Kyren was gone again with his healer, thirty knights, and five soldiers for the urgent case.
This time, it was not a report of a crime. Instead, it was a sudden request for aid. Heavy convectional rainfall had poured down a province to the southern part of the border, causing a bridge to collapse and several villages to be cut off from road access following a landslide.
The commander and his team immediately attended the affected area to assist as they were the nearest available support during the incident. As such, Anna was not as anxious as before, knowing that her husband and the dispatched group went to provide relief to the disaster victims.
Ayden had finished brewing potions based on the formula from the medical book. The enhanced medicine's result was tremendous and proved to be much more effective, thanks to the accurate translation she made. As such, her work had been fully completed.
Since Kyren and his team went for aid, only the assistant healer, ten knights and a few soldiers and squires were left behind at the campsite. Having less workforce around made most of them preoccupied with their tasks, and they had to cover the duties left behind by their fellow knights. Knowing this, Anna sat quietly in the commander's tent to avoid unnecessarily interfering with them.
Days passed.
The empty feeling of boredom pervaded her heart as she lost interest in her daily activities. The monotonous waiting routine that the princess went through was getting unbearable.
After a few days of cooping in the tent, Anna finally went out. She looked at the sky and saw the patchy clouds covering the sun's rays. It was not so sunny today.
Her tiny feet took a few steps forward as she looked around the campsite. As she kept walking, she noticed the atmosphere was calmer than when it was fully occupied. Somehow, she missed the sound of the bustling camp when it was entirely filled with its inhabitants. Above all, she longed for Kyren more than anything.
"My lady, are you going somewhere?" A voice interrupted Anna, making her halt her steps.
She turned around to the sound, and two figures quickly came into her sight. The knight who spoke up to her had tanned skin, short black hair, and black eyes, while the other knight, who looked much younger and had a boyish appearance, had a pale complexion, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
"I'm just taking a walk around. Why?" she asked them.
"If so, it would be best if we accompanied you. Please let us introduce ourselves. My name is Elijah Henderson, and this is my senior knight, Sir Damon McQuinn," the young man introduced himself and his comrade to her.
"We're the new escorts appointed by the commander, replacing Sir Brooks," Damon added.
Anna recalled what Kyren had told her. Her husband did say that there would be new escorts for her. However, she did not expect to have two companions simultaneously. Unbeknownst to her, the knights had observed her since the commander left.
"Are you a knight too?" the princess's eyes shot at Eli up and down.
She could not believe it since the knight seemed so young. At a glance, he looked the same age as her.
"Yes, my lady. I'm newly ordained, and this campaign is my first mission," he replied proudly.
Noticing the brooding gaze of the commander's wife, Damon quickly reassured her, "Although Sir Henderson is a new member of the knighthood, he's very reliable. He's the best protégé directly under Sir Navin."
"Oh, don't get me wrong! I'm just quite surprised. Sir Henderson must be really talented to be ordained as a knight at a young age," praised Anna in awe.
Eli drew a pleased smile on his lips at her compliment. He scratched the back of his head shyly. His act made him appear more like a teenager than an adult.
"My lady has a good insight. Thank you for the praise."
"Perhaps, may I know how old you are?" she asked Eli.
"I'm nineteen."
Anna's eyes widened at his reply.
"Oh! That means we're the same age!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Anna rarely met someone of her age. All this while, she was always surrounded by people older than her, except for her younger brother, Crown Prince Ryan.
"Aaa... no wonder my lady looks so young too. With your petite body, you seemed like a little maiden."
Damon jerked Eli's abdomen by the side with his elbow. The young knight always made blunt remarks that would cause the situation to become awkward.
What he said just now implied that he had been observing the lady's body, which was inappropriate since she was the commander's wife, though it was not what he really meant.
"I do have a small stature." Anna let out a small laugh.
"So, where do you want to go today?" Damon quickly reverted to the main topic.
"Well... I've been touring around the camp before with Sir Brooks..."
The princess could not make up her mind. She was not thinking of any specific place to go. Initially, she thought of getting some fresh air outside the tent as she had been inside for a few days.
"Perhaps, do you want to take a walk outside the campsite?" suggested Eli.
"Can I?" she asked them. So far, she had never been outside the camp except with Kyren.
