“Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.” -
J.K. Rowling

The change in the way the wind rustles through the trees is sudden - like an unexpected downpour in the forest. I knew leaving the handkerchief was risky, but I couldn't neglect the custom. However, it seems like instead of bringing me luck and good fortune, it brought me the opposite: I didn't think they would come for me so soon.

Helping my host in his vegetable garden today has been enjoyable. The work is not easy, but feeling my fingers work through a soil so similar to that of my home is definitely worth the inconvenience.

I place my implements on the ground, hoping that my host would not detect my alarm. “Rorith, thanks for your help. Thank you for the food and bed last night.”

“Fin, I will accompany you to the house,” he replies as he places his own down.

“It is fine. I can see myself out. Thank you for your hospitality.” The elves will be here very soon. Anxious not to waste a second, my foot taps against the soil.

A smirk ignites Rorith's face. “A large group of horses are approaching, I am guessing that from your sudden haste to go, that they are looking for you.”

“I have used your hospitality, but I am begging you to not tell them about me. I really have to leave even though I swear on my family's honour that I am neither a thief nor a murderer.” 

“Let’s walk to the house.”

The pounding of my heart grows so loud against my chest that I place my fingers on my pulse to feel rooted. I have to leave. Now. They will drag me back to the forest and I will have to marry Strongwind.

The least I can do is to allow my host's wish of accompanying me to his house.

“Give me a moment to pack. I am going with you.”

It takes me a moment to register what he said. “Why? I am fine. I have eluded them for years now.”

My eyes narrow in suspicion. He probably believes that I can be overpowered and exchanged for reward money. “I did not think of you as a gold-digger.”

“Everything does not revolve around you. I have to leave because I cannot risk the soldiers finding me. I am one of the most wanted men in Ardamland.”

His eyes are widened and flitting from object to object trying to decide what he needs to pack. He is just as frantic as I am - if not more so.

Now he poses a threat to me. I cannot trust him at all.

“I am not a murderer. I promise you that on my family’s honour.” He chuckles. “I became a thief out of necessity. We can stand here, wasting time debating who is morally more deserving or we can go and discuss it later.”

He is adamant about accompanying me. Now there is no way for me to leave without him.

“For now we are partners,” I extend my hand. At the earliest possible opportunity I will try to lose him. What matters most now is leaving here.

Rorith packs with a speed and accuracy that only those on the run possess. I watch him masterfully stuff everything we might need into one bag, including ample dried foods, basic cutlery and his tinderbox.

“Fin, roll a blanket for you. I don't have a second as I never thought anyone else would flee with me.”

Grabbing the blanket still neatly folded from the morning, I spread it out on the table before rolling it tightly. He hands me a strap of material to tie it with.

As we make our way outside, he gives a sharp whistle. The horses obey immediately and make their way to the large building outside which turns out to be a stable and store for implements. He masterfully saddles the horses, securing the blankets and bag in place before mounting.

Quickly following his example, I realise that he might still prove to be a good partner. He knows how to flee and survive perhaps even better than I do.

There is no immediate trace of our pursuers as we head away from Rorith's farm, but I can feel them on the edges of my consciousness. Hopefully we gain some time when my people enquire in the village and then search the farm.

The remainder of the day is hallmarked by swift travelling through fields of grass. Rorith had cleverly chosen not to travel by road. Even if the roads are faster, this is the safer option by far.

“We will have to stop. It will be dark soon. They will not follow us through the night.” Rorith says, breaking the silence for the first time.

“You are welcome to stop, but I will carry on. You are right, they will not travel by night, but tomorrow they will be faster and catch up to us. I cannot afford that, so I will press on.” This might be my chance to get rid of him.

“Then I will do so as well, partner.”

“We will need to change direction before the night settles.”

He steers his horse after mine, blindly trusting me.

“So, where are we heading? We are going southeast, but as far as I know there aren't any towns in this direction,” he asks after a while.

“Although there are no human towns, the marshes have their own villages. We can travel through them and then from there to any of the big cities on that side of Ligtland.”

The least I can do to really pay for his hospitality is to help him shake off the pursuers that I brought to his town.

“But the skados will not take kindly to our presence in the marshes.”

I detect no fear of them in his voice.

Oh yes, he is from Alesam. He would have seen them before. However, he probably thinks the skados in the marshes will act in the same way as those completing official duties in Alesam. Skados. Even with the risk of sounding like my mother, the only way to describe skados is to compare them to dogs: well-trained and behaved if need be, but feral once in the wild.

