Farah walked in the opposite direction as Atria. While her counterpart headed back to the city and its slums, Farah bolted for the nearest mansion on the hill – her parents' house. Half an hour, she guessed. I have time as long as I'm not stopped. And I can bring Heidi and Laurel. She grinned eagerly at the thought of her horses and picked up her pace a bit so she could reach the mansion quicker.
Atria knew her outfit would make her stand out, but she wasn't expecting how much the people avoided her. Visible weapons and a soldier's uniform made her stand out in the crowds, but for once it wasn't a bad thing. People got out of her way whenever she walked, and though a fair few sneered at her, no one stopped her. The further she got from the palace, the more people avoided her, especially as she rounded a familiar corner and spotted a group of young kids she knew. A soft smile split her face, but it dropped as the little kids scattered.
For a moment, she paused, then shook her head and refocused. She wouldn't be coming back here without the princess in tow, and so she couldn't leave with bitter feelings around her appearance. Her feet guided her to the door by memory; a small door made from old palates and barely propped against the side of the alley. Even in her guard uniform, she rapped out a soft code on the rotting door before pushing inside. She was bound to run into people she knew in the building, but she had a time limit, and had to move fast.
Farah reached her house, but instead of using the front door, she went around the side. There, hidden behind thriving ivy was a ladder. Without hesitating, she climbed it and slipped into the room it led up to. Her room. Once she was inside, she looked around slowly.
The room was simple. Painted white, gold, and green to infuse loyalty to the queen subconsciously. Farah shook her head and went to her dresser. She had to be quiet, knowing if her parents encountered her, they would tell the queen where she'd been once word about her betrayal got out. Every move she made from her on out had to be calculated and certain.
Once she'd gathered enough clothes from her closet to last for a while, she gathered a few more small possessions – a bracelet, a piece of paper, a needle and some thread – and stuffed them in with everything else. Finishing quickly, she took one last look around her room and descended back down the ladder.
Behind the shabby door sat a room, with two open doorways off of either side. In the main room sat a rickety table and a makeshift kitchen, and three people sat around the table, partaking in a game of cards. The three looked up as soon as Atria stepped inside, but they didn't speak until she had closed the door behind her. One was an old woman, the next was a little boy who was fast asleep, and the third was a boy around her age who had an eyepatch tied over one eye.
"How was your distraction?" The first spoke, the gruff old woman with thick crow's feet around her eyes and a scowl on her face. She looked over Atria, squinting as she took in her outfit, "You look busy."
"It went alright," Atria said, grinning at the woman, "I got myself into a wonderful chase." She headed towards one of the doorways, still talking as she did. Her words were a lie, but they rolled off her tongue as easily as anything. "Unfortunately, I got myself into a little too much trouble. Soldiers are out looking for me, and the easiest thing to do is leave the city for a few days."
A different voice spoke this time, the deep tone indicating it was the older boy, "I'm not surprised. You're a bit of a troublemaker Atria."
She laughed lightly, walking through the doorway into what looked like a tiny makeshift barrack. Bunk beds lined the walls, and there was a fair bit of chaos in the room that showed it was well-loved. Beds were covered in colorful blankets, old clothes, wooden toys, and several weapons. A few even had worn books tucked onto them. "You can't talk Jax. Your head was on the line just a few days ago." She made a shot towards one bed, in particular, her bed. The bed wasn't made, and there was a half-packed bag already thrown on the pillow. Atria grabbed the bag without hesitation, scanning through it with a nod before slinging it onto her back. Before she headed back to the main room, she moved the pillow and scooped up a small pouch that had been hidden beneath it. Coins jingle inside as she tucked the pouch into her bag, the only coins she had to her name making a slight racket.
After a moment suspended in the air, Farah's boots hit the ground again, and she gathered the satchel full of clothes she'd taken to her chest as she headed away from the window. The articles of clothing she had now weren't even a fraction of the amount of clothes that were in her closets and dressers. She'd also bundled a hefty amount of money into a shirt and stuffed it in her bag as well. Suddenly, she realized the life she'd be leaving behind to find the princess, and most likely after as well. There would be no going back to the queen or her family. Definitely not after she committed such a high form of treason.
Farah couldn't help but wonder if the queen had figured out yet what she'd done. Gone and sent a soldier to check on her after she hadn't returned very quickly. Her shock and anger finding out the prisoner wasn't there. Momentary confusion, wondering how a prisoner could've overpowered her most efficient guard. Then realization. She wasn't there to see it, but the queen's reaction was exactly that.
