It had been a bad idea, she'd known it from the second she saw her employers, but she'd needed the money too bad to say no. Besides, it was supposed to be a simple job; a few days watching some merchant caravan on its way to Riem. Problem was, the caravan's guard commander was completely feckless, and most of the other mercs took their cues from him; apart from one or two token efforts to make themselves look not completely terrible, it was next to impossible to get them to put up even a sentry, so she'd ended up riding van for most of the trip. It must have been something in the water on this side of the Inner Sea; the border guards were not only just as lazy, but stupid, to boot. They'd let a pack of armed soldiers in the livery of Riemond right up to the post before even realizing they were there, and worse, they hadn't even bothered manning the ballista or defenses until it was too late. When the soldiers had shown their true colours and attacked, most of the guard had gotten massacred, along with the caravan and everyone else inside, and she'd had no intention of joining them. No point in picking a fight you couldn't win, she'd learnt that lesson well. The second the fighting began inside the border post, with no way for her to get back in through their main force, she'd legged it southward on Creidhne.
Still, that didn't mean she'd gotten away clean. She heard the enemy shout from behind her, and her eyes narrowed as she judged the distance ahead of her. She wasn't going to quite make the trees, and the enemy's horse was faster than her own Creidhne. Still, she had to make the effort, and she couldn't fend them all off alone. He'd run her down either way, and if he genuinely wanted to talk a moment, he could do it there. If not, then at least the underbrush would cut down on any fancy manoeuvres and give the advantage to her and her heavier armour. It'd also put the main bulk of the forest between them and the border gate, screening them from sight of the main force. She lifted her lance, a cheap, spindly thing, and pointed at the patch of forest in the middle of the marsh.
"Yeah, pull the other one; it's got bells on. But if ya really want ta' talk? Then come on, we'll ride and talk."(Move to 11,17)As she moved, she saw a brief glimpse through the break in the trees of another force moving up to the keep. No band of soldiers, these; their ragged formation (unarmoured men and archers in the van, really?) and the fact they were moving in the marshes off the road pointed to brigands or some other very non-military group that didn't want to be seen. But they were making for the border post like they had no idea what was waiting for them...
Oh, you cannot be serious. Now, of all times, on top of this?