Fool's Errand by Maureen Fergus

Author:Maureen Fergus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PRH Canada Young Readers

THIRTY

THE MAN IN MEANEST HOMESPUN lowered the spyglass to his lap and rubbed his aching eye. In the waking hours since the princess had gotten swallowed up by the avalanche, there’d been so much to see that his poor eye had hardly had a rest at all.

The previous evening, in addition to regularly observing the General’s camp to ensure that no messengers were being dispatched, the man had alternated between following the upward progress of the two soldiers and watching the site of the avalanche for some sign of the princess. He’d seen no sign of her, but shortly after the avalanche had ended, he’d seen one of her companions emerge from behind a rock face and linger for a few moments before starting back down the mountain on a path that appeared as though it would lead her directly into the arms of the ascending soldiers. Shortly thereafter, he’d watched as mountain men who looked more like bears than men had appeared out of nowhere to dig out and drag away two more of the princess’s companions, one of whom looked to be injured. By the time they’d disappeared into the mists of the high mountain, it had grown too dark to see anything more, anyway. So the man had carefully stowed his spyglass, chewed on a piece of dried venison to ease the gnawing hunger in his stomach, sipped sparingly from his water skin and lashed himself to the tree to get some much-needed sleep.

Shortly after dawn this morning, some instinct had caused him to awaken with a start. He’d gotten the spyglass to his eyes just in time to see the princess pulled from the bowels of the mountain. As he’d nodded with satisfaction at the certainty that the one who’d sent him would be pleased that she yet lived, he’d caught a movement at the lower edge of his field of vision. Shifting the spyglass so that he could focus his full attention on the movement, the man in homespun had been amazed to see that the two soldiers had not only managed to survive the night but had survived with enough strength left to attack a herd of Khan sheep. The man—who’d heard that the Khan were huge and mighty warriors—had not been especially impressed with the shepherd’s size or battle skills, but he’d been tremendously impressed by his willingness to place himself between the soldiers and the sheep, that his herd might have a chance to flee to higher ground. By this feat of bravery, he’d managed to save the entire herd but one—and while trying to rescue this one, he, himself, had been captured.

The man in homespun realized now, of course, what the soldiers who’d passed beneath his tree the night before had been arguing about. They’d been arguing about whether they ought to take advantage of their foray onto the mountain to enrich themselves with plunder and slaves, as was their right as New Men. The man could have told them that they’d be fools to do so.

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