Keeping her steps light, Farah crept to the stables. Her two horses – Heidi and Laurel – whinnied excitedly when they saw her. "Hi girls," Farah whispered. "C'mon. We're going on an adventure." She quickly undid their ties to the stable, and situated all her gear on Heidi. She held onto Laurel's reigns as she climbed onto Heidi and snapped the reigns. Heidi began to go and Laurel, seeming to realize that Farah had a grip on her reign, trotted along with them.
"Anyway, I'll be back eventually. Don't worry too much," Atria said, offering a tight-lipped smile to the group. She tightened her pack on her back, double-checked that all of her weapons were still with her, then looked over the three at the table once more. A pang of realization came over her, there was a fair chance she would never see them again. Before she could dwell on it, she headed towards the door, pushing it open. "Oh, and tell the others I said goodbye."
"Mhm," Jax grunted, the three of them already focused back on their card game, "Be safe, Atria."
She didn't respond, already out the door and shutting it behind her. Based on her guess, there wasn't too much time left before the bell would chime, definitely not enough for her to buy or bargain for food. Slightly, she frowned, but headed towards the city gate anyway. They could find food once they were away from the city and the queen. Maybe she could even catch something if they had the time to stop and rest.
Atria arrived at the gate moments before the bell tolled, taking up a spot just out of the guard's view near a merchant's wares who was arguing with the guards at the gate. She leaned against the wooden cart, looking for her new partner with a watchful eye.
As Farah rode away from her house, she kept glancing over her shoulder. She became increasingly paranoid that her parents were going to burst out the front door and shut down her "operation" before it could even begin. But they never came.
As she rode into town, she guided Heidi and Laurel down a specific path, one that would be the clearest of royal patrols. Her heart was racing, worried that if she made the wrong turn people would question her. But she was wearing a guard's uniform and that alone signaled a high enough status, not to mention two horses. She just had to keep her cool.
Farah noted Atria leaning on a wooden cart. If she hadn't known any better, the girl had the atmosphere of a guard without the looks. She wasn't fit enough. Correction: she was fit, just not in the way guards were trained and shaped to be. She stopped Heidi and Laurel as she reached her. "Hello, soldier."
Atria grinned when she saw Farah with two horses, standing up straight and nodding to her. "Hello, ready to go?" She adjusted her pack as she spoke, eyeing up the empty horse she assumed was left for her to ride. Frankly, she had little experience with riding, but there was only one way to get better, and there was no way she was going to let Farah know. Plus, she couldn't complain about a way out of the city that didn't require them to just walk. "Anything else to do before we're out of here? I can't say how long we'll be gone, so I hope you tied up all your loose ends." She said, making general conversation as she neared the horse. After making sure that she had everything, she swung up onto it, motioning for Farah to lead the way out.
"As many as I could," Farah lied. Once Atria had gotten situated, mounted, and settled atop her horse, Farah clicked her tongue against her teeth twice, and both the horses set off at a swift trotting pace towards the capitol gates. As they approached the gates, Farah leaned over slightly and whispered to Atria, "Let me do the talking here unless you'd like to get arrested."
The two soldiers who guarded them came towards the pair. "Halt, you two." Farah tugged Heidi's reins slightly, so she stopped. Thank goodness Laurel was smart enough to follow her lead. "Where are you going?" the same soldier asked again, while the second soldier hadn't been able to take his eyes off of Farah.
"Eastward bound," Farah replied easily. "Towards the Shattered Sea."
"On whose authority do you travel–" the first guard said, but he was finally interrupted.
"You're Lady Dowling," the other guard finally spoke. "Milady…" he bowed deeply. Upon realizing his mistake, the first guard hastily bowed.
"Lady Dowling. Of course you'll be let through," he said quickly, hurrying to open the gates for the two horses to fit through.
"Thank you kind sirs," Farah replied, clicking her tongue again to urge Heidi forward with Laurel following. Once they were a significant distance away, Farah released a heavy sigh. "Well, we did it," she remarked.
Atria had to force herself to look natural while riding the horse. She practically clung to the reins for dear life as it started off, but before long she had worked herself into looking like she knew what she was doing. She grinned at Farah's words and shot back, "Wouldn't be the first time today I've been arrested." Still, she stayed silent as the soldiers conversed, holding a look of stony annoyance.
Once they were through the gate, she shot a glance at Farah, doing her best to settle into the pace of the horse. She raised an eyebrow, a slight smile on her face, "Towards the Shattered Sea, hm? Why do you think we're going that way?" There was a fair chance she could guess where to start looking for the princess, but Atria knew she most likely wouldn't be there. There was a portion of the rebellion that tried to hunt down the princess, and she had a mostly reliable source of information telling her where they should start looking.
