Chapter Seventy-Four: And A Happy New Year

Continuing on their journey to visit the king of Spara, Tim and Meg were now at the border of the nation. They had suffered a minor delay when Tim had drank too much after making a bet and passed out in a tavern's basement along with the tavern owner. Luckily, it didn't have a significant impact on anything important, as he had already won the bet.

They entered into a large forest that sat on the border, acting as an effective blockade between Athene and Spara, and had been used as a strategic point in battles between the nations in centuries past. A wide road had been carved through the wilderness, and on either side of them, the trees towered over them, and blocked their view of anything more than a few tens of metres. The road was maintained, and brush was regularly cut back so that it didn't hamper trade between the nations, though it always sat just on the edge, allowing no easy transition from the road into the forest, or vice versa.

"I don't like this place." Meg said, turning her nose up at the surroundings. "I have to crane my neck if I want to see the sky, it's very unpleasant."

"You know how this could have been avoi-"

"I will remove you from reality in your sleep."

"What's it even like there?"

"Mostly normal, except you can't touch anything that you didn't bring with you, all the colours are muted and it's always cold."

"Sounds boring."

"It is."

"So wait, could you go into that 'non-reality', move, and then come back somewhere else?"

Meg thought to herself for a moment. "Maybe?  I wouldn't try it, you need something solid to put the circle on, and without land you don't really have that."

"So why didn't the land you took with you drop down into the Earth?"

"The hell makes you think I know?"

"Fair point."

They continued on deeper into the forest, until they could no longer see the entrance, and the exit was still out of sight. For a while now Tim had been casting glances into the forest, and cocking his ear, listening out for something.

"What's up?" Meg asked, noticing his concern.

"...Probably nothing."

"But?"

"Doesn't it seem a bit quiet to you?"

Meg listened for a moment. "It is kinda quiet yeah. Why, is that weird?"

"A bit. Could be nothing though."

"You gonna check it out?"

"Nah, not unless something catches my attention."

"Probably soon then, knowing how quickly your attention goes."

"Oh look, someone's coming up behind us." Tim turned his head to look past Meg/

"Don't ignore me when I'm insulting you." Meg said, following his gaze.

Sure enough, coming up behind them rather quickly was a large carriage, complete with armed guards on both flanks. The carriage itself was splendidly decorated, as were its escorts, the guards dressed up in overly fancy armour, with the large horses they rode similarly adorned. The carriage was pulled by four white horses, and behind it was a smaller carriage that was carrying the servants, which was somewhat less ornate, but did not detract from the rest of the procession.

"Well someone looks fancy." Tim said as he moved Holly to the side of the road out of the way.

"Bloody nobles."

Even stood by the side of the road, it was clear that it was going to be a close call, and as the group approached, the guards on the same side as Tim and Meg moved forward to try to create more space. Unfortunately the whole group was trying to get through the forests as fast as they could at the behest of the guard captain, and they thundered past the three dangerously close. Holly didn't like that one bit, and reared upwards, letting out a distressed neigh as she did.

The horse wasn't the only one who was distressed, and Meg let out a short scream as she began to fall backwards. Tim twisted around and grabbed a hold of her, while gripping onto Holly with his legs and clipping her over the head with his free hand.

"Pack it in." He said firmly with annoyance as Holly dropped, with Meg now gripping tightly to Tim's clothes and breathing heavily as she calmed down.

"You okay back there?" Tim asked. "You having a heart attack?"

"Fuck off."

"Hey it's not my fault."

"Everything is your fault!"

"I mean... To a degree that's true, I suppose. Don't think I'm gonna take responsibility for this one though."

Looking ahead again, the two noticed that the group in front had come to a stop, and one of the guards was approaching them. They moved forward a bit and met him partway.

"Her Royal Highness Princess Cristina would like to extend her utmost apologies to you both, and wishes to confirm your wellbeing herself."

"What, she doesn't trust you to tell the truth?" Meg responded, still somewhat miffed.

"Meg shut up." Tim said quickly. He turned to her, and spoke quietly. "Harold isn't exactly going to feel like lending a hand, so it wouldn't be bad for us to get along with his daughter, understand?"

"Hmm." Meg was still unhappy, but kept her mouth shut as the guard led them to the group. They stopped a short distance away from the carriage.

"Just one of you." The guard said, as another guard put himself between them and the carriage.

"Is that really necessary?"

"It is."

"Fine. Meg, you go."

"Why me?"

"Because if I left you on the horse by yourself you'd probably fall off, or accidentally run away or some nonsense."

Grumbling to herself, Meg dismounted, and headed over to the side of the carriage. Once there, she looked up at the door, where a small window had been opened, and a young woman's face peeked through.

The princess' face lit up upon seeing Meg. "I'm pleased to see you well." She said. "I saw you as we passed, and asked the driver to stop. I do apologise for any inconvenience to you."

"No, it's fine." Meg said, aware of the eyes of the guards staring at her.

"And how is your companion?" The princess asked.

"I'm fine!" Tim shouted, and the princess poked her head through the window with a surprised expression so she could see him. Tim gave a smile and a wave.

"You have rather good hearing."

"I know!"

The princess smile, bemused, and pulled back into her carriage. "Might I ask where you're heading?" She asked.

"Eurota."

"What a coincidence, so am I. What is your business there?"

Meg glanced over to Tim, who just shrugged at her. "We're meeting someone." She said.

"Oh? Who are you meeting?"

