Chapter 26: Into the Woods
****
After talking to James, Loisette spun into her Gawain outfit. Then she hurried to the stable.
Her mind was already buzzing with thoughts of Avalon Lake and the forest behind it. She had never been behind the lake before, and suddenly she wanted desperately to go. If the kingdom was to be hers, she should know the land more, shouldn’t she? What if there were hidden caves in the woods or even a secret river? People were always warned away from the forest, so how did they know what was to be found inside it?
The lake was very large, and the left side of it was supposed to be heavily forested, whereas the right side of it extended beyond the border between Metropolita and the Barbarian Kingdom. She knew going to the woods would be dangerous, but she wanted to see it for herself. There was no telling what they would find! What if there were even people living there? How different would it be from the royal forest?
Inside the stable, Loisette found Clarkent was--as always--working. “Clarkent!” she greeted eagerly.
And he turned and smiled. “Hey, Gawain.” He was oblivious to what she was about to ask him.
Grinning widely, she inquired casually, “Are you ready for another adventure?”
The other boy’s expression soured. “Gawain, maybe we should leave the adventures alone for a while--”
“Please,” she begged. “This’ll be the . . . the last one.” Those last few words were hard to get out. But it was true--she would have to leave their times together behind her when she became queen. When she met him as the princess after her birthday ball, she needed to tell him he couldn’t see Gawain anymore. She could tell him that Gawain was turning seventeen and was too sad to say goodbye. At least there would be a kernel of truth in it. *She* was turning seventeen, and she would be sad to say goodbye. The thought of it was still enough to make her sick. She wasn’t ready to be queen.
“What do you want to do?” he asked with a sigh.
Pulling her thoughts back to her current mission and away from the misery that loomed before her, Loisette told him, “I want to go to Avalon Lake and explore the other side of it.”
Clarkent grimaced, and Loisette suspected he was remembering the last time they were at the lake. The fight had hurt them both. “It’s too far,” he told her. “Besides, what if we ran into trouble? Remember what happened with the ogres?”
“We’ll take horses,” she told him, having already thought about such a protest to her plan. “Most monsters are slow.”
“But not all of them,” he returned with narrowed eyes.
“Clarkent, I really want to do this,” she said softly. What would she do if he actually denied her this time? “I told you--this will be the last one. Can’t we go on an adventure one more time? Please.”
He stared at her, indecision evident in his gaze. Her breath caught in her throat, and she began to fear that this time he would not agree to her plan. Then he lowered his head, and she knew she had won, and a sense of relief washed over her.
“All right,” he conceded, looking none too happy about his choice to placate her. “Just give me a little while to work on stuff here. Then I’ll ask Dwayne if I can leave early and make it up later tonight and early tomorrow. And I also need to--to go get something.”
“Great!” she exclaimed, hugging him and ignoring the weird look he gave her. She was curious as to what he was going to retrieve, but she wouldn’t push for the answer. Not when he had given her what she wanted.
Instead, she turned to look at the horses, pleased with what had just transpired, and her eyes fell on Penelope Grace. Smiling to herself as something occurred to her, Loisette walked over to the horse.
“**Hey,**” she told the horse softly. “**I want to ask you something.**”
“**What is it?**”
“**Would you . . . be willing to go on an adventure with me?**” Loisette asked. She knew she might as well be direct about it.
“**You wish to be like your dam,**” the horse commented with a foresight that was surprising.
“**Yes,**” Loisette admitted, clasping her hands together. “**I feel like maybe this will . . . will help me feel closer to her somehow. I don’t want her to be lost to me.**”
“**You can’t bring her back,**” Penelope Grace pointed out gently.
“**I know,**” Loisette said, drawing in a ragged breath. Nothing could do that. Not even magic. “**But she can live on in me, can’t she?**”
The palfrey lowered her head. “**She already lives on in you. You do not have to do this to know that. But I will go with you. Perhaps these old bones have an adventure left in them after all.**”
Loisette grinned, rubbing the horse’s neck. “**Thank you.**”
But Penelope Grace didn’t reply. She simply took in a mouthful of hay and began to chew.
