Inktober Day 5 : Map

Chapter Three

Now, Sir Wendell was one of the king’s most trusted knights. He had been loyal to his lord all his life, as his father had been to Magda’s grandfather. He seemed to Magda to be about ten feet tall, and five feet across the shoulders and she could not help but fear him. But she knew he had sworn to protect the king and his family, so she resolved to trust him.

    Wendell told Magda to prepare herself to continue on foot, as they had no horses to ride or pull the carriage, and it was only then that she realized that the only mounts to survive were those currently in pursuit.

She looked about the site, scrambling for what to take with her, when a wrinkled bit of parchment caught her eye. In one of the bags that had fallen out of the carriage during the battle was a collection of maps of the surrounding area. Magda, being a lover of maps and exploration, felt an immediate thrill at the prospect of traversing this great unknown terrain, pulling out her trusty maps along the way to guide her.

    Of course, as soon as she felt this excitement, she also felt guilt. Her mother was being carted away at this very moment, her father in hot pursuit. How could she think of these fantasies at a time like this? She decided, rather than treat this as a dream come true, this was her test, where all her studying of maps, explorers, and adventures would be put to use.

    When she returned to Sir Wendell with her sack filled to the brim, she received a doubtful look. “Are you to carry all of that?” he asked her.

    She huffed at him. “A traveler needs a great many things whilst on the road.” He looked at her for a moment before turning away.

    “I suppose a traveler does. I just wonder whether I will be the one carrying it all before nightfall.”

    And so, they set out on their journey to Tìrmàgach, hoping the king and his men were even now overcoming her mother's captors.