The two knights nodded. When the commander assigned them to be his wife's escorts, he had already permitted them to take her around the campsite area.
Delightedly, Anna headed out of the camp with her two new escorts, enjoying her outing.
***
"Sir Henderson, would it be all right to drop by the lake? I want to wash and cool down my feet," Anna requested the knight after her stroll at the marigold field.
Today, she noticed some Hydrangea of assorted colours, Zinnia and Babybreath growing wildly near the field. The princess excitedly picked the flowers and made a bouquet out of them.
"If you wish to wash up, we'll ask the squires to bring water for you at the tent," replied Eli.
"It's fine. I don't want to trouble them. They've much work to do. Besides, the lake is just nearby. I won't be long," she replied.
The two knights agreed and escorted her to the shallowest area of the lake.
It had been a week since both of them had attended to her. Her routine schedule was entirely predictable. She would walk around the outer campsite area if she did not visit the infirmary. The knights would let Anna roam freely while watching at a distance.
So far, no untoward incident had occurred while attending to the commander's wife. Apparently, these knights had been given an easier task than their usual tough jobs. The two knights did not complain, although their new escorts' task seemed easy and unchallenging from the n*ked eyes.
Knowing that the commander had assigned Noah, one of his best knights, as his wife's first escort and how he had almost severely tormented the previous guards for only letting her lose made them realise how precious the little lady was to him.
As such, they did not simply let their guard down while escorting her.
Anna soaked her foot in the lake's calm water and scrubbed her heel. The water was cool and refreshing under the hot summer sun. The bouquet was set aside at a nearby stump.
She wanted to take a dip in the lake, but it was inappropriate for a married woman to bathe while being watched by her male escorts. Therefore, she ended up washing her feet for some relief.
Suddenly, Damon approached the lady and signalled to his fellow knight.
"Somebody's coming. My lady, quick! Stay behind me," Damon instructed as he heard a sound coming from somewhere.
His sensitive hearing could detect that something was drawing near. Anna hastily put on her shoes and hid behind the knight's broad shoulders.
Meanwhile, Eli swiftly moved towards the approaching sound to investigate. He pulled out the sword hilt from the sheath and raised the blade in his hand, ready to take action on any danger that was about to come.
"Help! Help us, Sir!"
A voice asking for help was suddenly heard from a distance. Three peasants were approaching them, looking ragged and sickly. Two of them supported another one who appeared to be so weak.
"What happened? Who are you?" asked Eli.
"We're foragers. We've come from Mistdale, and we're terribly sick. My friend here is almost fainting. Please help us, Sir," said one of the approaching men.
"Mistdale is not that far from here. Why do you come to the knight's camp?" asked Eli again, knowing the village mentioned was nearby.
"No one from our village is willing to help us. They drove us out. We heard there are excellent healers here. That's why we come," the forager continued.
Eli furrowed his brows and squinted at the men, claiming to be foragers.
"Reveal yourselves first so I can identify you," he ordered the three men.
The foragers pulled back their liripipes upon the command. To his surprise, he saw red spots spreading on their exposed faces. Not only there, but their whole hands were also covered with it.
"Stand back! Don't come any nearer!" Eli raised his voice immediately at the sight. A sense of danger began to envelop the atmosphere.
"What is it, Sir Henderson? What's going on?" asked Damon loudly.
He was concerned with Eli's anxious voice. Anna was bewildered at the situation. Why would the young knight suddenly become cautious over mere peasants?
"I think there's something wrong with them. They have rashes over their bodies!" Eli stated nervously.
"Sir, please help us. We've no one to turn to. At this rate, we'll die. We can't afford to go elsewhere," implored the forager.
The three of them flopped to the ground in tears. They were despondent as no one dared to offer help for fear of contracting their disease. One of them crawled to Eli, begging for help, while the other forager held his weakened friend.
"Stand back I said. Or else!" Eli shouted.
He lifted his sword, ready to strike at the approaching man. In this situation, he could not afford to take the risk of helping these people and exposed himself to an unknown disease. The forager retreated away from him.
Damon moved forward to verify the situation. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the three peasants.
"My god!" he exclaimed in fear.
"Why? What's the matter?" Anna asked anxiously.
"It's Laradie Plague! Eli, run! Get away from them!" the knight screamed.