****
When Clarkent was finally ready to go--the object he had gone to retrieve was the sword he used as the Black Knight, for he had regretted its absence at the ogre cave and didn’t want to feel quite so helpless again--they began arguing again.
“It’s not a good idea,” he said firmly. If he were a horse, he might have stomped a foot; as it was, he crossed his arms and gave his friend an imperious look.
“But I *want* to take Penelope Grace!” Gawain exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.
“She used to belong to Queen Ellena,” Clarkent pointed out in irritation. Didn’t the boy realize servants shouldn’t go around taking the personal horses of royalty into danger? “It’s not a good idea. Besides, you know how cranky that horse gets. She’d just as soon bite you as carry you.”
Gawain trailed his fingers down the palfrey’s neck. “You don’t get cranky, do you?” he said, as if speaking to the horse, though the slight smirk on his face showed that his words were meant for Clarkent’s ears.
“She won’t let you ride her,” Clarkent said, his voice matter-of-fact.
“And I say she will,” Gawain returned stubbornly. “Look, if there are any problems, then I’ll stop riding her. How’s that?”
Clarkent stared intensely at him. It was true that the horse--for reasons Clarkent couldn’t comprehend--appeared to act congenial enough (if “congenial” could be applied to any horse, much less *that* one) with Gawain. And it wasn’t like anyone else would ever come in wanting to ride her. As far as Clarkent knew, only Queen Ellena had been interested, and she wasn’t around anymore.
Grumbling, Clarkent conceded with great reluctance, “Fine. You can ride her. But the second anything goes wrong with her, we’re coming straight back, and we aren’t going to try this adventure again. It’ll be over completely. Deal?”
Gawain nodded, his expression glad. “Deal.”
“But we have to ask Dwayne first,” Clarkent told him.
“All right,” agreed Gawain.
****
They got permission from Dwayne--who wasn’t told specifically where they were going--and Clarkent even was allowed to take Esroh Repus. They left the Riding Stable on their mounts and began their trek to Avalon Lake, Gawain racing ahead like an excited kid while Clarkent trailed behind, trying to dismiss his misgivings.
Gawain halted Penelope Grace--who had, to Clarkent’s astonishment, not given her young rider any problems at all--and twisted in the saddle to look at Clarkent. “Are you coming?”
“Yeah,” Clarkent confirmed, bringing Esroh Repus up. He stared out at the lake for a few seconds, watching as a breeze caused ripples to break out on the water. He gently touched the sheath at his side, feeling a small comfort in its weight. When Gawain had asked him where he got the sword, he had claimed to have found it on a dead man. Though the two boys had practiced sword-fighting with sticks countless times, they had never used real weapons, but Clarkent felt there was no fear in letting his friend see the sword now. Since the Black Knight had been around for a while, it wouldn’t be too suspicious for him to have a new sword. And the “dead man” excuse was enough to divert Gawain’s interest.
But though Clarkent knew he needed the sword for safety’s sake, he didn’t understand what it was about danger that appealed to Gawain. Why exactly did Gawain want to go do this?
Aloud, he asked his friend, “Why do you like to adventure so much?”
****
The stableboy’s question caused Loisette to look away for a moment. She couldn’t tell him the truth . . . . She couldn’t tell him she felt she was locked into a life where she had to always do what was expected of her and never what she wanted to do. She couldn’t explain how doing something like this--even in disguise--made her feel alive. Made her feel free, even if just for a brief time. Made her feel like she wasn’t someone’s puppet, moving her arms and legs in time with their wishes for her.
Instead, she just told him, “It’s fun. Don’t be such a spoilsport. Now, come on!” And she lightly kicked Penelope Grace into a trot--riding astride was so much easier than riding sidesaddle and having to deal with that darn whip!--and began the journey around the lake.
