Una looked up, but the picture floated before her eyes. She saw a silhouette approaching her. Suddenly she felt a wet cloth covering her bare back.
– Here are the bastards, said a familiar voice and Una breathed a sigh of relief. Hold on to my neck, Tan said. After that, exhausted, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the exit. The bodies of dead soldiers lay everywhere, but she did not notice it. Una only looked at him.
It was raining outside the window …
The sun blinded her eyes. When she woke up, she caught a cool breath of wind with her nose. Una was riding a horse, leaning her elbows on something solid, and at first did not understand where she was. She jerked violently.
– Hush, Tan muttered, displeased with the disturbance of the calm rhythm of movement. – How do you feel?
She glanced at him, then at the left hand, which had been finished and bandaged. The jaw ached. Dried drops of blood tickled in my nose.
–Things are good! Where are we?
“We're going north,” he said quietly. You are hungry?
– Damn!
– That is great! I also need a little rest. It is very difficult to move in the rain at night.
They turned from a forest path to a small edge, in the center of which a centuries-old tree spread its branches.
“I think this is a great place,” he said with a slight smile. Then he jumped off his horse and helped Una down. Athanasius walked over to the second horse, which was tied behind. He took off a couple of sacks and went with them to the tree. Putting them down, he noticed that Una did not move from her place and guiltily stood there where he had just put her. He exhaled heavily, took a waterskin out of the bag, and walked over to her. – I bet you are thirsty, hold! holding it out to Unya. She took and hugged him to her chest.
– Forgive me! She said.
– For what?
“For telling them where are you?
– Listen, Tan began, if you were silent, they would continue to cut off your body parts. And in the end, you would still tell them everything. Sooner or later, everyone tells. This is the point, just some people do not have enough intelligence to understand this at the very beginning. But from the way you looked, I can conclude that you held yourself with dignity. He came closer to her. – Trust me, I told a lot. I saw huge and stern men who broke like chips. You are great and you have nothing to apologize for.
She burst into tears as she hugged him. He in turn tried to comfort her and gently ran his hand through her hair.
– And thanks for coming for me!
– Well, that's enough! We don't have much time! I suppose they have already gone after us. Although, we were lucky with the weather and they will not be able to attack the trail. They will have to send many people in different directions to find us. Therefore, we can afford a little rest. So, let's see what the server gate guard so kindly lent us.
Athanasius gathered everything in a hurry, knowing that he would hardly be able to acquire provisions along the way. In addition, he understood that in order to hide his tracks, he would have to go throughout the night. But he still managed to take something useful. From the bag he took out: a piece of bacon, blood sausage, crackers, some vegetables, and a bottle of wine.
To dry his clothes a little and keep warm, Tan decided to light a fire! He collected the fallen dry branches, took out from his bosom a small leather bag, in which lay: a chair, a little flint and dry rags. And after a very short time, they were enjoying the warmth emitted by the burning tree.
