Chapter 3
The next morning, everyone was up bright and early to load the wagons before they set off for Nyeacre. Camellia had managed to buy herself some things in town before they started moving such as a couple of soaps and necessities to make her travels a little more comfortable.
As the terrain to Nyeacre was pretty smooth, Frederick had also hired a better carriage for her to travel in which was much bigger and suited for sleeping in than the other one. Although she wasn’t entirely sure why he had chosen to hire such a fancy carriage for some common girl he had saved on the road, she wasn’t going to compin.
The first 3 days of the journey went pretty smooth, every so often they would stop to have food, stretch their legs and take bathroom breaks and in the evening she would sleep in the carriage with 2 men posted outside to keep watch over her. Although she was unsure whether they were there for protection, or to stop her from running away. Not that she had any idea which direction to run in at this point.
During one of their stops to have food and rex for a moment, Camellia decided to watch some of the Knights as they sparred with each other. She knew these were some of the most capable swordsmen in the country, so it was interesting to her that they still practised daily. Their movements were like nothing she had ever seen before, so swift and agile that she was sure they could cut someone clean in two before they even realised.
Frederick came up beside her after a few moments, watching on as his men honed their skills against one another with pride.
“I have yet to witness you spar against another soldier,” Camellia pointed out, noting that he was frequently missing from any sparring matches.
Frederick chuckled to himself before letting out a sigh. “I am not one to brag, but there isn’t a man here who would be an even match for me,” he expined, crossing his arms over the front of his body, looking rather pleased with himself.
“It’s true,” another voice perked up from behind them. Helios, Frederick’s right hand man, had come up behind them to observe the action. “Our captain is in a league of his own, there aren't many soldiers in the country that could stand on their own against him.”
Camellia looked a little surprised by that information, all of these men were members of the King’s elite force and yet none of them would even come close to nding a hit on Frederick.
“It hasn’t come with ease though. I have been training since I was a small boy. I had this mentor named Sir Allenright and he would beat me to within an inch of my life if I couldn’t fend him off long enough,” Frederick expined, a small chuckle escaping his lips. However, Camellia was absolutely horrified thinking of that small boy being beaten half to death by an older man. “You should have seen the look on his face though when I got stronger and almost cut his arm clean off.”
Camellia wasn’t sure how that was supposed to make things better.
Frederick gazed down at her, noting how horrified she looked. “Sorry, that was a poor joke on my part,” he ughed, shaking his head from side to side. “Sir Allenright is fit and well with all of his appendages, I can assure you of that.”
“Captain!” A younger member of the team called out to him, running over to where they stood. “I’m just practicing disarming and was wondering if you could show us how you do it?”
“Of course, I was actually just thinking of sparring against Helios here so we can give you a demonstration,” he announced, a gleam of humour in his eyes as he turned to his second in command.
“B-but Captain…” Helios began, but he knew it was more than futile to try and argue with him. Frederick led him out onto the field, the other Knights all ceasing their sparring so they could catch the fight. It was guaranteed to be entertaining at the very least.
Standing opposite each other, it was clear Helios was not looking forward to it. He hung and shook his head for a moment before straightening up and readying himself. Camellia couldn’t help but wonder what it was he was so worried about.
“How long do you reckon this’ll st?” A nearby soldier questioned, a hint of amusement on his voice.
“If Helios sts more than 10 seconds, I’ll be surprised,” another quipped back. Perhaps this is what had gotten Helios so worried. His Captain was about to completely humiliate him in front of everyone.
The match started at the sound of a whistle and the flurry of bdes was almost impossible to make out as they’re swords cshed in the air. Behind her, one of the knights was counting, 1… 2… 3…
The scene was tense, even though she knew there was no way these two men were going to hurt each other, she at least knew that Frederick was perfectly capable of and each swing made her flinch. But she couldn’t take her eyes off them. It was oddly hypnotic.
Then as quickly as it started, Frederick performed the move that he had promised to show them and Helios’s sword went flying out of his hand and nded on the floor a few meters from them, with Frederick pressing his sword against his neck to signal that he had won. There was a moment of silence as the other Knight’s looked on in awe before they broke out into a chorus of cheers.
“Holy hell Helios, you sted like a whole 12 seconds,” one of them announced, running over to them. “I think that’s the longest anyone has sted against the Captain.”
“Let’s be real, he dragged that out so he could show off in front of a certain someone for a bit longer,” Helios pointed out, shaking his head in exasperation.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Frederick muttered with a cheeky grin, denying his cim. “You did very well, you should be proud of yourself.”
“Thank you Captain,” Helios replied with a smile on his face. It was clear to all of them that Frederick was very proud of him and all of his men.
“Right men, time to eat and get back on the road!” Frederick commanded, ushering everyone over to where some other Knights had been cooking so they could fill their bellies before they set off again.
They were only 2 days away from Nyeacre now, as expected from the King’s Guard. They were skilled and efficient at everything. One evening, they stopped near the opening to a forest which had a small ke just through the clearing. The Knight’s set up camp in a field, the atmosphere electric with excitement as they all got ready to go for a dip. The water would be freezing but they didn’t care. The feeling of the cold liquid on their skin was exhirating.
“Would you like to go after the men are done?” One of the Knights asked her as the men started returning from the ke.
“If you don't mind,” Camellia responded, she would probably just dip her feet in for a moment. They weren't too far from the next town so she would wait to have a proper bath.
