The two women immediately grasped the risks of the situation and lay down beside her, attempting to stay out of range of ranged attacks. Shortly after, an arrow hissed from the darkness of the surrounding woods and embedded itself in the cart's wood.
The horses whinnied in fear, and Scarlet tried to keep them under control, while Iza and Derek dashed into the vegetation at an impressive speed. Sounds of struggle could be heard—shouts from what had to be the bandits, blades clashing with the typical metallic clang—then silence fell. William tightened his grip on the dagger but remained lying down with the others, waiting for a signal of some sort.
Iza appeared on the road with a bloody sword, which she wiped clean with a cloth before returning it to its black scabbard. With an impassive face, she signaled for Scarlett to proceed.
"All taken care of," she stated from behind the curtain.
"Did the two of them take care of all the bandits?"
"Iza and Derek are extremely talented," the Queen stated proudly.
Snow White smiled sweetly at her and asked if she wanted to adjust her position: it wasn't comfortable sleeping on a cart, despite the cloths they had laid down to give her more comfort during the journey. Grimilde shook her head, then asked to pull back the curtain to speak with Scarlet.
"How much longer?"
"We'll have to resupply at an inn before tackling the rest of the journey, but either way, it could take twenty-eight hours to reach the capital's threshold."
"We can keep going, there's no need to stop at an inn—"
"We still have to resupply... besides, you would do well to pay attention to your health, Your Majesty."
"I agree with Scarlet." Snow White interrupted the conversation, stopping Grimilde from arguing. She knew her well: she would have continued the journey with no regard for her physical state. "You can't push yourself." She wasn't going to make any concessions this time.
Grimilde remained silent: she closed her eyes and sighed. Snow White was right.
"Is everyone alright?" Derek's deep voice drew the group's attention back outside the tent. The Queen's guard positioned his horse behind the cart, his face impassive, stained with the blood of his enemies. Adelina looked away, trying to ignore the marks left by the bloody fight in the woods.
"Yes."
"Do you need to switch?" William asked, tired of sitting around without being able to help the group. "If you want to take my place, I'll take the opportunity to rest a bit."
Derek gave up his spot to William, entrusting him with his horse: he understood well how he might be feeling after the events of the last few hours. Derek had sworn to protect the Queen with his life, yet he hadn't even realized the great dangers she had been facing alone. Grimilde was watching him closely, noticing the exhaustion in his eyes, accompanied by an inner wound Derek probably wouldn't talk about.
The Queen wished she could comfort him in his sorrow, but it wasn't the right time to do so.
"How are you holding up?" Derek asked cautiously, trying to appear impassive. His heart was beating rapidly, driven by shame and guilt, but he would never let it show.
"Better... I think." The Queen wished she could sit up to look everyone in the face, but she feared pulling the skin around the wound and causing a hemorrhage. "You should rest, Derek. You look exhausted."
Derek offered a faint smile: "I'll rest, soon enough."
"Are you hurt?" Adelina asked, looking over his body. She had noticed a cut near his side: the fabric was stained red, but she couldn't tell whose blood it was.
"No... They caught me off guard. There were only a few of them, and anyway, they weren't as skilled as we thought. The kind of gang that throws something together at the last minute to attack caravans..."
"Still, it's strange not finding any soldiers at the border," commented the Princess of Arran, who was busy checking Grimilde's wounds again.
"Most likely they headed to the nearest populated areas. There's no point in protecting the borders if the entire kingdom is at risk of falling apart due to a natural disaster..." The conversation went no further, as Derek actually settled down to rest, while Grimilde simply let the princess tend to her.
"I'll have to change the bandages in a few hours."
"Thank you." Her eyes, fixed on Snow White, communicated profound love, and her voice was so sweet, however weak, that it melted her beloved's heart. "I would do anything for you."
Adelina followed the conversation without interrupting, blushing at such an explicit display of love. She wasn't used to witnessing such scenes: after all, she didn't hang around with many couples in love. Even though she knew many people didn't recognize the validity of this kind of relationship, the love between the two women seemed almost poetic to her and truly beautiful to witness.
"You look like you stepped out of a fairy tale—" Adelina covered her mouth, surprised she had said it out loud.
Snow White blushed, while Grimilde smiled: "I think so too, otherwise I can't explain the luck of having met her and being able to love her."
"Ilde!" Snow White's face turned even redder, which was quite obvious given her pale skin. Adelina giggled, and the atmosphere lightened.
The cart continued for another couple of hours before crossing the Umgard border, where they finally found an inn in a village that appeared relatively intact. Fortunately, the earthquake hadn't caused any damage in that area.
