A Rock and a Heart Place (gxg)

Chapter 4

Prince Joppa sniffed the air in the shrine up in the great hall, a sneer lifting his lip. The fire in the corner was still flickering and the scent of meat hung heavy in the air. Whoever had been here, it wasn't too long ago. "Captain Kaspar, what do you think?" A tall man with close cropped grey hair stepped up in response.

"Presumably, the same as you. Someone was here, very recently and either freed the princess or stole the statue." The older man said in a dry voice. He didn't like answering to this princeling and hoped that the plan of the king would hurry up so he could stop chasing this fool around. "Gera! Get up here and take a look at this place!"

A smaller man in leather armor with a bow over his back joined the pair in the room, though he walked much more gracefully than either. He crouched down, looking at the area, and picking up tufts of fur and hair. Moving about the chamber, he took note of a few other details before returning. "Judging by the footprints in the dust, one person entered, but a pair left. They were both cold and were using bear furs for heat in addition to the fire. Both also had black hair, though of differing lengths. No doubt they used some sort of a magical device to free the area around the princess, as there is a circular area around the altar where there are no pieces of stone, and many drag marks from rats that no doubt scavenged the new flesh."

Joppa swore inwardly. With the princess free, she would no longer look at him as if he were a savior. He might still be able to present himself as an ally in the overthrowing of his father though. He had originally planned on coming to the hall himself, though his memories of travel back to Winterhaven made him realize there could well be bandits about, so he took the captain and a dozen troopers along dressed as mercenaries that would fit the story. With the recent events, he was glad he did, as a tracker like Gera might be handy in finding Princess Inez now that she was no longer stone. "How did we not see them on the road?"

"Let me go scout the area Prince Joppa, I'll report back." The scout bowed and scurried out of the room.

"The plan is already falling apart," the prince muttered.

"It can be salvaged, but not until we find the princess and determine her plans and who freed her. There should have been no allies of her that knew of her fate. We may well have a traitor in the castle," Kaspar surmised.

"Prince Joppa!" Gera called out. "I found their tracks!"

Princess Inez was screaming and laughing with joy into Medya's ear and gripping her so hard that the smaller woman was having a little trouble steering the toboggan. They were flying down the mountain at a breakneck pace, with two of the little glowing orbs floating ahead of them to light the way. They had to dodge several large fir trees so far, but with Medya's Kittani reflexes, they had escaped those near misses unscathed. The good thing was that they were making excellent time thanks to their speed on the steep slope, and while the snow was deep the air was slowly getting warmer.

Suddenly, the lights illuminated a huge gorge directly ahead. With no time to turn, the pair flew over the edge, and Inez's screams turned to those of terror. Until they kept going, even rising a bit, right over the gorge. Inez looked down and saw Madya's left hand glowing with a pale blue light until they passed over the gorge, and the light dissipated as they bounced back down into the snow. There was one more yelp of surprise from Inez, and then she was laughing one more.

"You're crazy, you know what right?" Inez yelled over the wind rushing past them.

Medya didn't take her eyes off the trees in front of her but did chuckle in response. "Crazy might be just what you need to get your throne back though princess." Pulling tight on the right toboggan rope, and leaning into it, she steered them to parallel the gorge they had just jumped.