Chapter 6 xxxxxxxxx

The two women trudged on with little more spoken words all that day. To Lina's dismay, they made no break for lunch, so she was quite peckish as evening fell. Finally she could stand it no longer and, as her stomach started to rumble, loudly, she asked "When do we eat?" "A mile farther the trees end and there is a village, we can eat and sleep there, and after that, with an early start, we should clear the border before noon." was the reply."Right." said Lina. "Now I remember, we rode through it on the down." "Then, we should go as far from the boarder as possible before we settle for the night. After that, well, after that it will be up to my guides entirely." concluded Grace."Okay" said Lina simply, in a voice that suggested someone surrendering to unavoidable fate.

She set her mind and heart to the task, and soon enough, through the thinning trees, there were the twinkling lights of a small village on the road in front of them. "Lina," whispered Grace, "remember, we are poor, although not impoverished! One room only, and eat lightly. Take some of the provisions we packed if you are still hungry after, okay?" "Hey, I know the routine!" responded a slightly hurt sounding Lina, though whether it was from being told the obvious from Grace, or missing out on a big feast wasn't clear. As the dusk fell with earnest they stumbled into the small, neat inn and booked a room. "I am sorry" said Grace as the man handed the key over. "I am so tired, and I have to settle the baby, please don't think me ungracious Lina, but I have simply got to go to bed. Can you bring up some tea when you come, please?" "Eh, Oh, sure, I guess so." said Lina. After stowing their bags in the room Lina went down stairs to eat. "I don't know if I should leave her alone!" thought the red haired Super Sorceress to herself, "but I need time to think."

Lina remembered Grace's warning about making herself obvious and ate what for her was a small meal. Well, it took the edge off, and gave her some time alone. "Okay, what did you learn today?" she thought to herself. "Let's see, this Grace is, well, different. No, she's weird. No, scratch that, the whole thing is weird. Is she really the Queen? That is too bizarre, what King would send his Queen to do an ambassador's job? And send the Heir Apparent with her? That's just plain out of this world unreal! Still, let's see, can I come up with a reason why they would be telling the truth? Okay, lets say she is the Queen, and it is the Heir who she has with her, why would you send them? And why alone, guarded only by one Sorceress, even if that Sorceress is me? She keeps emphasising secrecy, what is she afraid of and why does she think we will be beset with spies if we are not careful? What is her message to Prince Phil? Is she trying to hurt or kill him?" Lina thought and thought and thought. Usually she was very good at these sorts of puzzles, but this time she seemed to be loosing her touch.

"Is it because of Gourry?" she asked herself. "Am I so upset by his going that I can't think straight?" After a few more minutes the answer seemed to be a negative. Then a thought struck her. "Okay, if she's not the Queen, why say she is the Queen? So we will believe her, and do what she says without looking too closely? Hmmm, there's an idea. And the baby, very possibly hers, is also a hostage, that ensures OUR good behaviour. They don't want Zel, or me to get too close until this Queen Grace wants to reveal her secret! Well, okay, I can try to pick out what I can, but in the end I guess I better have a big fireball ready, just in case. I only hope I can get Zel to be in a position to save the baby if I have to throw it..."

"Oh, who are you kidding Lina? You can't fireball her as long as she holds that baby. You will just have to take it as it comes. Damn, this is maddening!" With that, she decided she was tired of riddles with no easy solution. Ordering up a pot of tea she made a pretence of digging to find the right change to pay for the meal, having realised that there was some silver and copper coins in the money bag too, and took the pot to the room. When she entered she saw that Grace had been busy. It was evident that she and Arthur had washed and changed. Certain delicate articles of clothing, such as the baby's diapers had also been cleansed and were hung on the balcony rail to dry. "Well, that isn't what you'd expect of a Queen!" thought Lina, who had rather dreaded being asked to do the job herself. "Either Grace has taken motherhood to heart, or she has been well trained for the mission, or, this isn't a Queen..."

