Jenny: More Curiosity

There was a river. Its banks would be steep and muddy after last night's mizzle, and the deer-tracks would be gouged in the sand-bars. Engulfing the river valley was a forest of apple trees gone wild, which would make progress slow. It would also make for an ideal shelter for the foot.

Ambrosius shifted, turning to Artos. "I want the Fox a mile north and northwest, and to hold until I say."

The younger man swung his arm up, leather armour crackling with the swift movement, and snapped to his second. In a half hour, Ambrosius mused, the Fox would be in place, and if he were his enemy, he would be looking to pinch the cavalry between the thick wood and the cloy river banks. But his enemy was a half-day's march away and he would get into position in enough time.

* * * *

"A bard?" the Guttersnipe said, looking round again. "Truly? I know a bard myself - two of them. And what is that like, being the daughter of a bard? Is it anything like being the daughter of a warlord?"

She probed, looking to get some sort of life out of the girl who seemed all cold, dead face. She called herself a servant, and she technically belonged to Master Lucius, but it was understood among them (Master Lucius and Gwenhywfar and herself) who and what she really was, so that the girl was something of a curiosity. Not even Lucretia was so submissive, and the Guttersnipe could not think of a woman more quiet-natured and gentle than Gaius' wife.