"Oh, please," Farah murmured, her commanding presence only escalated with the addition of her horse. "I thought you of all people would be able to recognize a lie when you hear it. The princess terribly detests the cold. We wouldn't catch her dead near the Shattered Sea. Besides, didn't you say you could guarantee a place to start looking for her? You seemed very confident about it earlier."
She had noted Atria's unusual riding mannerisms and finally decided to call her out on her hands gripping Laurel's reins a bit too tight. "Do you ride?" she asked, glancing over at Atria as they continued forward.
“I’m very confident I know where to start looking,” She said with a nod, clearly quite excited to have knowledge that even Farah didn’t know, “Head south. I’ll tell you specifics when we stop tonight.”
Atria settled into the quiet only for it to be broken a moment later by a question she didn’t want to answer. For a minute she stayed quiet, then finally answered, much less confident than she was only moments ago. “I’ve only ridden twice before this, when I was younger,” She admitted, looking ahead and not daring to glance over at Farah, knowing it would probably get her some well deserved teasing, “We really have no use for horses in the rebellion that operates in the city. Horses are tedious and can’t be cared for in secret.” Atria glanced down at her hands on the reins and loosened her grip ever so slightly, only for it to tighten moments later when the horse took a bit larger of a step and shifted her unexpectedly. “Use that information as you will, soldier.”
Farah nodded absently. What Atria said sounded right. South meant warmth, and warmth meant Luna. The princess despised the cold more than she loved the warmth.
The soldier listened to Atria explain herself and give a bit of intel on the rebellion. Not that Farah would need it. It's not like she was reporting to the queen anymore. She noticed Atria's briefly panicked motion as she tightened the reins and laughed. "Relax," she advised. "Your horse's name is Laurel. Feel free to call her that, if you like. She tends to feel as anxious as her rider, so if you ride her with confidence, she'll be a confident steed."
Again, Farah's reaction to being called "soldier" was visible. She inhaled swiftly and straightened atop her horse. "Please stop calling me that."
Farah nodded absently. What Atria said sounded right. South meant warmth, and warmth meant Luna. The princess despised the cold more than she loved the warmth.
The soldier listened to Atria explain herself and give a bit of intel on the rebellion. Not that Farah would need it. It's not like she was reporting to the queen anymore. She noticed Atria's briefly panicked motion as she tightened the reins and laughed. "Relax," she advised. "Your horse's name is Laurel. Feel free to call her that, if you like. She tends to feel as anxious as her rider, so if you ride her with confidence, she'll be a confident steed."
Again, Farah's reaction to being called "soldier" was visible. She inhaled swiftly and straightened atop her horse. "Please stop calling me that."
"Laurel," Atria repeated, cursing under her breath when she lost a bit of her balance and had to grab onto Laurel's mane to steady herself; much to the horse's annoyance. "Confidence…will be had to come by," She admitted, but did her best to come across as confident in her abilities as they continued on.
Even with her unease on the horse, she glanced over at Farah, raising an eyebrow as she questioned, "Why? Is that not what you are?" She could easily talk with Farah using simply her name, but she didn't want to get cozy with the soldier so soon into their journey. Even with the knowledge that the two of them had to trust each other to work together. "It's the same as you calling me thief, or rebel."
Farah continued to watch Atria struggle, and she chuckled under her breath. "Horses can't tell the difference between actual confidence and fake confidence. Fake it until Laurel believes it and you believe it," she suggested. "It worked for me when I was learning how to ride. Laurel was my first horse."
"It's not," she countered to Atria's comparison. "Because if I called you rebel or thief, you would take those as compliments or simply shrug them off and go about your day. Too many others have called me soldier that it doesn't mean anything that you think it means to me. You couldn't understand," she added quietly.
"Well, what does it mean to you then?" She countered, not looking over at Farah as she steadied herself again. With a grimace of frustration, Atria did her best to conjure up fake confidence, doing her best to settle into the saddle and act less like she was clinging to Laurel for dear life. "See, I'm a few years behind on my riding lessons. I think Laurel can tell." Atria swore she could hear Laurel snort back in agreement, but she ignored it. Again, she tried sitting up straighter in the seat, and mostly succeeded, though she didn't relax the grip on her reins for a moment.
Internally, she decided confidence would come the longer she rode Laurel, but until it came…she was just going to have to suffer through it and not look like too much of a fool.
Farah stiffened when Atria asked what the endearment "soldier" meant to her. Too many memories flashed through her mind, one after the next.
"You're nothing but a useless soldier!"
