William was speechless. All of Rogas' words really bothered him. Escape from this village was the only way? Was there no other way?
Beside him Muriel started to sob.
To which Rogas immediately replied most annoyingly, "Hey, you're crying for William? Don't bother. Don't you understand? You have a problem too! If you go back to your house, someday Mornitz will find you. Maybe he'll kill you too."
Muriel was stunned.
William was furious. "Muriel has nothing to do with this! Why is she being targeted too?"
"What can you do? If Mornitz recognizes her face tonight, she's in danger," Rogas answered with a wry smile.
William turned his head, looking at the little girl with curly hair beside him who was getting more and more panicked. "Did … did Mornitz see you? Muriel! Did he see you?"
The girl's eyes blinked. "No …" her lips trembled nervously. "I don't think so. He didn't see me…"
"Are you sure?"
"It was dark …" Muriel looked unsure. "When he ran past me, I think I was still hiding. I—yes … I think so. He didn't see me!"
William breathed a sigh of relief. Just a moment's relief, of course.
Hopefully, Muriel really wasn't seen by Mornitz. Unfortunately, in the end, he was still afraid to imagine the terrible things that might happen to Muriel, to the girl's father, and himself, if he made the wrong decision tonight. What if it was true that one day Mornitz came back with his flock, not only to William's house but also to Muriel's? William might be able to defend himself. Yes, he must be able to defend himself! But what about Muriel? What a nightmare!
Rogas watched the confused William. "If you think Muriel will be fine, it's up to you. But I have warned you. Yes, I hope she survives! Let this girl go home now, and forget all about it. Right, Muriel?"
Muriel was silent, not wanting to answer. But she glared hatefully at the annoying man.
Rogas ignored her. "While she's home, we must leave at once, William, as far as possible. Now. I'm sure Mornitz won't take me for granted anymore. He will come with more men. We have to be careful."
"Go … go where?" William asked quietly.
"Hmm. Let me think about it …"
"To the south?" William asked. His mind was still not clear, and that was the only solution he could think of at the moment.
"South?" Rogas looked at him in surprise.
"Yes. In the south, if you return to the royal army, you'll probably be safe," William said, feeling like he was starting to find a glimmer of hope. "Right! I might as well join the army …"
Roger shook his head. "No. That's a bad idea. Before we got to the capital, we would have been intercepted at Milliton first."
"By Mornitz?"
"It's safer to the north. For now."
"North?" William was stunned.
Suddenly he remembered. As his mother said, wasn't he a northerner? He was born there, and his father was from the north. How far will it go? Will he reach Hualeg land? William remembered that his mother had told him not to go back north. What would happen if he disobeys his mother's message?
"Prepare the boat, William," said Rogas. "We're leaving."
"By boat?"
"By boat, of course!" said Rogas with an annoyed face. "Do you think I can walk with injured legs like this? Stupid."
That is enough! William couldn't help himself and immediately punched Rogas hard in the face. The man stumbled. His nose was bleeding, and he stared at William in disbelief, clutching his nose.
"Why… why did you hit me?!" he screamed hysterically.
"Damn your wounds, you bastard!" William replied. "You're lucky I only hit your face and didn't step on the wound on your leg!"
"Hey…"
"You're the cause of all this trouble! Instead of apologizing, you continue to irritate Muriel and me with your annoying words!"
"But … but you are also wrong!" Rogas argued. "You were the one who brought me to see Mornitz! For two pieces? Or three?"
"Bastard." William raised his fist, ready to strike again.
"Hey, I'm sorry!" Rogas raised both his hands.
William looked away. For a moment he was sick of seeing Rogas' face. His chest rumbled with anger. He even felt bad for Muriel.
The three fell silent. William then looked at Master Horsling's long dagger that lay not far from him.
That dagger. Yes! Maybe there was something he could do.
He ran for the dagger. Gradually his anger subsided. He glanced at Rogas.
His friend raised his hand.
"I'm sorry…" the man said, "to you two. Okay? Is that not enough? Look, you can be mad at me, as much as you like, but everything I said was true, William. We have to leave before Mornitz returns."
"I'll take Muriel home first," William said.
"We don't have much time!" said Rogas irritably.
"Brother." Muriel touched William's arm. William looked at her, the girl seemed to have calmed down. "I can go home alone, you don't have to worry."
"I won't be able to calm down if I let you go home alone."
"I was worried about you …"
"Yeah … I'm sorry, it shouldn't be like this …"
"Hey, hurry up." Rogas grew impatient.
"Shut up!" William immediately scolded him.
Then he looked at Muriel again and put his hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'll take you to Horsling's Tavern. After that, you can go home alone. This time, you should really go home. Don't follow me anymore."
"Sorry …" Muriel sobbed.
"Never mind." William shook his head, angry with himself. It was all his fault, why was he blaming Muriel? "Come on, let's go."
"Hey, wait a minute. How about me?" exclaimed Rogas.
"Wait for me here," said William.
"How long? What if Mornitz came with the rest of his men? I still can't run. Do you want me dead?"
"Just hide!" William replied annoyed. "Behind a tree, behind a rock, I don't care. If it turns out that you die before I return, I will go north alone."
Rogas cursed. "Then I'd better go alone now! I don't need to care about you either, do I?"
"No problem. That means I'll look for you later," William threatened. "You've got one more enemy."
Rogas was flabbergasted. "I thought I was your friend! Oh well, hurry up then! I don't want to wait long here. I'm serious!"
William gripped Muriel's arm tightly and rushed to take the girl away. For now, he didn't care about Rogas. Only Muriel was on his mind.
Plus that man, the tavern owner who had lent him the dagger.
William hoped that man would take responsibility. It was he who had brought William into all this trouble!