"Did you hear that? It surely was thunder!"
"What thunder, Richard."
As the cart crossed the street to reach the inn, they saw two passersby talking agitatedly.
"I'm telling you it was thunder. Robert saw it as he was coming down from the mountain."
"Robert sees a lot of things that don't exist..."
"Excuse me." Scarlett's authoritative voice surprised the two men, who hadn't even noticed the cart heading their way. They stepped aside and looked at the group with fearful eyes. "Which way do we go to reach the nearest inn?"
"You can follow me, I'm the owner's brother."
"Thank you."
Scarlet said nothing more and didn't spare a glance for the other man who tagged along with the group to head to the inn.
"Who are you? Travelers?"
"Richard, mind your own business for once!"
"Your friend is right. Asking too many questions can be dangerous." Scarlet's glaring look stopped the stranger from starting another conversation.
Iza had watched their interaction with curiosity: Scarlet seemed to be in a terrible mood, more taciturn and colder than usual. In that moment, she remembered she hadn't seen her sleep since the beginning of the journey. She slowly approached the cart, gently leading her tired horse, then addressed the woman: "How long has it been since you slept?"
"Why do you care?"
"I don't care. You don't seem clear-headed enough to lead the group; you should step aside."
"Is this your way of showing you care about me?" Scarlet's words caught Iza off guard, her mouth dropping open, her brow furrowed in a displeased expression. "I don't—"
"I'm joking." It was the first time Iza had seen Scarlet laugh, and it struck her more than her words moments before.
"Here we are." The man pointing the way stopped in front of the inn, which sat in the center of the village they were in, surrounded by a few small wooden houses. The place was quiet, but not desolate. A few locals stopped to watch them, but everyone was busy with their own affairs.
"There's a stable nearby; you can leave the horses there during your stay," the stranger stated, offering a friendly smile.
"We sincerely thank you. We will only be staying one night."
The man nodded and went inside the establishment to inform his brother of the new guests' arrival. The place wasn't particularly large, but they probably had a few rooms to rent. Iza dismounted first, followed by William and Mark, Scarlett's colleague who was accompanying them on their journey.
Despite appearing as taciturn and sullen as his superior, he had actually been friendly with Iza and Derek, showing a cooperative spirit from the start. He had taken the Empress's order to heart, who had requested the group's protection until their destination.
"Do you need a hand carrying your Queen?" Mark followed the two to the back of the cart, where Derek and Adelina had stepped down.
"I can try to stand, but I'll need someone to help me walk," the Queen stated, attempting to push herself up from the cart's wooden floor.
Snow White helped her, noticing how weak she was. "Grimilde, you mustn't push yourself if it hurts and you're still weak," she commented softly, shooting Derek a look to silently ask for his support.
"I can carry her," the man stated.
Grimilde seemed frustrated but accepted the offer, and a moment later she found herself in Derek's strong arms. "Forgive me..."
Snow White watched the scene with apparent indifference, but the fact that she couldn't carry Grimilde herself made her feel unreliable. She wasn't a man, that was obvious...
"Darling?" Her beloved's voice brought her attention back to her. The Queen gave her a look that told her exactly what she wanted to convey. She shouldn't think she was weak just because she couldn't carry her in her arms. William noticed the exchange of glances and smiled.
"Welcome!" The innkeeper came out of the inn to help them with the horses and invite them inside. He sent his brother to tend to the cart while he saw to his only customers.
When the group entered, the innkeeper's wife immediately noticed the wounded woman and rushed over to ask what their needs were. While the rest of the group took a seat at the tables to get something to eat, Snow White followed Derek and Grimilde to the room where they would rest that night.
"Why don't you go eat with the others? You deserve some rest too..." Grimilde didn't even let her step inside, blocking her at the doorway with her request. Snow White's dark circles were too prominent to ignore. She was worried about her.
"But I—"
"Derek is here to help me; you can join me when you're done eating. Don't worry."
"If you need, I can bring dinner up here."
The innkeeper's wife watched the three of them curiously as she placed a basin of water and some clean cloths in the room, then waited for further orders. One look had been enough for her to realize these women must be nobles. Too beautiful and polite to be simple travelers.
"Thank you..."
"We have a doctor staying in the village; do you need me to go get him?" she asked kindly, noting the woman's pallor.
"No, but thank you again."
At that point, Snow White looked at Grimilde one last time, receiving a nod of encouragement to go join the others, then turned and closed the door behind her.
She and Derek probably needed to speak in private.