Chapter 19: A Warm Welcome
"We’ll have the post-mortem meeting now. Gather in the main tent," Kyren ordered his men as he held the rein of his warhorse and loped slowly into the entrance.
Fifteen men returned with him. Ten of them were the previously dispatched knights on duty, and five were his escorts and the healer.
The clip-clop of the warhorses slowed and finally halted, allowing the squires on standby to approach the team and welcome them.
The commander’s sharp blue eyes gazed upon the camp. The atmosphere was calm, with the summer breeze blowing slowly. It seemed everything was in order as he had left it.
Then, something peculiar caught his sight.
In the distance, in the middle of the path leading to his tent, a woman stood, hesitantly looking at him. His eyes stared at her for a moment before his pupils began to dilate.
Like being punched in the chest, his heart started to pound hard with an ache at the figure he saw.
As quick as a flash, he jumped down from the warhorse, hastily disarming his gauntlets and throwing them to the ground. The squire quickly picked them up.
Anna’s breathing quickened, trying to appease her need for air. Her hand was on her chest as she saw him right before her watery eyes.
’It’s him! He’s truly back!’
The princess felt the surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins as her heart almost burst out of her chest.