This love is like a curse (34)
Edric, without hesitation, jumped into the carriage and picked up the woman in his arms. Her body was frighteningly light. It was soaked through with warm sweat.
Brushing away the clinging golden strands from her face, he hastily patted her pale cheek. At the same moment, the long golden eyelashes that cast a shadow on her face shot up sharply, and bright blue eyes opened in front of him.
He involuntarily held his breath. It seemed that her eyes, deep as a pool, were sucking out the soul.
While he was looking at them with a glazed face, his right cheek suddenly burned. He involuntarily grabbed his face, blinking in surprise. And the next moment the girl, slipping out of his arms, looked at him like he was the last scoundrel.
- How dare you touch me with your dirty hands?!
Edric, his mouth open, raised his voice indignantly:
“I thought you were unconscious, Your Highness...!”
— Lost consciousness? So I decided to take this opportunity and do something shameful, right?
- What are you saying...!
In a rage, he rushed up - and immediately squatted back, hitting the top of his head on the ceiling of the carriage. Tears welled up in my eyes from pain and humiliation.
He squeezed his head with his hands and moaned in pain for a long time. The princess, looking at him with an expression of contempt, massaged her temple and shook her chin.
- Enough. Get out.
- Please, at least come out for some air. We still have more than noon to go. How long do you intend to sit in this steam room?
Edric muttered, rubbing the bruised top of his head, and frowned. He was ready to receive another slap, but could not remain silent.
The princess stared at him in amazement. It seemed that she simply could not believe that he would not stop reproaching her.
The knight barely restrained himself from blurting out: “Do you think I like messing with you?”
Whether he wanted it or not, the responsibility for this wayward princess lay with him. If she falls unconscious on the road, he will have to deal with the consequences too.
He met her irritated face directly, ready to drag her out by force if necessary.
The princess, as if tired of his stubbornness, frowned and still slowly stood up. Edric immediately jumped out with relief and extended his hand to help her down, but in response she slammed the door in front of him with a bang.
Shocked, he looked at the closed door with a doomed look and, sighing, turned around.
“...What exactly does she not like so much?”
He sighed heavily and trudged towards the lake.
Even when he rinsed his face in icy water and sat down to rest in the shade of a tree, the stubborn princess never showed up.
“Maybe she thinks someone will try to harm her?..”
Her reaction resembled a wild animal driven into a trap. This thought flashed through his head. He cast another confused glance at the carriage, then shook his head, driving away useless thoughts.
You shouldn't even try to understand it. The main thing is to live to the end of this journey, and he will be freed from this burden.
The Second Princess changed guards often, so he would soon be replaced as well. You just need to be patient.
Having cheered himself up, Edric sat down in the shade of a tree with the rest of the knights, ate some bread and wine and rested for a while before jumping back into the saddle.
After noon the air began to cool a little. The pilgrims who came to their senses continued their journey along the Gaisa mountain range, which separated the west from the northeast. Thanks to their persistence, by sunset they reached the plains of Sinai - the former lands of the old kingdom of Balto.
“We’ll set up camp here today,” Barkas, who was inspecting the column, quietly gave the order.
Edric looked at him in amazement. Despite the whole day in the saddle, the commander looked as if he had just set out on a journey - not a trace of fatigue.
The longboat, jumping off his horse with an impeccably straight posture, looked around the area with a sharp look and commanded:
— Build a palisade [1] around the camp and post a guard.
The knights immediately began to carry out the order.
Edric also began building a fence around the parking lot. For a moment it seemed to him that the measures were unnecessary, but then he remembered - there were myriads of monsters on the plains of Sinai. They say that attacks on such large detachments are extremely rare, but precaution has never harmed anyone.
He pulled out boards with iron spikes from the cart, secured them to the ground and wrapped them with rope with small bells. After hours of hard work, he finally completed setting up a temporary defensive perimeter around the camp.
Wiping off the dust and dirt from his hands, he headed to the place where the fire was already burning. While they were fortifying, the princess's servants managed to finish preparing dinner.
Edric, holding his growling stomach, came closer to the fire where the meat was roasting. He took a piece of chopped bacon and, chewing, turned to one of the maids:
“Have you brought food for Her Highness yet?”
A young girl, stirring something in a large cauldron, looked at him in confusion:
- This... She said she wasn't hungry...
Edric, who was wiping the grease off his hands with a rag, frowned. She skipped lunch and now she’s skipping dinner too? He began to boil from the stubbornness of this princess. Throwing the rag on the ground, he grabbed the empty basket.
- Fill it with something edible.
The maid immediately put a large piece of pie, bacon stew, wine, pickled fruit into the basket - she did not miss anything. The basket quickly filled up, and Edric, holding it under his armpit, headed towards the princess’s “fortress”.
He understood that there was no need to force food on someone who refused. But as soon as he remembered how light her body was, he could not remain indifferent. Cursing his overly caring nature, he knocked on the door:
- Your Highness, I brought dinner.
“I said I won’t eat.”
“You haven’t eaten almost anything all day.” How are you going to survive such a difficult journey without food? Even if you have no appetite, try it.
- Leave me alone!
Edric made a grimace. Even a hedgehog wouldn't be so prickly. Gathering what little patience he had left, he tried to speak calmly:
“Then I’ll just leave the basket here in case you change your mind...”
He had already bent down to put the basket down when he suddenly pulled back - the door swung open without warning, and a tense, whitened face appeared in front of him. He swallowed as he met piercing blue eyes that shone even in the light of the setting sun.
Note:
1. Palisade - a fortification made of sharp logs or thick stakes driven vertically close to each other.