Beauty within Hardship

After around an hour of walking, Lucian finally came to a stop. His long, black hair was no longer as tidy as it was merely an hour or two ago. His uniform was now covered in scratches and mud but he couldn't care less. In order to get away from the city and busy roads, he had to bring Emma through the forest. Thorns and fallen branches formed a blanket across the floor as if waiting to snag onto something. Anywhere it looked like she was struggling, Lucian would step in and clear the way for her. Where the thorns were thickest, Lucian would cut them down and make a path. By no means did this mean Emma was helpless. She had regularly joined Lucian during his training before heading to the knight’s hall, so she was stronger than the average person. Despite this, Lucian had a habit of underestimating Emma. He simply didn’t want to get her hurt; however, now her main issue was the wedding dress which she had no time to change out of. This allowed the thorns to latch onto the skirt and slow her down. 
“There's a trail through the mountains around here. It's not as safe as other options, but it's rarely monitored so they won't find us.”
Emma nodded as she pulled her skirt from a thorn's grasp.
“What makes this trail dangerous?”
“Falling rocks, bears, wolves, bandits and so on. We’ll need to be careful, especially since we never prepared for this. We should make it to the other side within a few hours, so we can camp there for the night.”
Lucian reached out his hand, taking Emma’s and leading her forwards. It wasn't long before a faint trail could be seen worming its way upwards. Despite looking steep in areas, the trail appeared much easier to traverse than the forest, so she was relieved. 
It hadn't even been half an hour before Lucian stopped once again.
“Luci what's wrong?”
“I thought you'd appreciate a break, we still have quite a while to go and we’ve barely stopped since leaving the city so-”
“How weak do you think I am!?”
Despite the anger flaring up, Emma knew Lucian was only worried. She could only sigh and continue.
“Just because I can't fight as well as you doesn't mean my stamina is so much worse than yours! Have you forgotten all our mornings together, training until you had to leave? I'll tell you if I need a break, so let's get going.”
Lucian was stunned as Emma grabbed his hand, pulling him along as she started to follow the trail once again. All he could do was apologise and walk alongside her. 
“What’s the plan once we get through the mountains? The Angel said that to clear your name we have to reach Odrela, but how?”
Lucian tried to force a smile, but it was useless against Emma; someone who has known him for so long couldn’t be fooled so easily. 
“Well… I know someone who could allow us to cross the sea and reach Odrella for cheap, but we have no money on us. Maybe if we hunt along the way to his village and help out then we could earn enough for the fee.”
The church themselves set up a currency system long ago, making trade a lot easier for the humans of that time. 40 iron pieces equated to a bronze piece, 40 bronze pieces made a silver coin and 20 of these formed the highest level of currency, a gold coin. The majority of the population would never deal with gold coins, with the average merchants having 3 - 8 silver pieces in savings. Rural villages may only ever deal with iron coins, else they’ll barter between themselves. 
“And you can trust this person? You are a wanted man now!”
“Its unlikely the villages up north will learn about this for a while. Even then, I was sent to save his village from bandits while I was part of the Northern Guard. Sadly two villagers were lost, but he claimed to owe me his life. I’m sure he’ll keep to his word.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“We find another way. That's all we can do.”
Lucian wrapped his arm around Emma’s shoulder as they walked, as if trying to calm any doubts.
“Hey look at that!”
Emma followed his gaze, landing on some animal footprints. They consisted of two long curves side by side, each with small circular holes behind them.
“It belongs to a type of deer, mostly known as Birchsong deer.”
“Oh? Something you learned during your time up north?”
Lucian nodded.
“I had my worries when I first joined that squad, as would anyone from the city being told to travel between the northern villages. You don’t expect them to be friendly to you, as we all hear tales of their hatred for the nobles in cities who have a horde of wealth while they struggle. I never got to meet that side of them. All it took was treating them like human beings, and they gladly taught my squad new tricks which we never would have learned otherwise.”
Emma could only listen along, drawn in by the warmth in his words. It was obvious Lucian was fond of these memories, and she couldn’t disturb him with such a relaxed look on his face.
“These deer, they migrate south as summer turns to winter and back again as it begins to warm up in the spring. This led to the villagers calling them a different name: Lightseekers. The villagers are so in touch with the world around them, they even make nicknames for animals. Isn’t that beautiful?”
“It is, truly.”
Emma was gazing at Lucian’s face now. The time he spent away from her was filled with anxiety. He had only recently proposed, and she was worried that he would leave the world before their life together could truly begin. Seeing his face now, a warm smile and soft eyes gazing ahead, she smiled. She lent in and pressed her lips against his cheek before focusing once again on the path before them.
—
Several hours later, the view opened up from mountainous terrain to miles of grassland and forest, stretching out to the horizon. Emma sat atop a boulder, admiring the sight as Lucian sat behind her with their backs leaning against one another. Lucian’s gaze was fixated on his hand, on which was the ring from his troubles that morning. 
The ring was made of gold with a wide band. Inscribed on the ring was a magnificent tree with roots branching out around the entire ring. Tulips and chrysanthemums sprung from those roots, filling out the rest of the band. A single inverted cross sat opposite of the tree’s trunk. This seemed to be the only difference between his ring and Emma’s. His family claimed that the pair were handed down from generation to generation, making them seem too expensive for a simple knight. Now, he was having doubts about his family’s words.
He remembered the scene of Esther cleansing the ring, holy light shining from her hands. He had no doubt the curse was cleansed, but its coldness only reminded him of the disappointed and betrayed faces of his loved ones. He had spent a chunk of the journey so far thinking about what happened, and he had come to a conclusion on what the ring could do. 
“It affected the probability of how everything unfolded.”
“What?”
The sudden statement surprised Emma, but once she took a moment to think about it, it was reasonable. From her point of view the events at the church were very strange.
“The ring?”
“Yes. I think that in turn for better luck while fighting, it would ruin my luck elsewhere. Truly terrifying.”
Emma shifted, now sat to Lucian’s side.
“The Angel removed the curse right? Is it safe now?”
“Esther used the power of an Angel to deal with it, we can trust in the power of the Lord. Despite that, I won’t use it. I won’t let it become a crutch when I can fight with my own strength.”
“That’s just like you, Luci.”
She was now resting her head on his shoulder. Lucian stuffed the ring into his breast pocket before resting his head on hers. Minutes passed by as they found comfort in each other's presence. 
“The sun will set soon, let's head down and find a place to camp.”
“Five more minutes…”
“How could I say no to that?”