When they finally reached the forest, she felt a shiver of anticipation creep down her spine. “We’re here, Clarkent!”
“It’s just a forest,” he said, sounding almost irked with her enthusiasm. He obviously didn’t want to be there. For some reason, that just made her smile.
As Penelope Grace moved forward, Loisette looked around them, feeling a sense of awe overtake her as the wind--stronger now than it had been earlier--shook the leaves and branches on the trees. “No, it’s different,” she told him as they moved deeper into the woods. “These trees are larger than any I’ve ever seen. Don’t you feel that sense of power surrounding us? It’s almost like the trees are magic . . . . ”
“Maybe they are,” he murmured, speaking just loud enough that she could hear him.
That thought was almost enough for her to suggest they turn around, but she strengthened her resolve and continued onward. It was silly to be frightened of something as mundane as a tree.
As they journeyed, Loisette kept hoping they would happen upon a cave or an abandoned cottage or the remnants of a centuries-old fight or something else exciting, but all they came across were more trees. The wind began to pick up, and the branches above them seemed to thicken and press inward as their horses walked on. Penelope Grace started getting jumpy, pulling on her bit and shaking her head.
“**Are you all right?**” Loisette whispered.
“**Something isn’t right,**” the horse told her. She was obviously afraid.
And then, an eerie noise drifted to them on the air, causing Loisette’s spine to tingle. Penelope Grace’s ears twitched, and her body seemed to tense.
“What was that?” Loisette asked, glancing at Clarkent, her throat tightening.
“It sounded like a howl,” he said grimly, the fear she felt reflected in his eyes as well. “We should go. It’s not safe here.”
“I think you’re right,” she agreed, tugging at Penelope Grace’s reins to turn her around. The horse obliged readily, eager to leave that place.
Esroh Repus also reversed direction at Clarkent’s prodding, and he broke out into a trot.
“Come on,” Clarkent called back to her.
Penelope Grace trotted after the other horse, and Loisette’s pulse sped up. Then she heard a slight panting noise and twisted to look behind her. Four panting Garms were coming straight toward them, their eyes glowing red in the darkness.
Garms looked like mutated black wolves, their backs hunched, their eyes red and glowing, and their fur matted together. They were brutal beasts who, unlike wolves, never showed any fear of humans. She’d read about them and seen pictures of them, but she had never been even close to a real one. They were terrifying.
Penelope Grace surged forward, throwing Loisette backward. As she reestablished her balance on the horse, she yelled ahead to Clarkent, “Faster!” The brutal beasts obviously had blood on their minds.
But Esroh Repus seemed to have realized the danger, as he was already going faster than he was before. His rider threw a look backward and widened his eyes at the sight of the vicious creatures behind them. “They’re real?” his voice flew back to Loisette.
The horses practically flew through the forest as they attempted to escape their pursuers. But then as Loisette threw a gaze down, she saw a Garm prepare to leap up at Penelope Grace’s flank. Without thinking, Loisette turned in the saddle and kicked, hitting the wolflike creature and knocking it to the ground as it yelped.
Penelope Grace lunged forward, an image of desperation flashing into Loisette’s head from the horse.
“**I’m so sorry,**” Loisette whispered, her eyes resting on the back of her mount’s head before returning to the Garms. And then another was jumping up, its fangs slick with saliva and its eyes rolling in hunger. It latched onto her shoe, and she shrieked, shaking her foot and causing the beast to hit Penelope Grace’s side and release its hold.
And then it happened. Penelope Grace, who was by no means a young horse, stumbled. The Garms behind her pressed their advantage, biting at her legs. The horse collapsed.
The momentum flung Loisette forward and off the horse, and as she closed her eyes and prepared to hit the ground, she distantly thought she could hear Clarkent shout at her.
