The pile of men were battered and bruised, but they were unbothered by their injuries. Instead, they all laid hands on the source of their pain: Ethyn.
Handling him roughly, they used the end of the small cord to tie off the knight's hands and drag him back to where Sir Kent was waiting for them.
"We got one but the other made it to the top!" The soldier with the bushy eyebrows announced with authority.
"I can see that, Brig..." Kent pinched his nose. With his other hand he pointed to the men on his right. "You two, go around the outside and see that the other doesn't get away."
Ethyn struggled against his bonds. Even if he were captured, he couldn't let Sir Kent get to Rose.
"Get him!" the green-eyed man commanded Courage. The stallion looked up and met his master with his large brown eyes as a rumble escaped his chest.
The men closest to the horse took a tentative step back. The power in the legs alone could break any of their backs with the right kick.
Courage snorted, stomped his hoof...and ran from the Cove!
"NO!" Ethyn came close to cursing at his valiant steed.
'What is he doing?!'
"Looks like your horse knows that you have lost and doesn't want to get caught up in your mess. I cannot say I blame him. Unlike you, he was able to leave alive." Kent sheathed his sword.
The men on either side of Ethyn forced him to his knees. A hand grabbed his hair and jerked his head upward, forcing him to stare at the hard-faced knight of Lakyle.
Kent scowled. The man before him looked very familiar. "I know you." He contemplated for a moment before a hint of recognition ignited in his eyes. "You were with the man in the hood! Is he at the top of the rocks? Too cowardly to face me again, perhaps?"
"I don't know what you are talking about," Ethyn lied. A swift kick in the gut made him regret not staying silent.
"Don't treat me like a fool. We know someone was with you. Who was it? Why are you here?" Kent's words were crisp. He was unwilling to let his meaning be misunderstood and it was clear he expected to receive an answer.
"None of your business on both counts." Ethyn spat. "You shouldn't be here at all. You are supposed to be locked up in a Birlian jail!"
"No jail can contain a knight when he has a job to do." Kent flicked a blade of grass from his tunic.
"You are no knight, just a fancy thug." Ethyn received a closed-fisted hit across the back of his head. Kent drew his sword and aimed it at Ethyn's chin.
"Ha, a thug? Then you know a king is just a fancy thief. A monarch takes what he can, and we thank him for it hoping we get our own share. Tsk, you are so naïve. There are things bigger at stake than you will ever understand, boy. Kingdoms, even." The knight's words were ominous, but Ethyn was not sure he fully understood them.
His confused expression amused the men of Lakyle. Kent laughed in his face.
Rather than endure his taunting, Ethyn looked up behind him to the ridge. There was no one there at all. Rose seemed to have disappeared, but the redhead guessed that she was merely laying flat to be hidden from view.
If he knew the princess, there was no way she would leave him behind, even if she could. But with the men circling around the back, she would be hard pressed to slip away unnoticed anyway. While part of him hoped the woman was still nearby, the larger feeling was that he hoped she would find some way to escape without him.
Because he was no longer getting the desired reaction out of his captive, Kent growled. Soon enough another angry kick from the fancy thug landed in Ethyn's stomach. The young man coughed violently.
"Good. Now that you are no longer distracted, we can continue our nice little chat. No more stalling: tell me who was with you and maybe you can save his life." Kent shrugged.
"He will never be caught." Ethyn shook his head. However his leaning on the word 'he' was a little too strong.
Kent flicked his eyes over to the basket and stroked his chin. "Of course! You are not out here with the Guardian. Why would you need a picnic for that? It's a lady friend that you are hiding. That is not very sporting of you. Please allow us to enjoy the company of your charming date."
Jerking his head, Kent ordered the men holding Ethyn to drag him to the wall toward where the other figure had disappeared.
"Oh lovely lady!" Kent called, his voice lilting like a song. "Please come out or I shall have to do some unspeakable harm to the young man here."
"Don't do it!" Ethyn's final word was cut off by a punch to his stomach. He was getting quite tired of this kind of treatment. His insides were starting to feel like jelly.
Frustrated, he roughly elbowed the soldier in the nose. A small crack caused the soldier's eyes to begin to water as he released the knight and grabbed his face.
Kent shoved the guard aside and took his place next to Ethyn. With one hand he drew his sword and held it across the younger man's neck. "Let's see you try that again, shall we?"
Feeling the blade pressed tight against his skin, Ethyn bit back the scathing reply which first came to his mind. "No, thank you," he responded at last.
Turning his attention upward once more, Kent regained his sickeningly sweet tone. "Last call, my lady, or the blood of your lover will be spilled on the grass because you did not love him enough to show yourself. I just want to have a little chat. That's all."
"Do not worry about me. Go!" Ethyn felt a sting across his throat which silenced him. The cut from the knife was not deep, but it was enough of a warning that the young knight got the message.
"Tsk! Your lover is bleeding, young miss. How unfeeling you are! Perhaps this little picnic was your chance to break things off with him. I fully understand. I shall put him out of his misery for you."
A soft gasp could be heard from the top of the wall. Ethyn's heart sank. Rose was still up there and now Kent knew it too.
This was all his fault! He deserved whatever he got, but the princess was just an innocent bystander.
Throwing back his head Ethyn tried to incapacitate Sir Kent by bashing his skull. However, the older man anticipated the move and shifted to one side.
The force of the movement overwhelmed Ethyn and found himself flat on his back. Kent's boot pushed his face to one side as it pressed up against his ear.
"You have until three or show yourself before I squish this man's head like the sour grape that it is. One. Two…"
Feeling the pressure of the man's boot, Ethyn braced himself for immeasurable pain.
"Thr…"
"Stop!" A stunning woman appeared on top of the boulder. Her skirt was tied up like trousers and her long golden hair fluttered in the breeze. "Don't harm him!"
"Ah, little mouse. I am glad to see you show yourself at last." Kent's foot moved from standing on the man's head to the man's back. "I was beginning to think you were going to let the man die."
"Take my horse and the saddles as bounty, but let my friend and myself go." Rose stood confidently, but inside she was shaking.
One of the soldiers scurried forward and whispered into Kent's ear. A wicked smile came over the leader's face. "Forgive me, but I cannot do that. It would be rude to accept a measly horse in exchange for a princess."
Rose blanched. Somehow they knew. They knew exactly who she was.