Logic left as Irene thought of all the possible worst-case scenarios. Had he suffocated? Was he crushed under the rocks and not simply trapped?
She slipped off of her horse who she left towards the trees so he would at least have weeds and grass to munch on while he waited for his owner.
As all of the possible bad things flooded her mind, she didn't think about how she probably shouldn't rush forward and reveal herself to the knights. She was only acting out because it was all she knew how to do. After all, the man most important to her was in trouble.
"Who goes there?!" one of the knights shouted and she brushed them off immediately.
They didn't see her as a threat.
Irene kept running until she was at the rocks where the other men were. Determined to make a difference, all she did was climb up the stack and start grabbing the ones she could lift, tossing them to the side as if it was going to make a major difference.
A few knights who were already exhausted from working through the night began to gather.
"Who are you?" one of the men shouted, pulling back the hood of his cloak as he did so.
Seeing the men show interest in her caused her to pause momentarily and she turned to them.
After all her mother had told her about the rowdy knights and how a young lady like her couldn't trust herself with them, she only pulled her hood lower.
"I am Sir Arthur's child!" she declared. "I am here to rescue him."
A couple of the men scoffed. Others simply hung their heads in disbelief.
"What do you think we've been trying to do all night?"
However, more trouble arrived when the knight who went to her house to warn them of what happened to her father finally made his presence known.
"Who is this?" Gunnar asked, confirming with the others what the person had been telling them.
"Sir Arthur's... son?" one of them responded.
They weren't actually sure whether or not the hooded child was a boy or a girl. All they knew of them was that they were determined.
Gunnar looked up at the child and, based on their height, he knew right away that it was the girl. As he glanced at the men around him, he realized that perhaps it wasn't the best place to confess that a girl was amongst them and working so hard. Some were small-minded when it came to that sort of thing. He would let her go if she was helpful.
Based on what he observed as he saw her move rocks and do what she could with the mere strength she had, it was enough for him to keep her secret. Follow current novels on novèlfire.net
A surprising response to Irene's presence was more knights lending a hand even though that's what they had been doing all night.
They moved as many rocks as they could with simple manpower. A few others had found old mining tools in some of the abandoned mining outposts and began using pickaxes to clear away the large boulders because that was what most of their problem was.
As time went on and the early morning sun began making its way to the top of the eastern mountain, Irene realized her back and hands were on fire from both the moving and having to handle such hard material.
Her mother was disappointed in how calloused her daughter's hands were because of her time with a sword, but it seemed that they still had a long time to toughen up.
She managed to press on, hiding the fact that her hands were raw and she was wearing down her glove. In her mind, it was only worth addressing once it really became a problem. At that moment, she could still go forward.
The girl focused on her task at hand before she heard hoofbeats against the gravel path leading up to the rockslide and she turned her head sharply, though she made sure to keep herself mostly hidden.
"The mages are here!" someone shouted.
A small army of people wearing brown or grey robes appeared with a couple of wagons.
She stared in amazement as one who seemed to be as old as the very mountain they were nestled against stepped forward towards Gunnar. He had a long white beard and hid his hands underneath his flowing sleeves. His eyes seemed to be grey but she couldn't tell from as far away as she was.
"You knights are lucky we were traveling in this area in the first place," the old man said.
Irene wanted to get mad and demand respect on behalf of the knight, but she saw the man seem to bow his head in respect and she wondered right away who the person was who demanded such respect yet gave none of it back.
The conversation between Gunnar and the old mage was no longer heard by Irene because the two men had begun talking more quietly as they stepped away from the group.
Irene kept working lifting rocks and tossing them away from the opening but her thoughts were plagued with how her father should be the one calling the shots. Unfortunately, the first in command was an old man who kept to his small castle while the second in command, her father, was under rubble. She wondered how he even got there in the first place.
Knowing her father, he likely ran into danger with no consideration for himself.
That's what I'm doing, too, she realized.
After all, her mother's biggest complaint was the way Irene took after her father and took none of the gentleness from her.
The girl's back was feeling achy again and she stood up straight. She never had used her muscles the way she was that morning and she knew it was going to take days for her to recover from what she was doing. It was worth it to save her father—even if what she did was small compared to the others, she was still trying her hardest.
As she stood up straight, her green eyes took notice of the sunrise.
Across what was left of the rain cloud were brilliant oranges, pinks, and purples.
It occurred to her that soon her mother would wake to realize her daughter was no longer there. Another sacrifice worth it if she could help save her father in some small way.
She was forced back into reality when she heard Gunnar yell, "Knights step aside! The mages will move the rocks."
For the first time, she was grouped with the knights and was elated beyond belief.
Did that mean they believed in her?
She pulled her hood lower on her head to hide the grin on her lips that only left when she heard the biggest BOOM! in her life.