She looked around some more. The bed was securely against the wall, and Grace was asleep in it, facing the wall, the baby snuggled up to her breast. She was changed, but had put her cape and it's hood back on, obviously she would be ready for an early start. It was also obvious that there would be no easy chance to sneak a peek at her face tonight. There was evidence of a meal from the rations, well, so she had eaten something. Lina finally set the tea down on the table and decided not to wake Grace to have a drink, she needed her sleep too much. With a yawn Lina realised she was more tired than hungry now anyway, and decided to make a night of it. A quick check, and lo and behold, there were some now lukewarm buckets of water that seem to have been set aside for her to wash with. After a brief debate about using magic to warm them with Lina decided it was too risky, and a quick but thorough wash in the tepid liquid had to suffice. Not really satisfied with the feeling, but never-the-less clean, Lina followed Graces example and got into bed, completely dressed. She whispered "Goodnight!" to Grace, but didn't here any reply. In a short time she was deeply asleep too, all the traveling was beginning to make itself felt after all.

She awoke with a start the next day and was surprised to see sunlight streaming in the window. Hey! No one had awakened her. Suddenly she remembered where she was and sat up in bed. The sleep left and the room sprang into view. Grace was there, phew! She was sitting beside the small table, her back to Lina. From the looks and the sounds of things she was feeding Arthur and cooing and playing with him as she did so. She sounded so happy. Lina had a sudden vision of herself, with Gourry beside her, looking down in wonder on a new little life that the two of them had made. It seemed a holy moment to her. She shook her head to clear the vision, and thought sadly to herself "Gourry, where are you?" Finally, she gave a big stretch and a big yawn, and got out of the bed.

"Good morning Lina." said Grace in her quiet voice. "Such as it is, there is breakfast on the table. Thank you for the tea, it is good, even cold. I left you some." Lina looked, and realised there was a simple meal of sorts laid out. Again, Grace had managed to elude Lina's getting a peek at her face. "Uh, thanks Your...er...Grace. What time is it?" "The village clock struck nine a few minutes ago" was the response. "Errr, so, we slept in then." said Lina, a bit puzzled by the early start business. "Well, I have been up since seven with the baby, he's been a bit fussy, all this traveling I think, but you needed some sleep, I thought, so I let you sleep away. Besides, I feel it in my muscles, all the walking, and wasn't too eager to set out right away anyway." was Graces reply. "Oh, errr, right, well, I do feel better, thank you."

With that, Lina went about the business of starting the day. "Okay, what's the revised plan?" she asked after taking some food. "Um, well, try to clear the gate by early afternoon, I guess, and then meet Lord Zelgadiss on the other side somewhere. After that, I know not, except to go to Seirune." was Grace's reply. "What do you recommend?" Lina thought for a moment then said. "It is a bit of a push, because it goes uphill and down, but there is a path that can cut off a big loop of the road and perhaps bring us to Seirune a bit quicker, if we are up for walking in the wilds. We better ask Zel about this, but we might be able to avoid anyone who expects us to use the road, since you seem to fear that possibility. Also, in the wild I can usually let loose with my magic if there is trouble, without worrying about innocent bystanders or villages. What do you think?" Grace thought a minute then said "Might be worth a try, we shall see."

The two women packed up and made ready to go. Lina observed that the Queen seemed a bit more tired than yesterday. "Better make sure she doesn't over do it, rush or no rush" she thought to herself. "But, I guess she won't calm down till we at least clear the gate, oh well. When they were ready they both took a deep breath and set off. After a bit, the exercise and the sun warmed them, and they were in their stride, a nice steady mile eating pace that carried them on. Lina tried a bit of chit chat with Grace, but the woman clearly feared trouble by the time they reached the boarder and so they were rather silent and wary as they tramped along. There were several times that Lina got the impression of being watched, but she was never able to pinpoint the watcher, and couldn't say for sure it wasn't nerves, so she said nothing and just quietly strengthened her protective wards. A couple of times she pretended to adjust her clothing so she could make sure her sword was handy, but, for all that they made it to a shady glade by the road to eat lunch without incident.

