Hydrangea had not expected the Sovereign to suddenly announce his identity like he had, but she was no fool and once she saw the soldiers' faces after the Sovereign's words she ran.
They ran out of the forum and onto the streets, the soldiers all the time at their heels. Soon they reached the location of the stables and the Sovereign pointed for her to hide behind some bales of hay while the soldiers were distracted with him.
She jumped behind the yellowed grass and waited for the sounds of feet and shouts to die down. Then she snuck a glimpse of the street, all was quiet.
Relaxing her shoulders she carefully withdrew from her hiding place and climbed over the gate of the stables.
The Premier's stables were of the same design to the one that she and Brigitte had visited in Anaklios. There were three large watering troughs in the middle, water pumps at the head of each of them. The stalls surrounding the sandy courtyard formed a rectangle and were covered with ivy. The only difference was that it was much larger and that instead of standing in the middle of a field, it stood amongst buildings.
She went to the first stall on her left and saw a beautiful chocolate brown horse, it's hair was braided expertly and by its stance it was sleeping.
She whistled and he awoke, she cautiously entered the stall and approached the beautiful creature.
Once she determined that the horse was not frightened she checked him over and then saddled him.
After retrieving two other horses of the same caliber she saddled them both and grabbing hold of their reins she pulled them along and onto the streets.
Arriving back at the forum she could see that Brigitte had completed her task and that the two brothers were free, but she had yet to find where they had gone.
As she neared the dais Brigitte's blonde head appeared and Hydrangea's shoulders relaxed once more.
"Where are they?" She asked hopping off of her horse.
The maid looked down and Hydrangea rounded the dais to see the two men unconscious sitting on the brick ground.
"They awoke for a few seconds but the exertion seemed to exhaust them." She said worriedly.
Hydrangea's brows furrowed in thought, "We'll have to rest them on their stomachs."
"What do you mean?" Brigitte asked.
"Toss them over the horses' saddles and rest then on their stomachs." Brigitte grimaced, Hydrangea hurried to reassure her, "I know it is not the best option but it's the only one, and we must hurry. I don't know how long the Sovereign can keep the soldiers distracted."
Brigitte nodded and both women attempted to carry the large unconscious men.
They successfully got the younger man on one of the horses but were both so fatigued they didn't dare attempt with the older brother.
"What are we to do, your majesty?"
Hydrangea's mind began to whirl as she thought of what to do. Her head snapped up when she heard the sound of footsteps.
The Sovereign was running towards them, his figure illustrated by the dim lamp light of the forum.
"What are you doing?! There will be more soldiers on their way any second now." He yelled as he slowed in his pace, his eyes moving to look at the two brothers.
Without a word he picked up the older brother, Lord Dimitri by his underarms and carried him to the horse. Hydrangea moved to help him with the man's feet and they soon had the unconscious man resting on the horse's back.
The Sovereign climbed onto the brown stallion that was free of the extra weight of unconscious men. Brigitte climbed onto the stallion with the older brother and Hydrangea mounted the remaining one.
The Sovereign led them through the streets, just as they could see the end in sight a group of soldiers appeared at the end of the bridge they would need to cross.
She glanced at the Sovereign who showed no signs of slowing. She glanced nervously at Brigitte and saw she was just as anxious. The Sovereign charged into a gallop and she could see what his plan was.
"Bastian!" She yelled over the shouts of the soldiers and the horse hooves.
He made no sign that he'd heard her and shortly the soldiers were right beneath them.
She closed her eyes as they crashed through the thin line of enemies. Squinting one eye open she swivelled in the saddle and saw the soldiers behind them. She let out a laugh of relief as she surged forward to join with Brigitte and the Sovereign.
Even after leaving the confines of the city the Sovereign kept running his horse at the same pace.
Fearing for the stallion she rode so she was side-by-side with him, "Sovereign! We must stop!" She yelled and saw him glance over at her and eventually slow in his speed.
She let herself relax as she rode next to Brigitte, the Sovereign in the lead of them.
They both pointed silently to the thin line of light on the horizon meaning that sunrise was approaching.
After walking slowly long enough for the sun to kiss the sky the Sovereign made off at a gallop again.
'At this rate we'll reach Crescent.' Hydrangea thought not hiding the glee she found in those words.
The Sovereign slowed and then ran, never signalling his intentions.
The two brothers that were resting behind Hydrangea and Brigitte were yet to wake, which was concerning.
When Hydrangea finally caught up to him during one of the slower moments she said, "We need to rest, the horses need water and we need to check on your friends."
He nodded and actually pulled off from his current course and into the trees, which she could see were becoming larger in the distance. Crescent must be near.
He slipped off of his horse and then tied it down, Hydrangea and Brigitte did the same.
"If you keep riding like that we'll be in Crescent before you know it." She said matter-of-factly.
"We're already in Crescent." He grumbled.
Hydrangea turned slowly, "You're serious? We're in Crescent at this very moment?" She said holding her hands horizontally, her palms facing the ground.
"Yes." He answered and she leapt for joy.
"Oh, Brigitte can you believe it? Crescent! I'm home." She exclaimed as she clasped her hands together.
The maid nodded, the smile on her face showing that she too was glad that her Queen had made it home.
Bastian on the other hand was feeling a heavy weight on his shoulders and a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He looked down at his sword hilt which had yet to be clean and was still covered with the blood of those soldiers.