"Umm..." Meg looked over to Tim again, who shook his head at her.

"Oh, my apologies." The princess said, and relief came across Meg's face. "I'm forcing you to stand out in the cold whilst I bombard you with questions. Why don't you come in and we can continue talking inside." Meg immediately resumed her troubled expression, and the princess seemed to take some delight in it.

"Oh no, I couldn't-"

"Please, we're going to the same place aren't we? I'll have the driver go slow so your companion can keep up."

"I can't-"

"She can!"

Meg turned her head to look at Tim, who was giving her the thumbs up, which she responded to with a scowl.

"See, your friend is fine with it." The princess said, smiling.

"Your Highness, please..." One of the guards implored the princess, his demeanor indicating that this wasn't the first time she'd invited random people to speak with her privately.

"Now now, there's nothing to worry about. My guest here seems like a lovely person, won't you help her in?"

The princess moved away from the door, and the guard begrudgingly helped Meg into the carriage. After making sure everything was fine, they set off again, slower this time so that Tim could keep up on Holly. The guards were not enthused with how things were proceeding, and would occasionally shoot dirty looks at Tim.

"You know, I get the feeling you guys don't like me." Tim said.

"..."

"It's because I'm a guy isn't it?"

"..."

"Or are you jealous of my hair?"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

Inside the carriage, the princess was talking with Meg.

"I don't think I should be telling you about our business." Meg began, hoping to avoid telling her about the nature of their visit for the time being.

"Oh? Why would that be? Are you doing something illegal?"

"No no no, it's nothing like that." Meg said, shaking her head, but stopped when she realised the princess was quietly chuckling at her.

"It's fine, I understand that one wouldn't want to tell of their business to a stranger, regardless of that strangers position. It's just that, with me being surrounded by servants and under constant guard, I have little chance for idle conversation. I was hoping you could entertain me for a while, but if it's too much trouble, I can have them stop, and we can part."

Meg looked at the melancholic princess, and felt pity for the girl. She wondered if her life was similar to how Meg had lived, alone with nothing but people who you can never have a real conversation with. Of course, comparing servants to a horde of walking corpses probably wasn't accurate, but Meg decided to ignore that.

"Well, it's not like it's a bother for me, we are going the same way after all."

"Wonderful." The princess said, clapping her hands together and smiling, in an emotional turn that was far too swift for Meg's liking, prompting a frown from her. "Well then, why don't you tell me about yourself and your companion."

"Well to start, he's a jackass."

Outside, Tim cast a scowl at the carriage as Meg started on a lengthy rant. Deciding it would be best if he didn't pay attention to that, he looked out into the forest. Scanning through the trees, he saw movement, but by the time he had focused on it, it was gone. Cocking his ear again to listen, Tim appeared extremely dissatisfied. He moved over to one of the mounted guards nearby, and held out Holly's reigns.

"Take these for a moment." He said. Confused, the guard grabbed them. "I'll be right back." Tim said, and jumped from the horse's back. The guard let out a shout, which quickly turned into a cry, as when Tim hit the ground he shot off into the forest, tearing through the brush.

The other guards began to pull inwards at the guards yells, fearing they were under attack. They stopped quickly though, as they began to hear the sound of screaming coming from the woods, and great crunches, which were shortly followed by the crashing noise of falling trees.

Readying their weapons, the guards had the carriage pull to a stop, and the window opened again. Meg's head came out this time, and immediately looked for Tim, only to find Holly in another guards care.

"Oh great, what's he doing now?" She asked no-one in particular with exasperation. As the guards were about to tell her to get back inside, a howl could be heard approaching. With a flash, Tim shot past the front of the group, sword in hand and blood dropping after him. He disappeared into the forest on the other side, and the screams began anew.

"Well, you just let me know when that's over." Meg said, annoyed, and pulled back inside.

"What's happening out there?" The princess asked, grabbing onto Meg and trembling slightly.

"Probably an ambush." Meg said, crossing her arms and sitting back to wait.

"An ambush?! Are we going to be safe?"

"Yes. But we are going to have to listen to Tim be all self-important, so don't be too relieved."

Once finished in the forest, Tim returned to the road, and immediately raced down it to the end of the forest. There he found another group of would-be-attackers, and made short work of them.

Upon his return, Meg came out of the carriage to meet him, since Cristina also wanted to see and only one face could fit through the window at a time. The guards felt like they should stop him getting to close, but they also really didn't want to die, so they stayed out of the way.

"Okay you stay right there." Meg said as he approached, before he was within comfortable talking distance.

"What, why?" He asked, perplexed.

"Because you're covered in blood and you stink. Who were they?"

"Soldiers by the look of things."

"There's no chance you left any of them alive so we could talk to them is there?"

"Oh please, you know me better than that."

"So how are we supposed to find out where they're from?"

"Can't. They're wearing the armour of the Massan army, but only an idiot would send troops to attack a member of a royal family while clearly identifiable. It's probably a false flag. I bet it was Ricky."

"Ricky?" The princess asked, a bit stunned by the situation, but still trying.

"He means Richard from Athene, and I'd like to know how you came to that conclusion."

"My gut."

"..."

"It has never been wrong before."

"Go clean yourself."

"'Kay."

With that, Tim left to wash in a nearby river, and Meg turned back to the princess. "I suppose you'll be wanting to know who we really are now."

"Oh no, I worked it out."

"Oh... Well, good."