Chapter 7: Mixed Feelings.

Lyude closed his eyes. He took a final breath through his nose just before it was submerged. He felt panic set in. He felt as if a thick blanket were covering his consciousness. Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind him and burrowed deep into the sand in front of Lyude's face. The hand made a large sweeping motion and brushed the sand back away from his nose and mouth. Lyude gasped, sweet air filling his lungs. He choked on the sand and coughed violently. The burrowing hands continued until his shoulders were exposed and he felt uncannily strong arms pull upward and shift him. The sandstorm was dying down and visuals were beginning to improve.

Lyude felt dizzy. His vision continued to blur. The exertion from struggling against the sands as long as he had, coupled with the intense heat left him little strength to contend with aiding in getting himself free. He felt as if he might black out. Drunkenly he glanced behind him and saw that it was Urden that had found him. The strong man made no comment as Lyude looked hazily up at him, a weak expression of resignation lining his face. Urden seemed only concerned with drawing Lyude from the sand.

Once the minister was free, Urden laid him out on the sand and looked him over, his brow furrowed. Lyude closed his eyes wearily, taking in soft breaths and coughing occasionally. His ribs still ached, more so from being pulled and his throat was raw from inhaling the sand.

Lyude heard Gravar's voice ring out. "Found him then?" he said.

"No thanks to you, Gravar. Get back to camp. I will handle the matter of dealing with the good minister." said Urden.

Gravar grumbled and Lyude opened on eye to see him trembling with rage. His pride seemed to have taken a rather severe beating. He stormed off and Urden produced a water magnus, Lifting Lyude's limp form to an elevated position. "Drink." he ordered placing the canteen to Lyude's parched lips. The liquid trickled into Lyude's slightly open mouth and he choked.

"Take it easy..." came Urden's level voice. "Slowly now."

Lyude weakly lifted his head slightly and Urden returned the canteen to his lips. Slowly, he poured some water into Lyude's mouth and Lyude drank, managing not to choke too much until he got some down. He coughed again, and his eyes rose to those of Urden's. He closed his eyes and knew no more.

Urden sighed and took a bit of the water and put it on a cloth, cooling the Minister's brow. He lifted the unconscious young man and stood up. Sand from the Minister's uniform fell in a drizzle to the ground. "Might just have made it if your luck had been right." Urden murmured. "I almost wish you had."

Lyude groaned softly and his head turned inward. "So young..."said Urden softly, pity forming in his eyes. "It truly is a shame."

Skeed paced the room wearily. It had been three days now without so much as a clue. His brother was nowhere to be found. He looked down at the papers piled on Lyude's desk. He had a lot of work to return to...if he ever did. He looked over some of the documents and saw his brother's signature on one of the papers. It felt almost as if he were looking at the signature of a dead man. Tears threatened to rim his eyes. He was beginning to lose faith that they would find him alive.

He inwardly scolded himself. Alyssa had already established that whoever had taken him had wanted him alive...but for how long? Did they intend to hold him for ransom? Skeed didn't think so. So what was it then? Had he been captured so that some sort of legislation could be passed? All kinds of possibilities ran through his head. Each more sinister than the last.

He had sent out a message to each of Lyude's past companions. The ones that had aided and supported him during his defiance of the Empire and had played a role in defeating Malpercio. He had heard no replies.

He decided he should go see how Alyssa was holding up. The stress she was going through could not be good for her child.

Vallye, Folon, and Ricco rode together in a well equipped hover vessel. Each were tiring of seeing nothing but sand before them.

Folon idly began flipping his whips from his cuffs in random directions.

"Would you stop that?" said Vallye irritably, "You're so childish."

"Get over yourself." snapped Folon.

"That's enough." Interjected Ricco. "We've got enough on our plates without squabbling amongst ourselves."

Vallye sighed. "I wonder if he's even out there..."

Folon shook his head. "Where else would they take him? I doubt they would have taken him from Alfard. It's a big country. There are plenty of places to hide him."

"It's not unlikely, I suppose." said Vallye. When I find the ones who did this..."

"Calm down there, Red." said Folon.

"Don't call me Red again." glared Vallye. "I knew I should have went ahead and placed a tracking device in all of Lyude's uniforms."

