Chapter 48 - Following Orders

When Remmaline heard Mitch’s name, her first reaction was to cringe in fear. She gasped and cowered atop her horse, half-expecting Mitch to rise up and attack her once again. But Remmaline heard no movement in the bushes below her. Her courage grew as the moments passed, and eventually she pierced the silence and cried out, “Come out of the bushes and show yourself!”

“Just...just a moment, Your Majesty,” replied Mitch. Remmaline heard a rustling noise from the undergrowth that lay before her, and she backed her horse up a few feet. A few seconds later, a man came crawling out out of the bushes. He knelt down before Remmaline’s horse and begged, “Please! Have mercy on me!”

Remma was shocked at what she saw. Mitch looked awful. His face was scruffy, as though he hadn’t shaved for days. This was very unusual for a man who was always fussy about his appearance. His face was also drawn and thin, as though he hadn’t eaten for days. Scrapes and scars marred his high forehead, and great bags sagged underneath his eyes. Tears streamed down his face as he pleaded once again, “I beg of you...please grant me just the smallest sip of your water! I’ve not had a drink for at least two days...”

As Remmaline’s fear diminished, her sense of outrage grew. She again aimed her drawn arrow at Mitch and said, “Why should I help you? You kidnapped me, you cut my hair, and you handed me over to Dor-ko himself! My father trusted you, and you left me to die in a nasty prison! Why shouldn’t I leave you to die, the same way you left me?”

Mitch hacked and coughed before he replied, “There is no reason at all that you should help me, Princess Remmaline. I betrayed you and treated you cruelly. If you help me, it would only be because you are gracious like your father.”

Remmaline was torn in her heart. She was moved by Mitch’s plea, yet she still felt the wounds of Mitch’s treachery. She cried out again, “Nothing you can say will change anything, Mitch! My brother Andres is fighting for his life. I don’t even know where Cable is--maybe you tried to kill him too. My father is nowhere to be seen. You’ve wrecked everything, Mitch. Everything!” Remma’s arms trembled as she continued, “You deserve to die this very second! And I can make it happen, you miserable wretch!”

“I am miserable indeed,” Mitch replied. “And you could put me out of my misery by simply releasing the arrow that is in your grasp. But please...I know I’ve caused great misery. I deserve nothing. I beg of you, just give me a drink. Then you can do with me whatever you please.”

“I don’t trust you!” cried out Remmaline.

“I don’t ask for your trust, Your Majesty. I ask for your mercy.” Mitch bowed his face to the ground in front of Remmaline.

“No!” Remmaline declared. She drew the arrow further and shouted, “Sit up like a man and take the punishment that you deserve!”

As Remmaline stared at Mitch’s groveling figure, she heard a voice behind her. “Don’t do it!” declared Kaelanna. “Don’t do anything here that you will regret later! Think of what your father would do!”

Remmaline didn’t take her eyes off Mitch. The man came back to his knees, staring up at her, his face filled with fear and shame. But Remma’s rage remained. “My father set him free four years ago, and look what good that did! He’s ruined everything! He deserves to die!”

“You are right, Remma,” replied Kaelanna. “But don’t you think it would be better to follow in the footsteps of your father than to follow in the footsteps of Mitch? Isn’t mercy better than cruelty?”

“It wouldn’t be cruel to give him what he deserves!” yelled Remmaline.

“Look, Remma...let’s help him out,” called out Kaelanna.

“What kind of a friend are you?” declared Remmaline, her arms shaking again, the arrow still pointed at the groveling Mitch.

“I’m a friend who was sent to remind you of what your father said,” replied Kaelanna.

“What do you mean?” snapped back Remmaline.

“Before you left, your father said that an old friend of his was in grave danger, and that you needed to do whatever you could to help him. Well, here he is. Mitch may be a traitor, and he may have harmed you in a way that will never be repaired. But he is an old friend of your father, and he needs our help. He needs your help. If we do as your father has requested, I have a feeling it’ll be okay. But it’s up to you, Remma. It’s up to you.”

Remmaline pondered Kaelanna’s words as she stared at Mitch. Tears started to stream down her cheeks; soon she began to sob. She was angry at Mitch, and she didn’t know if she’d ever be able to forgive him. There was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to make him pay dearly for the misery he’d caused. But Kaelanna was right: Her father had given her a task. That task was not only to find Cable but also to help an old friend in need.

Remmaline realized she had a choice to make--to do what she wanted, or to do what her father wanted. In frustration mingled with relief, Remmaline cast her bow and arrow to the ground. She then dismounted, grabbed her waterskin, and handed it to Mitch. Mitch mouthed the words “Thank you” and took a few grateful sips. He started to hand it back to Remma, but Remma insisted, “Go ahead, have some more. I’m sure if my dad were here, he’d tell you to finish the whole thing.”

When he was done, Remma took it back and tucked it in her satchel. She then remembered the small bag that her father had given her. Handing it to Mitch, she said, “My father asked me to give this to you. He said it has a message in it, and that you’ll need it if you have any hope of surviving. I’m not sure what that means, but that’s what he said.”

Mitch took the bag in his hands and stared at it as if it were a precious diamond. He shook his head, stared up at Remma, and asked, “Are you sure? He said this was for me?”

“Yes,” Remmaline replied. “He was thinking of saving you, even while you were thinking of destroying him.”

Mitch started to open it but paused and turned back to the girls. “Look,” he said, “I have an urgent message for you. I know you are looking for Cable. Well, to find him quickly, you’ll want to take the trail to your right. It is very steep--it almost goes straight uphill. But you’ll get there quickly.”

“Did you come down that trail?” asked Remmaline.

“I...I did, sort of accidentally,” replied Mitch. “I was...I was running away from danger last night, like the coward that I am. And then there was a great explosion. I was sent tumbling down the hill before getting knocked unconscious. I’m sure I broke my leg; that’s why I had to crawl out of the bushes.”

“Are you okay?” asked Kaelanna. Remmaline figured that Kaelanna had to be the most friendly and caring girl on the face of the earth.

“I’ll be okay, thank you,” said Mitch. “But please, I implore you--start climbing up the hill. You’ll find Cable and another man named Jimbo at the top, barely a quarter mile away. I’m sure they’ll need your help. Because here’s the thing--just moments before you arrived, I saw Dor-ko galloping along the trail. Thankfully he never saw me. But he was moving fast. He went down the trail that goes off to your left, and I’m pretty sure that’s a much longer trail. But there is no doubt he’s trying to get Cable. You’ll need get to Cable first, or we’ll all be in danger.”

Remmaline started to remount her horse when Mitch interrupted. “I’m afraid your horse will be useless on that trail,” he declared. “It’s too steep. Take your bows and arrows and start climbing immediately. You may yet beat him to the punch.”

Kaelanna immediately dismounted, and the girls grabbed their weapons. As they started down the trail, they heard Mitch call out one more time. “One more thing...Dor-ko looked awful. He has been wounded, and he is greatly weakened. Do not fear him, okay? Do not fear him! You can defeat him! Now go! Run!” And with those words, the girls ran as fast as they could.