Chapter 12: Ingerbert

“Your Majesty,” the girl turned to Haemner Hochdeforthskar, “ehputaiven brought news from Forsholden, dragons attacked the city and burned it to the ground.”

“How then did the bird fly up here?”

“The signature is illegible, but it was not the representative of the previous king, nor the king of the tonnebeards, probably some traveller came into the city or saw it burned.”

“I see, now get lost!” Haemner was lying in the king’s bed, and next to him was Arngalda Berartadgen. Haemner looked at her. “Well, does your hole hurt less than after the fat man?”

Arngalda could not find the words and muttered something indistinct, but the rapist did not pay attention.

Ingerbert brought breakfast for the criminal.

“Get the fuck out of here, both of you!” Haemner was suddenly angry, and Ingerbert and Arngalda walked out.

They walked along the corridor.

“This is our chance,” Ingerbert said, “we’ll move north, bastard Haemner is unlikely to go there. We’ll get to a small town, Hoogmeerfall, my cousin used to live there, his name was Edelmer, his parents died, so he lived with us for many years, and then moved to the village, I mean to a small town, although it can hardly be called a town. But there is no one there, my cousin disappeared on the way to the Belt of Twilight, as I was told, and before that the villagers disappeared, snunorf says they were moved by oldenmessers somewhere. It doesn’t matter now; we’ll just hide there temporarily.”

“I know this, like everyone else! More than twenty years have passed since their disappearance... Why aren’t you looking at me?“Arngalda asked.

“I can’t, I’m ashamed, ashamed that I realize that life is more precious than bravery! You were raped before my eyes, and I could hardly restrain myself, and I regret about it!”

“But life is more precious! You could have died as a hero, but you would have been dead, and I would have been raped anyway... Look at me, Ingerbert!”

The brunette with grey stubble looked like a frightened boy, but he raised his eyes and tears welled upon them.

“I love you,” the young woman said. She was fourteen years younger than him. She was twenty-four, and he was thirty-eight, but grey hair had already covered his beard.

“I love you too!”

He held her hand and they moved towards the exit from the royal castle... It was early autumn and it was drizzling with light rain.

“Let’s split up,” the snunorf said, “you go outside the gate, there’s no guard there, and then wait for me behind the old house of Bulfringson.” The girl nodded and went, and the snunorf moved to the warehouse with weapons and armor, keeping an eye on Arngalda.

No one was there, the criminals had not yet sobered up, and Haemner would now either be sleeping or puzzling over what to do next... Maybe the bastard will become the new king of the ashes. Ingerbert dreamed of dragons burning this whole damned city!

He donned chainmail and took a pair of fur capes, a long sword and a bow with arrows. Snunorf decided not to go to the karkhasharn and not to take the karkhash. He understood that it is not a good idea to get through the dense trees on hoofed animals, and it is dangerous to drive along the road, criminals can quickly catch up with them.

Arngalda quickly passed through the unguarded city gates, and Ingerbert followed her... They met behind Bulfringson’s house, and then moved north.

The next day, while the girl was sleeping on a fur cloak, covered by another, he went hunting. He saw skogendey, a red bird with a light green head, which could not fly, but knew how to hide perfectly, merging with the color of the environment. But the snunorf was sneaking quietly between branches, and the bird didn’t notice the danger... Finally, he shot and hit. Returning to the makeshift camp in the woods, he chopped off the bird’s head and began to drain the blood, and then began to pluck.

“How many days will it take to get to the town?”

“If we do not deviate further east and decide to go to Gardstronden and go straight ahead, then we’ll have Järvanhogen on our way in five or six days, and from there one or two more days to Hoogmeerfall, ” Ingerbert answered.

“A week’s journey. And then what?”

“Haemner is unlikely to follow us, but there might be someone living there. They say the hermit community of snunorfs, ikhagatbers, moved there.”

“They could be worse than Haemner!” Arngalda said.

“We should try, in every village there were ikhagatbers, but maybe you already forgot about them...”

“How could I forget, I’m from Aklegskel!” Arngalda interrupted him.

“I know, but I wanted to say that if there are ikhagatbers there, they might know something, help to gather an army, after all, we no longer have a king! Dragons are everywhere and the war with them is only a question of time. With such a mess, there may be nothing left of Norvinoria!.. But I can’t stop thinking about Haemner! I want to put a sword in the bastard’s throat!”

“Only after me!” the girl said. “I have to do it!”

“And you will,” Ingerbert agreed and nodded approvingly. By this time, he had completely plucked the bird and proceeded to butcher it.