Once the men had returned, Helios came to her and advised her she would head down. “The Captain is just finishing up getting dressed so he will keep watch for you.”
She thanked him before grabbing some cloth to wipe herself with and started making her way down to the ke. Thanks to the recent weather, the path wasn't at all slippery and she could hear the chorus of birds singing through the swaying trees. It felt so peaceful that she almost forgot where she was as she gazed up into the tree canopy as she walked, bathing in the light as it peeked through the leaves.
When she reached the ke, the Captain's things were still resting on a nearby rock and when her eyes fell on him she yelped with shock. Frederick was still in the ke. Completely naked. His back faced her, water pping at his hips, but what froze her wasn’t just his bareness—it was the low, guttural grunt spilling from him, the quick, steady rhythm of his arm moving beneath the surface. His shoulders hunched, taut with strain, his free hand braced against a rock, knuckles white as he rocked faintly.
Her yelp startled him and he spun round almost instinctively as if he were facing a threat, only for his eyes to go wide when he realised who was there and what she was seeing.
“Oh miss,” he coughed, lowering his hands to cover himself.
“I am awfully sorry,” she cried, covering her eyes with her hands. But it was too te, the image was burned into her eyes. His toned muscur body with big broad shoulders and the scars from his battles were evident along his torso. How many fights had he faced to be covered with echoes of wounds from the past?
But what shocked her the most was something she had never seen on a man before. She had seen illustrations in books about anatomy and in all honesty, she was led to believe such a thing was much smaller than what she had just witnessed. Not to mention that his appeared to be standing upright as opposed to hanging down.
“It is quite alright, if you might turn around then I will make myself decent,” he expined, wading slowly through the water before getting out and wiping himself down.
Camellia swiftly faced in the other direction, her face flushing a bright shade of red. She knew she shouldn’t have seen that, for whatever reason such a thing was considered indecent.
“There, you can look now,” he announced, smoothing out his clothes and taking a deep breath. “I do apologise, I told Helios I would come and escort you in a moment. Did he send you down here?”
“He did m’lord,” she replied, still unable to make eye contact with him.
“Are you pnning on getting in the water or just freshening up?” He queried. He had to admit to himself that her sudden bashfulness was awfully endearing.
“I was just going to soak my feet,” she replied, taking slow steps towards the water and slipping off her shoes.
“Very well, I shall keep watch,” he expined, before walking a few feet away and sitting on a rock. “I hope I did not scare you.”
“N-not at all,” she replied, her heart still racing in her chest and sounding a bit panicked.
Frederick pondered for a moment, wondering if he could use this moment to confirm something that had been pying on his mind. “You act as though you have never seen a naked man before,” he pointed out, chuckling to himself to try and keep the mood light.
Camellia paused for a second, a bit taken aback by his statement. “W-well that would be because I haven’t,” she admitted, sounding slightly perturbed by his question.
“Not even with those merchants you were travelling with?” He pressed further, still facing away from her. She may have only been washing her feet but he didn’t want to intrude on her privacy too much.
“Why would I? If they needed to wash they would go and do that privately,” she expined, after all “those merchants” had been perfect gentlemen to her.
“Just to crify, I was washing privately,” Frederick pointed out, feeling a bit like her st statement was a dig at him.
“I know that,” she crified, shaking her head slightly and heaving a deep sigh as she stepped into the water. The water was icy cold but a welcome feeling as it rushed over her toes.
“So then, just for my own peace of mind, none of them or anyone else for that matter, tried to touch you inappropriately?” Frederick continued his line of questioning, choosing this time to just be direct about what he wanted to know.
There was a long silence which made him feel unnaturally nervous. She thought about what he was asking and what it was supposed to mean. “Are you talking about the bandit you saved me from?” She questioned. If she had to think of any time she felt touched inappropriately. It was him.
“Not him, he has already paid the consequences. But I wish to know if anyone else has taken liberties with you,” Frederick continued, a deep rooted anger bubbling up inside him as he recalled the scene in the forest with that bandit.
Camellia sighed, finishing up washing her feet and dabbing them dry with a cloth. “I don’t really understand it,” she started. Frederick turned around when he heard her get out and knelt down in front of her, helping her back into her shoes. “But in answer to your question, there was no other person who did such a thing.”
Frederick looked up at the stern expression on her face as he slowly tied her ces with care, a sigh escaping him as relief washed over his body. “What is it you don’t understand? Do you know why he was doing what he did?”
Camellia simply shook her head, the answer to that question had been bothering her ever since it happened. Maybe he thought of her as a toy of some sort.
“You are innocent,” he noted to himself, heaving a deep sigh as he finished and pulled her upright. “When we get to the next town I will have someone expin it to you.”
“Expin what?” She queried, gazing up at him with curiosity in her eyes.
“I’m afraid this is about as much as I can discuss with a young maiden, such a conversation is better suited to be had with another more experienced woman.” Frederick shook his head in exasperation. This woman was in her early twenties and her mother or guardian hadn’t bothered to expin such a vital aspect of the human condition. What was she expected to do when she got married? Lie there? It made him somewhat frustrated but it was unfortunately commonpce for daughters of noble households to be sent off into the world knowing nothing of it. “Come, let’s return to the group. We should make some headway before we retire for the evening.”
Camellia agreed and the two started to make their way back up to the camp where the men had packed everything up ready for another couple of hours on the road. They would likely ride well into the night before pulling out their sleeping bags and drifting off under the stars.