Chapter 216: Relieved
While the day was drawing late and Irene had been feeling tired for hours, she was suddenly reenergized at the sight of the encampment that looked more like a small village of tents.
If the Knights of Hydrogia were there, that meant the others had more help. She hoped that they had been there a while, but considering the long time it took to travel between the two places, she understood that it likely wasn’t the case.
The apprentice’s knees squeezed her horse’s sides, and she felt Sorrel become more invigorated as well. Did the sight of the place make him know that he was finally going to be able to eat well and rest? He was an old horse and had served her family so well for the past few years. She hadn’t expected to take him away from her father, but it somehow turned out like that, and no one ever said anything about it.
Irene rounded the southern side of the encampment and went right to the shabby stables. Well, shabby if it weren’t for the fact that they had been made larger and extended. There were presently apprentices and squires working to secure posts into the ground and make the space more expansive and comfortable for the horses. Since the Knights of Hydrogia arrived with a lot more men, they would need all the space they could get.
An apprentice she didn’t recognize took her horse, and she gratefully let Sorrel go, knowing that he was in safe hands. She only took off the saddlebags.
Before she could respond more appropriately to the situation, Irene heard footfalls rushing towards her. The moment she turned around, she was shocked to feel the hard hug of someone wearing armor. It seemed like a gesture from her father, but when she returned the hug after rebalancing herself, she realized the person she hugged was much smaller.
Only when the man grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away did she realize Sir Gunnar was hugging her, and she was surprised at the gesture he had never made before in the time they had known each other.
"Sir...?" she asked in disbelief.
"I am so relieved to see that you have succeeded in what you set out to do," the knight explained his actions. "The Knights of Hydrogia have already lost an apprentice to the poison. It reminded me of the first time you experienced it and how unknowledgeable we were at the time."