Folon raised an eyebrow. "Sure he would have appreciated that. Bit protective wouldn't you agree?"

"He's the ruler of Alfard for heaven's sake! Safety measures must be taken!"

"Yeah, but he's not a child either." said Ricco.

Vallye shook her head. "I know that. It takes a man to do what he's done for this country. He's still only one man though. People tend to forget that in light of all his accomplishments."

Folon chuckled, "This coming from someone that tried to kill him."

"Shut up!" said Vallye. "You think I don't think of that every day? I believe that you did the same!"

Folon chuckled. "Ironic, isn't it? Attempting to kill him one day and trying to save his skin the next?"

Vallye was not amused and glared Darkly at Folon through her hazel eyes.

"Sorry." said Folon showing a bit of shame in his jokester face. "How much area have we covered so far today, Ricco?"

"About three hundred miles of sand." said Ricco irritably. "It would help if we knew what direction they went."

"There's no point in bemoaning what we have no way of learning. The tracks were completely covered by the time Alyssa woke up and all she found was Lyude's medal where she had seen him standing last. It says nothing for which way they actually went." said Vallye.

Folon pulled out his magnus. "Water?" he offered his companions.

The two thanked him and took a magnus each. Taking small sips so that the water would last them for a while. "Too bad we don't know which Oasis they camped at. Alyssa was pretty tired and dehydrated when we found her. She couldn't remember how many turns she had taken." said Ricco.

Vallye nodded. "We may have been able to find a few clues, but it's not likely. I want to examine their ship if we can even find that after this wretched storm. It would help immensely if we had some idea of who had him abducted."

"Had to be one of the generals or government officials." said Folon suddenly.

"What makes you say that?" asked Ricco, his brow raised.

"Because only a select group of those knew the route that Lyude and Alyssa would take. That ambush was lying in wait for them so someone had to tell them where to go. There's only a few people it could be."

"Why are you only mentioning this now!" said Vallye incredulously. "Are you really such a fool!"

"I figured that you would know!" said Folon. "You do happen to be one of those people. I mentioned it now for Ricco's benefit."

Vallye knew that Folon was right. She should have realized that. It was quite a folly for her not to realize what Folon had said sooner. It made perfect sense. "Which is a change for him." thought Vallye darkly. Honestly, she didn't know what Lyude saw in the energetic jokester. She found him quite annoying. We'll have to discuss this with Skeed when we return for the night." said Vallye. I suggest we try west for a while. Perhaps they were marooned farther than we expected. We may at least find the ship.

Lyude felt the gentle caress of fingers through his hair, stroking it away from his face and tucking it behind his ear. It was a familiar sort of touch. The kind that Almarde had often done to soothe him and Alyssa often did in fondness. He moaned softly, his head still reeling. "Alyssa...?" when he opened his eyes this was not the sight that greeted him.

When Urden had brought Lyude back to camp Lena had taken over caring for the Minister's needs. He was quite dehydrated and suffered from heat exhaustion and fatigue. She had managed to get some water down him, getting little response at first. The minister's mouth moved slightly in response to the liquid but it merely trickled from his mouth. After a few more tries he began to respond a little more eagerly. Swallowing the cool liquid with such gusto that Lena had to take the cup from his lips to get him to slow down. She allowed him to sink back into a relaxed position and he continued to sleep.

She took a cool cloth and bathed Lyude's flushed face. The boy had been foolish, but she could not blame him for his efforts. Her eyes grew sad and unreadable as she looked upon the strapping youth and she stroked back his crimson locks. Lyude's brow furrowed at the touch and he groaned softly. Stirring finally from the heat induced slumber. "Alyssa?" she heard him murmur as he opened his eyes.

She drew her hand back from his face as his crimson eyes met hers. Lyude's expression was puzzled as he gazed up at his captor, but he didn't speak. Lena stood abruptly, stepping away from the bound minister and busying herself by the fire. All the while feeling those sad and gentle eyes following her movements.

AN: There's chapter seven! I've Almost caught up here from where I am at the BK forums in this fanfics, so updates may not be quite so frequent after chapter 9, but I'll try to update as often as possible.

Crazygirl: Thanks again for the review! Hope your mind is a little more at ease now.