at dawn.”

“I’m sorry I’ve delayed everyone—”

“Take my arm…my splint, that is, my Lady,” Amos said, offering his extended left arm. I stood up with his help.

“I must look a royal mess,” I laughed. Daisy rushed to my side holding a hairbrush, ready to untangle my unruly tresses. As she brushed away, I turned to Amos. “Which way are we headed today?”

Amos harrumphed. “Ask Malcolm. He’s got some detour in mind. He swears it’s to pick up some assistance. Of what kind he won’t say. Just remember you’ve got a crossbow and a broadsword pointed at you at all times. No tricks.”

“You’ll see when we get there, Amos. I’m sure you’ll be happy for the ‘assistance’.”

Merlyn waved her crossbow in the air. She ought to be more careful with that thing. I think she really believes she knows how to shoot it.

“Westward ho! Let’s mount up!”

“I won’t even ask, Merlyn.” Daisy finally let go of my head and I unconsciously patted my hair. Malcolm was staring at me. Amos was staring at him. I walked past Amos and tossed my head, hoping my curls wouldn’t slap me in the face.

An hour of hard riding took us to a green valley surrounded on all sides by rolling hills. We looked down into this expanse of green and saw a circular enclosure protected by a 4-meter-high wall of rough, uncut blocks of stone. From our vantage point on nearby hillside, we could see that the interior of the enclosure contained dozens of large circular mud huts with conical, thatched roofs. In the center was a longhouse the size of ten huts. There were people milling around. Amos guessed there were at least 200 people living inside the enclosure.

“309 to be exact,” Malcolm interjected. “This is the tribe we met up with before we arrived at the stone house the other night.”

“The ones you ‘annexed’, right?” Amos sneered.

“My sister did that. Not me.”

“Why bring us here?” I asked.

“My sister is a very good tracker and she drives her men and herself extremely hard. I’m sure they’ve made up several hours on us. She’ll get desperate and ride all day and night if she has to. That’s why we’ll need some help. And these people will gladly offer it us. Or me, to be correct.”

“I sense you’ve made some sort of side deal with this tribe,” Merlyn declared.

“You’re right. As you’ve probably guessed already, I’ve been plotting to dethrone my sister, almost from the day she replaced my father as chieftain. This tribe sees me as their liberator. Once I’ve become chieftain, I’ll grant them independence—”

“That’s what you say,” Amos sneered.

“You don’t trust me, do you, Amos?”

“And I don’t particularly like you either. If my arms weren’t broken, I’d throttle you within a centimeter of your worthless life.”

“Children, children!,” remonstrated Merlyn. “What Malcolm says makes sense. We could use a few extra hands as it were. Poor Vance was our senior guard after all. And the petty squabbles of these outlanders shouldn’t concern us…”

“Petty squabbles? Madam, you’re talking about our very lives. They may be petty to you—”

I interrupted the petty squabble among the three of them. “If Senshi is truly gaining on us then let us not tarry.” I snapped the reins of my Rumperdon and the animal started to gingerly move down the slope of the hill onto the valley below. The others followed. I had just made a royal decree.

We stopped about 100 meters from the gates of the wall and Malcolm turned to us.

“Before we go in, I think it’d be advisable for you to untie my hands. They’ll be alarmed if they think if I’m your prisoner.”

“Well, you still are,” Amos spat out.

“Untie his hands, Luna. Use Rani’s dagger,” instructed Merlyn. Luna took my dagger and sawed away at the rope wrapped around Malcolm’s wrists.

“And if you’ll hand me my broadsword, I might just resemble their liberator instead of the prisoner of a quartet of gentlewomen and a man with two broken arms.”

“No, we can’t do that! Merlyn!,” Amos exclaimed.

“Give him his sword back, Amos. In for a penny, in for a pound,” Merlyn urged.

With his sword held high before him, Malcolm led his Hobnob up to the gate.

“Ho! I am Malcolm of the Two Moons Tribe! I ask for admittance!”

Amos turned to us. In an urgent tone, he told us to “get ready to turn around and whip these animals as fast they can run.”

The tall gates of the enclosure slowly swung open.