The Union

Lucia tightened her embrace. She didn"t want to let go.

Tim must have noticed because he put one of his hands on Lucia"s. "I"m sorry Lucia."

Lucia shook her head on Tim"s back. "No, it"s my fault. I should have known that it will come to this. I was a fool"

"A fool couldn"t have protected me. You did and I owe you my life. Thank you. " Timothy said.

"Do you remember that night we talked in the garden? I said that I will protect you. So I did. It is my duty to protect you Tim." Lucia again shook her head "No, calling it a duty might be unfair. I protected you because I care for you"

Timothy laughed "Stop making my heart jump Lucia. Or else…"

"Prince Timothy!" Captain Bisham interrupted "Soldiers at the back" he pointed behind.

Lucia and Timothy turned their heads around. Lucia saw dozens of hors.e.m.e.n chasing them.

"Thank the Omniscient! We"re saved. Your guards are tough Prince Timothy" exclaimed Escanor as the merchant raised both arms in the air.

"No!" Timothy shouted. He shook his head and turned his head forward. "They are not my guards. Look at the armor. They are wearing lamellar breastplates."

Lucia understood Tim. Although mail armor is popular nowadays because of its flexibility and effectiveness, some nations still use lamellar. One of those nations was Wismar.

"Tim. What should we do?" Lucia asked.

"Don"t worry. We can lose them. Like what I said, we can survive this. I will not let anything happen to you." Tim comforted. But Lucia noticed the slight tremor in his voice.

He must also be scared, Lucia thought. This made her like Tim more. Even though he was scared himself, he was trying to act like he wasn"t in front of Lucia. He wanted to be her stone, her refuge even though he needed a refuge himself.

"Okay. I trust you" Lucia said.

The chase went on for nearly an hour. It was grueling. Mud and rain splashed like waves of the ocean. Lucia looked behind again and saw that the Wismarines are catching up. At the front of the Wismarines was a tall and muscular man. She recognized him.

When Skall went to Vanadis many years ago, he brought the man along. Lucia saw the man a few times but she didn"t know his name.

"Prince Timothy. They are close" Captain Bisham informed.

"I know" Timothy said "There will be an acute blind curve ahead where they can"t see us for a few moments. We must split up after the curve. They will see three diverging hoof prints. With the threat from my guards, they can"t afford to also split up so they can only follow one."

"Okay." Captain Bisham said. "We will meet you at the end of the forest. Protect her Prince Timothy."

"I will. Even with my life"

"Don"t say things like that Tim!" Lucia shouted

Timothy remained silent. His silence made Lucia worry. It meant that he might do extreme things just for her. She doesn"t want that. She doesn"t want to be away from again. After a long time of separation, they were finally reunited.

Just like what Tim said, there was indeed a blind curve. After that they split from Captain Bisham and Escanor.

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Amir and his men stopped. The trails diverged into three and he had no idea which way Prince Timothy and Lucia went.

"Should we split our forces sir?" A soldier looked at him as if begging for his guidance. His men knew how important this mission was. If they fail, Wismar will be dragged into a Castonian Civil War. They need to find the two royals.

"No, we can"t. I"m sure Timothy"s guards are just behind us. We can"t divide our forces" Amir said. He only brought about fourty men with him so they can"t afford to be divided.

"Then which way should we go?" the soldier asked again.

Amir looked at the three trails. The rain turned the ground into mud so the hoof prints are clear. He dismounted and examined each of the trails.

"This way" he pointed to the left. "The hoof prints are deeper so the horse must be carrying two people"

He mounted his horse again and ordered his men to resume the chase. Prince Timothy was smart. But the Prince didn"t know that Amir was one of the best hunters in Wismar.

The hunt continues.

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It had been three hours since they split up with Captain Bisham and the short man. Timothy looked around. It was still raining hard and the rain turned the ground into a marsh. The mud was slippery and the horse slipped many times. In one of those times, one of the horse"s legs was sprained. Since then, the horse had run slower.

"Tim" Lucia said behind him "I hear horses approaching"

"What?" Timothy turned his head around. "How many?" he asked.

"Dozens"

Timothy listened and he also heard the approach of horses. There were too many of them for it to be Captain Bisham and the short man.

His heart beat fast. How? How could the Wismarines make the right choice? Out of the three trails, they chose the one leading to him and Lucia.

"It could be my guards. Don"t worry." Timothy said but he knew that his guards were still hours away, that is if they even escaped Baron Braun.

In truth, Timothy was afraid. Even if he stood his ground, he can"t protect Lucia against dozens of Wismarines. Because both of them were on the same horse, the animal ran slower than usual. The Wismarines would catch them eventually.

He needs to find a way soon or else…He stopped these thoughts. There"s still hope, there will always be hope. He will not give up.

Timothy then heard the sound of flowing water. He looked sideways and saw a river at the distance. From what he knows, the river was a tributary to the bigger Carnack River. An idea then came to him.

"Do you know how to swim?" he asked Lucia.

"What?" Lucia confusedly asked. "Yes. Why?"

He pointed at the river. "See the river? We need to get across."

"But it"s swollen. We could drown."

What Lucia said was right. The heavy rain had swollen the river. It will be dangerous to swim across it. But they don"t have a choice

"The horse is slow. They will catch up to us soon. We need to make a gamble. Their armor will drag them down on foot."

Lucia was silent. After a while she nodded. "Okay. I trust your judgment.

Timothy forced the horse to run the last kilometer. It was slow but they reached the river. Both of them dismounted and prepared for their crossing.

"Cling onto me" he told Lucia. He then wrapped one of his arms on her shoulder. "And if the river sweep us, make sure that your feet are the ones pointing downstream."

Timothy looked at the river. The river was swollen and the current was strong. Their crossing will be dangerous. But they must do it. If the Wismarines catch Lucia, they will kill her. Things would be different if the ones chasing them were Braun"s men. Timothy knew that Baron Braun only wanted to capture Lucia. But the Wismarines were different.

He surveyed the river and looked for a shallow. Most of the time, a wider portion of the river also means shallower water and slower current. Since the river was only a tributary, finding a shallow should be easier.

"There" Timothy pointed at the widest portion of the river. The two of them went to the shallow and began their crossing. Timothy picked up a stick and used it to test the level of the water.

Slowly and carefully, they crossed. The current was strong but Timothy strengthened his legs. Thankfully, there were rocks along the way so they could rest every once in a while.

Inch by inch, they approached the other end. Lucia was clinging tightly on him. It was hard. There were even times when the river almost swept them away.

When they were halfway through, the Wismarines arrived. They immediately removed their armors to start their own crossing. But some of them were preparing something. Timothy squinted and saw that some of them had crossbows.

"Lucia!" he shouted but the Wismarines already fired their weapons. Arrows flew towards them. Some of the arrows fell near them.

"Are you hit!?" he frantically asked her.

"No. I don"t think so Tim. And you?" she gave him a worried look.

Tim shook his head as answer. That was close. They can"t stay here. He looked towards the Wismarines and saw that they were already reloading.

"We need to let the current take us. We can"t stay here" he said.

"Okay." Lucia said. She then hugged him.

Timothy then made the most dangerous decision of his life. He let go of the rocks. In an instant, the powerful river currents swept them.