96Ranna galloped hard through the wood, savouring the wind that rushed at her face and lifted strands of her mane into a wild dance, her hooves made little sound on the fallen leaves and foliage of the forest and the wolf that ran beside her was naturally a silent creature so their rushing race through the woods was hardly even heard.
She felt the slight weight of the girl on her back and knew that she was enjoying the ride just as much as she was, but the wood was not the ideal place for a gallop so when the reached a thicker clump of trees they slowed to a walk.
Ranna turned her head as Aly slipped off her back and gave a regretful sigh, she had been stuck in the stables all winter while Aly was away and had missed the frequent and familiar trips that she and Aly had taken, even if they had been at odd times, this gallop had freshened her up and she was eager to do more.
"Where are we going?" Ranna asked she had been pondering the question for a while but you can't really talk while you're cantering through a forest
"Exploring, somewhere we've never been before!"
"You have no idea where we are going!" Wolf and Ranna shouted in unison.
"We have been traveling away from the castle all day but you don't know where you are going" Wolf growled deeply "I think maybe we should take you home right now"
"No! Umm…Let's go somewhere interesting, I want an adventure" Aly said quickly almost pleading "and I want to prove to father that he can't control me!" finishing on a fierce note.
"So Toren isn't good enough for you anymore" Wolf said, his mind voice laced with sarcasm.
"Wolf you should know better than anyone that I've explored every inch of Toren, and the only time I've traveled any where is when mother died and Saduhe isn't the greatest place to explore even if I could get away" Aly snapped back, her face radiating stubbornness.
"What about the capital, that would be an interesting start" Ranna suggested, Wolf glared at her but she didn't seem to notice.
"Yeah, that'll be perfect, I'll stay there for a week or two, maybe I'll get a job, I'll prove to father that I don't depend on him" Aly said, raising her chin and glaring at them as if daring them to doubt her.
Ranna knew less of the world and it's customs than Aly so she saw no faults in her plan but Wolf sighed.
"Where would you get a job and what would me and Ranna do" he asked, and Aly knew what he meant straight away.
"I can work as well as any boy I'll disguise myself, Ranna can be my faithful pony…umm" she worried wondering, she could see the flaws in her plan now. "You could live in the Royal Forest and confuse the Royal Hunters by making them think your some kind of ghost wolf" she smiled "I know some people who already think that."
"Hmmmm…should we go, I'm not sure" Wolf contemplated.
"What the hell, give her some freedom now, once she's been married off she wont be able to do any thing like this again." Ranna replied and for some strange reason a wave of overwhelming sadness erupted from Wolf.
"Yes of course I forgot about that" his voice sounded gruff in her mind.
"So are we all agreed" When both her friends nodded she continued "we are going to the Capital."
The lord of Toren glanced at the woods on either side of the road as his horse trotted steadily forward, it was four days after his return to Toren and he had finally left for the capital, but he was no closer to finding his daughter. His lined face was sad and looked many years older than what it had a month ago when he had both his wife and is child safe, but now one was dead and the other lost and he had to follow the King's orders and head for the Capital, Galabrostious, but his heart was heavy and he sat on horse like an old man.
In his days between returning and leaving he had managed to send out numerous search parties, but to no avail, they had come back empty handed every time and he was starting to worry. His daughter had been taught almost every thing about living in the woods and tracking and covering tracks but he had never taken her to be any good at it.
He had even sent out the dogs and though they had found Aly's scent and followed it to a clearing as soon as they got there they began barking and speeding off into the trees, he had never seen them behave like this except when they were hunting wolves.
He really did not want to think of the possibility of wolves coming any where near his daughter.
He had been traveling all day at a steady pace and was now just coming to the border of Toren lands in the late afternoon, the trip had been slowed because though his mighty black stallion Caldor was capable of a much faster pace, he had to take along a hoard of possessions and the pack horse carrying them had slowed him down considerably.
Because of this it would take near to two weeks to reach the capital whereas if he was free of the pack horse it would only take one. Those two weeks gave him time to think on what he had done and what his daughter was doing and so his mind drifted back to the reason why Aly had run away.
It had been his fault, he was under huge pressure and in an attempt to quieten the girl he had said to her that he was glad he was sending her away to the Convent because there she might finally learn some manners and how to behave like a proper Lady. She had been sullen and aggressive since her mothers death and at this threat she had lost control and for a reason he would never know the carriage horses stopped and Aly had used this opportunity to leap out and run off into the woods, her governess had jumped out an called after her but she had not come back so we had to leave for worry that the rain would start and the roads become impassable.
As he thought this unwelcome thought his sharp eyes noticed a glint in the trees, he moved forward and saw with relief that it was the stream he had been hoping to find.
The Covent threat had not even been true, she loved Toren and he would never have sent her away.
He rode along the stream for a while waiting for the sun to sink fully beneath the horizon and by the time it did, he had reached the border of his lands, he had been lucky that the stream ran almost straight beside the road and so when the time came all he had to do was lead Caldor into the trees slightly.
Lord Charles rode Caldor and the pack horse Gilly past the stream to a small clearing, he then gathered up wood for a small fire and pulled out his blanket, spreading it along the springy grass.
With the horses hobbled close to the stream and his food cooking on the fire he could finally relax and look around, the clearing was small and made up of a small ring of cedar trees that sheltered it from the wind. The stream ran through the edge of the clearing, separating it from the road with its cool, clear water and the grass was green and fresh dotted here and there with small jewel-like flowers whose buds were just opening to the sky, the beauty was lost on him though as his mind was preoccupied and distracted.
Despite the peaceful place the night was cold and Lord Charles swore that tomorrow night he would find a village inn to spend the night in. he gazed at the sky for a few more minutes before returning his attention to his food and the fire.
He ate in silence and after putting out the fire and cleaning his bowl he pulled the blanket over himself and surrendered to the sleep that dragged at his mind.