As Aguna drove his carriage southeast out of the village, Angelus' uneasiness remained with him, even though on his knees lay a fat and heavy bag of gold coins, ten silver talents in all. . A fortune, and the promise of more to come. With that much money, he had enough to buy back the core ancestral property and some left over to invest without risking ending up with another apartment. His family and surname would be secured again, and if Aguna didn't give him a son, he could try to convince the Decian family to let either Flower or Pepper succeed, whichever of them would grow up to be more cunning. Maybe pepper.
With four good horses pulling the cart, he and his family had an advantage over the army pursuing them. If considered individually, a mounted soldier might be faster than any horse-drawn carriage, but the rules of a large army still apply. The road is only so wide and only so many people can ride abreast. Horses had to rest whether the king wanted it or not, and it took more time to start and stop an army than a carriage. Not to mention snowdrifts or muddy terrain. If the front line slows down even slightly, the entire army's advance will be affected.
No, the king would have to rely on good luck if he wanted to catch up with him. Even dividing the army and surrounding them would be difficult to achieve, as each Chapter would have to be large enough to complete the task, meaning they probably wouldn't be much faster than the entire army put together.
King Lugubele
We can try sending out small kill teams at a time to hunt them down; they will catch up without any trouble. But he will be cautious. He saw Android Kerr making a mess in the auditorium. Why abandon a dozen men at a time, again and again?
When the king discovered the bodies of two of his demons but didn't see a dead Androc, or at least a severed arm, or what one would expect, he would also be careful to send out more demon. After all, he only had so many, and they were valuable.
But the truth was that the king still had an advantage, even if he didn't realize it: Androcles could no longer fight. Assuming he doesn't die from an infection, his arm is pretty much useless until it heals. He hoped that, if necessary, he could force them to move one last time, despite the pain, with all their strength, one last time, despite the stitches. But it wasn't just the pain, the muscles were torn and bruised and he could barely clench his fists.
And curse all gods if his murderous intent will harm him every time he tries to use it from now on. Filled with rage, he dared a great king in his own hall, but without it, unable even to swing a sword, he felt less strong than a child. Androcks doesn't know if he should try to use it again in the near future, and hopes he doesn't have to.
No, their only hope was that the king would be cautious, keep his army together, and not move as fast as the carriages. With luck, they could try to burn a bridge and get further, but Androx knew better than to count on good luck.
So he sat there, trying to ignore the flames in his arms and the pain in his ribs every time the carriage hit a bump.
He was surprised by the composure of Argen's driver; he had only seen carts in her homeland. Every now and then she calls out to the horse, like "Watch out for the mud, there," and "Don't go off tune!" In a more typical situation, this would be silly behavior that would make him grin, but after he saw her, Ender Rocks wasn't sure they understood.
How could he say anything was possible as Gabby sat cross-legged on her huge red stag, always perfectly balanced? The little girl also talked to her mount, stroking the thick black fur on its back. . Her posture was as solid and sure as if she were sitting in a chair, but she never did anything visible to Ankerex to maintain her balance. There's something deeply unsettling and unnatural about this scene, a feeling that's only tempered by the fact that it's Gabi who is adorable, innocent, and pure. Her wolf Ash rides in the back of the car, and she assures him her eagle Queenie will be back any minute. He wasn't very reassured.
Flower was in a bad mood. Even though he was comfortably sidled on his side between the bags full of food and extra blankets where Ann Craig sat, he was still fidgeting, pouting with a pained expression on his face. The tip of its white tail stuck out from the edge of the blanket, lashing angrily. In the previous days when it was just the two of them, he'd been mostly stoic, but now his patience seemed to be coming to an end.
Androchus would have liked to say something comforting to cheer him up, but his own enthusiasm had dried up and he had no energy or inclination to try. The simple fact was that the boy had to endure it until his leg healed. Just a few more days.
However, wolfsca
There is both will and energy. Sometimes he would fly high into the air and look around, and sometimes he would fly back into the blanket of flowers when he got cold. He would stick his head out for a minute and tell the boy everything he saw up there, telling him when the village was out of sight, or when the road turned, or if he saw an unusual tree. . One thing he repeated every time was, "There are no demons or soldiers."
