Chapter 36
Leo headed to Lucretia's duchy using his motorcycle to stay off the main roads and use any cover he could find. He didn't want to be discovered it was better no one knew where he was. Once he was sure Lucretia's duchy wasn't the right location he snuck into it with the small team he had taken with him. They soon get information on what stronghold Lucretia too Olivia too. Leo had the information he needed by lunchtime. He called Liam once he answered the phone Leo said, "I have a list of strongholds in Lythikos. I have organized them from the most habitable to the least. There are a total of 50 to search. Even with our masses, it will take a while to find the right one. It's only once we find the correct stronghold can we plot to gain back your queen." Liam growls but diligently writes down the list of strongholds. "Are there any that were favored by Lucretia or Olivia's parents. That would be the most likely stronghold they'd use." Leo replies saying, "they aren't giving away that information. They don't believe Lucretia's involvement in Riley's disappearance. They may be more willing tomorrow when Lucretia hasn't returned home. I believe they are waiting for Olivia's staff to call concerned for the Duchess."
After getting off the phone with Leo he hands the list to Bastien saying, "This is all the strongholds we need their exact locations and how far from her of Lucretia's duchy they are. I have to come up with a plan to search them all to locate which one holds Riley." Bastien nods and gets to work on getting the information Liam needs. Soon he's returned with a map that he had marked all the locations of the strongholds of Lythikos. Bastine opens the map of Lythikos on the table in front of Liam. Bastien says, "I marked all the stronghold locations. They are all over Lythikos with no real rhyme or reason to their location. Liam growls in frustration he slams his fist on the table. He stands up saying, "This is going to take longer than I had hoped. I will have to trust people other than Drake and Maxwell. There is no choice unless we search through a large number of strongholds each day. I don't want to exhaust them, men. Not when we may have to battle to get Riley back."
Drake nods in understanding wishing he could take some of the burdens off of his longtime friend saying, "Maxwell and I will help you figure it out, Liam. It just may take longer than you want it to. No one here is trained for covert actions. We can't risk being discovered before we storm the stronghold to rescue the queen. Let's just figure out how to rule out strongholds as quickly as possible." Bastien says, "Perhaps we can send some men to the uninhabitable strongholds just to rule them out quickly." Liam ponders this idea as others add their input as to how to tackle this. He weighs all suggestions finally agreeing to send volunteers to the uninhabitable strongholds. He instructed them to return to the keep. Each going with someone who knows the area to lead them to the stronghold and back to Olivia's keep.
By the end of the day, they had been able to cross off all of the uninhabitable strongholds. The volunteers had brought back a video of the strongholds for Liam to view. It helped Liam feeling better about not having gone himself. The people seemed to understand his need to know the Queen wasn't there. Liam had been very grateful for the videos surprised that his people were so understanding and considerate. Liam held a meeting with his men. He stood in front of them saying, "We have a lot of ground to cover. I don't want to ask too much but we do have a deadline. The queen is due soon. I fear once the heir is born one of the two will be lost. The soon we retrieve her the better."
He was pleasantly surprised when the masses agreed to locate the queen as quickly as possible. They would start first thing in the morning braking up in groups each group tasked with a stronghold. Sending video to the king as it was searched before joining another team. They had agreed to search any strongholds behind Olivia's duchy and meeting back at the dutchy for a large brunch. They'd head to Lucretia's duchy after brunch exploring the strongholds on the way. Once at Lucretia's duchy they'd spend the night before searching the remaining strongholds. Hopefully, they won't be too exhausted before finding the stronghold that held Riley.
Before dawn the next morning they broke into groups each one assigned a stronghold. They had met back at the duchy in time for breakfast. Liam had asked the staff to make lunch to go for everyone. It allowed them to take a break and regroup. Liam was proud of his people and grateful for the support. As soon as to-go bags of lunches had been handed out. They set out to search the strongholds between Olivia's duchy and Lucretia. It had taken longer than Liam thought it would but they had made it to Lucretia's for a late dinner. Thankfully the servants at Olivia's duchy had made a good-sized lunch for the group.
Liam had kept Leo in the loop throughout the search process. Leo had been able to cross off a few locations to the left and right of Lucretia's duchy. By the time Liam arrived at the duchy for the night all that was left was the remaining strongholds in front of the duchy. Hopefully, the searching would end soon and they could work on Riley's recovery. He was sure Liam wasn't holding up to well in private.