"Whew, that was a good walk after all!" said Lina as they unslung their packs and prepared to eat. "Yes, better than I expected to be honest." replied Grace as she managed to eat without showing her face by bending over and feeding the baby. "So," she went on, "I rather expect we will make the boarder by one or two, there will be a slight bit of business as we have to register for a tax receipt, and then we are through." "Uh, huh!" said Lina with a snort. "Tell me, Grace, if you are a rich as His...as Alfred said last evening, why do you need taxes? Why not mine more gold if you need money for the, ummmm, family business?" "Taxes aren't what you think." replied Grace quietly. "A country, like a tub, would eventually get full if you poured gold into it with out a drain. Then the money becomes worthless as there is too much of it around. So taxes are used to remove excess from circulation." "Lina looked puzzled. "I, err, never thought of it that way..." she said hesitantly. "Oh I know" said Grace. "They are a nuisance, and imperfect, and all too easily abused, with excessive amounts being charged, things taxed that never should be taxed and all that. Unfortunately, no one has come up with a better plan." she finished with a sad shake of the head. "However, this would not be a good time to discuss the evils of tax law with the boarder guards, although if you want to look disgusted while we register that certainly would be in character!" she said, sounding a little more light hearted.

"He, he, yeah" said Lina in reply. "Must keep the disguise up!" "Yes that's true..." said Grace as she adjusted her hood. She picked up her bundles and her baby, gave a sigh and a bit of an unscheduled burp and said "It will be good to get back to Seirune and get back to normal, err, sorry, I meant, it will be good to get to Seirune and get back to normal, I think the sun is making me drowsy, we better get going before we fall asleep for the rest of the day." They set to the road again. Lina pondered Grace's little gaff and wondered "Does she have some connection to Seirune? That makes no sense..." She decided on a bold approach and asked "So, do you have some sort of connection to Seirune, Grace?" Grace looked at her with a funny stare, then said "Well, yes, I guess so, it is the country I am going to fulfill my mission..." "Can I ask, why Seirune at least?" asked Lina. Grace thought for a minute then answered guardedly "They are the nation most worried we are going to invade, Lina. Oh yes, we are aware of what is said, merchants tongues will wag both ways especially if they are angling to be arms suppliers or something equally as lucrative... However, for all that, Prince Phillionel is the most likely to give us a fair hearing, and, well, I think I have a very good shot at convincing him we mean no harm..." She was silent for a bit then went on in a sadder tone. "You have no idea how much I wish I could tell you Lina, but I am too afraid to speak on the road, hell, I am too afraid to even show my face. Please, bear with me" "Of course Grace..." said Lina quietly, her heart going out to the woman. She hadn't realised there could be so much to a Queen's life. She reaffirmed to herself then and there that being Gourry's Queen would be enough of a challenge for one life time.

As they walked along Lina contented herself with small talk, and found out Grace was fairly well versed in things about nature, she recognised several kinds of birds and was able to talk about the weather in terms of future predictions from the clouds and the winds. When asked how she learned all this she sighed and said, "The hard way..." The walk was a bit awkward, but soon enough the gates were visible. Grace seemed to relax a bit and said "Thank all the gods, known and unknown..." "Ehh?" asked Lina. "I have been expecting trouble at any turn for the past while Lina, but here we are with no trouble at all. I don't think anyone will try anything in sight of the gate, too many guards too close." "Hmmm, yeah..." said Lina slowly, looking at the small crowd at the gate waiting to be let through. "Barring a suicidal sneak assassin or two..."

"Well, I can't do anything about that, except watch out." replied Grace in a quiet, worried voice. Lina shook her head in wonder. If the woman hadn't shown her self to be brave by taking on this mission Lina would have been certain that she was too weak to be able to rule over the King and turn his heart to battling the west. Okay, it looked like she really would have to wait till Seirune... although, maybe alone on the road, outside of her country, she might loosen up if she felt safer? "Wait and see, Lina, wait and see..." the redheaded Sorceress thought to herself. They approached the gate without incident, were questioned by the bored looking guard, who seemed to notice nothing unusual about the two women. They were given a tax receipt to use as an exit visa, and like that, they were through!