"Be more than just a soldier."
"Isn't she the best soldier in the queen's personal command?"
"Oh, does that feel good, soldier?"
The last memory forced Farah to physically bite her tongue so she didn't moan at the recollection. "It means a lot of different things," she answered vaguely. "I just wish you would call me Farah. It's my name, and I told it to you so you could call me by it."
"Fine," Atria said, with a bit of frustration in her tone, though it was more from riding than from having to stop with a nickname.
Slowly, she got more used to riding Laurel, though after a few minutes of riding in silence, she spoke again, shifting in the saddle. "How far can we travel today? Actually, how far until we stop for the day?" She didn't look over at Farah, but it was more than clear that the question was directed at her. They had started riding partway through the day, meaning there would be far from a full day ahead of them. Finding a town or village to stop in would mean riding farther, but sleeping out on the road wouldn't be the safest with the horses. Atria just hoped that their stop would come soon so she could get out of the saddle and relax.
(Okay… do we do the “there’s only one bed in the inn” trope…?)
Farah sighed tiredly. “There’s a town about… I’d say nearly a mile ahead, if you’re feeling up for traveling that far. I would prefer for my horses not to spend a night in the woods while I can help it,” she answered, leaning down and stroking Heidi’s mane gently to please the horse amidst her constant trotting. Heidi whinnied with momentary joy and affection for her rider. Farah grinned and straightened up, glancing at Atria briefly. “Or does the rebellion have a safe house around here I wouldn’t know about?”
(Ooo…do you want to do it? Could be kinda funnn)
Atria sighed and nodded, continuing forward. Going another mile didn't sound bad in theory, especially if it protected the horses…but she wasn't looking forwards to it. "Unfortunately, we don't have a safe house nearby. Or at least not closer than the town, so let's head there." Laurel seemed to share in her discomfort at the idea of riding another mile, but neither of them complained verbally, and Atria did her best to come off as confident so the horse could relax even a little.
"Do you have money for an inn when we reach the town?" Atria questioned, turning to look at Farah, "I don't think I can afford a room, especially if we want to buy anything to eat tomorrow."
(Yessssss I'm a sucker for romance tropes, I don't care how cliché they are lmao)
Farah nodded in agreement. "The next town does seem like the best idea…" She tilted her head up and shielded her eyes from the just-beginning-to-set sun. "And the sun's still plenty high up. We should have enough time to get there before dark if we keep up this pace." She spared a glance behind them and breathed a quiet sigh of relief upon seeing the path was clear except for them.
She noted the motion of Atria finally looking over at her rather than keeping a focused gaze directly ahead. "Yes, I have the money to afford it. And if we must, we could share a room with two beds rather than having separate rooms. We'll just have to see what the innkeeper has available for us, that's all."
"If you are comfortable with that, I think sharing a room would be good. We have to make the money we have last, especially if we have to travel with the princess when we find her," Atria said with a light shrug, turning back to look ahead. It wasn't very noticable, but it she was slowly getting more comfortable riding, even if that could be chalked up to the fact that the trail was currently smooth and straight.
She didn't know how long it would take them to find the princess, but she was confident they would be able to catch onto her trail with the information she had. What they would do when they found her…that much she hadn't figured out yet. Atria figured Farah wanted to bring the princess back to the queen, but her goal was to convince the princess to work with the rebellion. Soon enough they would have to confront that difference in opinions or risk fighting over the princess when they found her.
Farah nodded in agreement. "Yes, but I think you underestimate how much money I have, dear." She glanced around as a precaution to make sure no one was around them before she slipped the heavy-looking pouch out of her saddlebag and held it up. "If you ever try to take this from me, I'll slit your throat before you could even blink, so don't try me. But I think I have enough money to pay for everything we'll need on our little excursion."
With that, she slipped the pouch back into her saddlebag and continued looking forward. She was trying not to think too hard about the princess, but she couldn't help it. The sun sinking lower in the distance behind them cast their shadows ahead, and Farah was instantly reminded of how the princess loved the sunset when it illuminated the walls of her bedroom. The journal in the bag on her hip suddenly felt very heavy.
Atria glanced at the pouch Farah pulled out, lips quirking up a little at her threat. "As long as you're offering to pay for this adventure, I won't try anything," She said with a nod before turning back to riding.
Most of the rest of their trip for the night passed in calm silence. Slowly, the sun got lower and it made Atria sit a little straighter in the saddle, hoping that Laurel was good at walking in the growing dim light. Soon though, she could see the lights of a town appearing on the horizon. "That's our spot, I suppose?" She asked.