Even if I am afraid of entering their territory, I can bet that they wouldn't blindly obey my mother's orders without hearing me out first. “It is either the skados or the elves. I have a better chance with the skados.”

“Well then that is the best option that I have as well.”

“So it is agreed?”

“We remain partners,” he says. “I am ravenous.”

“There is no time to stop for food now.”

We continue to ride until the last light of the day disappears, halting and dismounting almost at the same time.

“We can eat now,” I say and slump down against a tree.

Rorith joins me, breaking the bread in half. “Take it,” he says when he sees my hesitation. “Keep it with you until you are hungry.”

“I cannot infringe on your hospitality any longer.”

“You are not my guest anymore. I thought we agreed we are partners.” A lop-sided smile accompanies his words.

Our respite doesn't last long. The moment we get comfortable, we get going again.

“We have to start moving faster - much faster. They will catch up with us soon if we don't press on.”

“I don't hear anything.”

“You won’t,” I snap, and immediately feel bad. “I apologise, but you will have to trust that I am right.”

“I trust you. I just want to know how you know everything.”

“I don't know everything - just a lot,” I smile.

We press on for another two days before unexpectedly encountering a farming company trekking with livestock.

Rorith wanted to bargain with them to sell our horses for twenty gold pieces each. However, knowing that negotiating would waste valuable time and still not produce the result he desired, I accept the offer of eight in total. We would have had to free the horses on the edge of the marshes anyway, so selling them was an unexpected fortune.

The changing landscape proves that we have one day left before we reach the marshes anyway. The green grass gives way to yellow ones. The trees, previously scattered on the hils, have disappeared completely. Even the ground we walk on seem colder and less stable than around the forest.

As the day presses on, the distance between us and them shrinks significantly. At the same moment that the marshes are within our reach, we see the elves at out rear.

The company of almost twenty immediately charge forward when they set their sights on us.

Rorith sprints forward, before halting in his steps when he realises that I am not following.

“Come on, Fin!”

“I will stay.” I say decidedly. “They are here for me.”

He runs back to me. “I’m not leaving you Fin. I do not know why they are after you, but I don’t believe you are a bad person.”

“You are very stubborn.”

“Are you going to stand here arguing with me or are we going to run to the marshes together?”

We run side by side, but we are too slow.

“We can fight!” Rorith pants in between steps. Sweat beads on his forehead.

“We cannot win them.”

“You haven’t seen me fighting,” he grins.

I just shake my head. Even though the marshes are within our reach, we won't make it in time. 

“We don’t have to win. We just have to move ourselves and them closer to the marshes,” he grins again.

A flicker of hope lights my face. His plan might work.

Within moments the elves form a semicircle behind us before dismounting.

Rorith and I take our stance with the marshes to our backs.

“I am not coming with you,” I quip without giving them the chance to greet me nor state my arrest.

“You have to accompany us, princess Laelia Darkwood of ArBrae,” the one in charge removes his helmet as he addresses me.

He looks familiar, but I am certain that he is from one of the other cities - probably from the closest to the forest edge on this side.

“I do not belong with you.”

The elf to his left clenches a fist, before walking to his leader.

The leader's head jerks toward his companion as he whispers something. “My lord?”

Being the only one whose face is fully covered by the helmet, I am unable to see his lips as he whispers again.

However, the in-charge's eyes reflect astonishment. “You have three minutes to reach the marshes.” he finally announces

Alboin. That is his name. He is a few years older than Faolan and from Mae-Tel City.

I do not waste a second to question their odd decision, but rather break into the most important sprint of my life. Rorith's footsteps follow without delay.

Moments later the shifting ground of the marshes gives way beneath my right foot. The cold gooey mud rolls into my boots, its weight dragging me down. My calf heats up as I struggle to free my foot.

My eyes flit to my surroundings when I fail to do so. Thank the Council for a stable path closeby - and that Rorith ended up there. Trudging through the metres of mud seems to last a lifetime.

Rorith offers his hand when I reach him, pulling me up with a decided tug.

The groggy mud against my one foot makes my landing uneven.

We look back to the elves who are still standing where they did before we ran.

“We will not let you go if we meet you again - and we will meet you again,” Alboin shouts to us.

“Let’s go,” I say simply. I hop from the piece of stable sand we are standing on to the next.

We press on until the elves are no longer visible.

“We do not have enough water or food for an extended stay.”

“We can’t go back. They will be waiting for us. I don’t know why they let us go,” I reply frowning.

It makes no sense. They've been looking for me for years.