However, the fairy began to feel discouraged, because the flower stayed there for a while and still did not cheer up. Finally, he got so riled up that he flew up to Gabby's shoulder and whispered in her ear. Gaby lowered his head, considered the fairy's words carefully, thought for a while, and said calmly: "Sometimes, people like to talk but not listen. Ask him something."
Wolf Sca
Whispered in her ear again, Ga
Bi thought for a moment and nodded.
The fairy flew back to the flower and sat at its head. Gabby turned and looked with concern, leaning forward to look at Ankerex. Her stag lifted his head as well, as if to get a better look, which Anjax couldn't understand. How much can the beast understand?
"Xiaohua, what do you want to do when we get Pepper back?"
"I don't know," Flower replied calmly.
"Are you excited?"
"A little bit. But I don't think... never mind."
Wolf Scar leaned down and stroked Hua's ears. "I bet he was excited when we came to pick him up. You know where we're going? I said where we should go because no one can see the road, so we're going to find flowers."
"Didn't you say that when you saw him, he was locked in a cave? How do you know he is still alive?"
Wolf Sca
Angrily said: "Because I said they need to take good care of him, otherwise they will regret it, because A
d
The okles are coming, and so am I. So they have to take good care of him. "
Flower muttered something under her breath, too quiet to hear.
Wolf Sca
Say: "Yes, we will! Yes, we will, flower!"
"No, we won't. It doesn't matter anyway." Flower whispered, probably thinking that he was too quiet for Anjax to hear.
"Why not? Wolfsca
ask.
Flower had nothing more to say, and when Androcles looked down at him, the boy had closed his eyes, trying to ignore the chattering little fairy sitting on his temple. However, his white ears twitched in annoyance, belying his disinterest.
A
d
Okles sighed and asked, "Boy, does your leg hurt? Is it more than usual?"
Hua opened her eyes, raised her head gloomily, and said, "Unless I move. If not, it will only cause moderate damage."
"Then why are you so angry?"
"I'm not throwing a tantrum."
"Then why are you so upset?"
Aguun snorted, then turned around and said: "Do you think he will answer if you ask him like this, you stupid ogre?"
Androx frowned at her because he knew she was right. She shrugged and turned around. "He might!"
"Oh, really? Why don't you tell us why you're so angry? Are you itchy or something?"
A
d
Okles smiled mischievously and said: "Agun. My dear woman. I can barely move my arms. What do you think?"
After a brief pause, Agun snorted, trying not to laugh, even though it was her humor. Flower's eyes widened, quickly turning into a smile he couldn't help. Gabby blushed and looked away, hiding her amusement.
The sour mood seemed to break, and they rode in silence for a while, somewhat relieved. At least, Hua rested more comfortably. The tip of his tail stopped wagging so angrily.
However, A
d
okles is not done yet. When old Diocles brought little Andros home, he would not let him stay there too long. At that time, he hated this job and resented this person for always asking him to work. But he later realized that it was for the best; Diokles was probably the last person in Dikaia who cared about his life or death. Allowing an 11 or 12-year-old boy to dwell on his father's suicide for too long would certainly distort his character. Instead, Diocles told him to fetch something, or to sew, or to practice with a spear, or many other similar things. When there was no boring work to do, he told him stories. Most were retellings of poetry or tragedy, but Androcles did not know these.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized that sitting around waiting for something to happen had never suited him. There was nothing he could do about the king now, nothing about his murderous intentions, nothing about saving Pepper, but there was no reason for him to sit here and let his children sulk and suffer. or yourself.
"Who wants to hear a story?" he asked.
Flower glanced up at him, then looked away without saying anything. Gabby didn't seem too interested either, but at least she could still pretend. Without looking at him, she asked, "What kind?"
"It sounds like you don't want to hear it."
"Well, maybe," Galbi said, still sounding uninterested. "But which one?"
"I am forbidden by law to tell you this. They will execute you for speaking out in Dikaia." A
d
Okles said, trying to sound mysterious and alluring. "But Dikaya is far away from here."
