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It should have been a routine, ordinary stag hunt. If Dowager Princess Elisebet was anxious about her teenage son attending on his own...well, everyone knew how she coddled the boy and fretted over him. And no one took seriously her dark hints that his cousin Efriturik--son of the ruling Princess--might not shed a tear if something happened to his nearest eventual rival for the throne. But to ease Elisebet's mind, Barbara agreed to keep an eye out for him during the hunt.
* * *
The stag burst out from a thicket before them so suddenly that the foremost horses reared and plunged in terror. Barbara saw Chustin go down as she struggled to regain control of her own mount. He had regained his feet by the time she reached his side. The stag was past and gone with the hounds close on its heels. And from the crashing in the bushes the huntsmen weren’t far behind.
Seeing Chustin safe, Barbara set off to catch his horse where it danced nervously at the far edge of the clearing. She’d barely caught the reins when the crashing of more riders emerging from the brush spooked it again. She swore and looked back in exasperation. Her heart stopped. Somehow in the mad descent they’d roused a boar from its lair. It stood in the middle of the clearing, twitching its tail angrily, not ten yards from where Chustin stood frozen. If it charged, it would be on him before she could cross half the distance and her with no more than a hunting knife to stop it. As her mind calculated furiously, there was Efriturik, forcing his horse between the two and swinging to the ground to plant his spear at the ready.
You fool! That’s no boar-spear! He’ll run right up it! Barbara thought as the beast stamped and snorted.
* * *
The stag burst out from a thicket before them so suddenly that the foremost horses reared and plunged in terror. Barbara saw Chustin go down as she struggled to regain control of her own mount. He had regained his feet by the time she reached his side. The stag was past and gone with the hounds close on its heels. And from the crashing in the bushes the huntsmen weren’t far behind.
Seeing Chustin safe, Barbara set off to catch his horse where it danced nervously at the far edge of the clearing. She’d barely caught the reins when the crashing of more riders emerging from the brush spooked it again. She swore and looked back in exasperation. Her heart stopped. Somehow in the mad descent they’d roused a boar from its lair. It stood in the middle of the clearing, twitching its tail angrily, not ten yards from where Chustin stood frozen. If it charged, it would be on him before she could cross half the distance and her with no more than a hunting knife to stop it. As her mind calculated furiously, there was Efriturik, forcing his horse between the two and swinging to the ground to plant his spear at the ready.
You fool! That’s no boar-spear! He’ll run right up it! Barbara thought as the beast stamped and snorted.
