A Rock and a Heart Place (gxg)

Chapter 17

King Hudd was restless. He was sitting in his office with his son and Kaspar before him and he wanted to scream. He wanted to rage at the world for delaying and disrupting his plans. "What have we missed? Where else could she go?"

The other two stared at him for a moment. Prince Joppa had no idea, thinking still wasn't his strong suit.

Kaspar had been thinking of this very thing though. "She is unlikely to still be in Winterhaven. If she were gathering a force, it would have been noticed, and if she were just hiding, then our people would have found her. I doubt she has been living off the land this long. She could have gone to Southington. We have no spies there and the slaves could give her refuge. That gains her nothing though, and just puts her further from us. I was worried she might go around us to the cities on the west coast. Then come down from the north with troops and rebels, but our spies there have reported nothing. My biggest worry is that she could have gone around even further and to the pirate isles. You mentioned once that she had her wedding gown, she could buy their whole fleet and all their troops with that."

Hudd groaned at the thought. "If that happens, then we're sunk. She would have no reason to need you." He snarled at his son. "But I don't think she will go to the pirates. She grew up hearing stories of their evil, even if they were greatly exaggerated."

A knock on the door interrupted their discussion, and a small man entered and bowed. "News about the princess, sire!"

"Well spit it out!" Hudd commanded.

"She is in Tefra, sire!"

"Damn, the slavers caught her?" Kaspar groaned.

"No sir. She captured it. Two days ago, she led an army from Southington into Tefra and sacked it. The clans are gone, the slaves are freed. The city is hers," the man explained.

"Damnit! That bitch!" Hudd bellowed. "That city was making me a fortune!"

"So, what do we do?" Joppa wondered, a confused look on his face.

"You two get out there. Try to become a part of her forces as we planned, offer to help her throw me down. It is the only choice we have. It might take her time to get here, she has to organize a city now after all, but do your best."

Inez estimated that they could make the trip to Glirion in about two days if they rode hard. But with Medya still injured, and Nahmia training Liana's crew and Katja every evening, they were taking their time instead. They had passed through the Estersteads, a row of rugged hills that formed the boundary between Dallinia and Appalya on their first afternoon of travel, and the countryside had changed dramatically ever since. Gone was the endless sand, replaced by small towns and villages that provided food and lumber to the region. Inez would have felt better about their arrival in her home country had not every person they'd seen run from them and hidden. It made her so angry that Hudd's rule had reduced the population of her fair country to one that was terrified of anyone that looked like a soldier. She would soon put an end to that!

"How are you feeling?" Inez asked Medya as they sat on some cushions in their large tent while they camped on the first night. Inez was worried that a day on horseback may have jostled her shoulder and set back her healing.

Their campsite was set up near a stream along the road near a forest that no doubt was used for lumber based on the axe marks on the nearby stumps. But it was quiet and peaceful, so they could get a good night sleep. They had packed tents that were usually used by the traders on desert journeys, and they were all large and circular around a central pole. Medya had taken the liberty of packing a lot of pillows to sleep in, as she loved snuggling in them with Inez. "I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me. Nahmia picked a gentle horse for me, so I wasn't bouncing all over," Medya said with a tired smile.