Javen and her mechanical horse were slowly strolling the roadway that would eventually lead her to Scorpion Keep. It had been some time since she had actually camped outside. She had found she missed it, to a degree. She preferred the comforts of bathing indoors. She had really thought that Wendell would have been a bit tougher to get the summons from but Terean had been right. He was fairly simple minded and acquiesced immediately without even batting an eye. She looked at the map, at this rate she would be at the inn outside of Scorpion keep by Friday. She just hoped that Terean was telling her the truth that the temple Mistress would make her loss up when she got back to Lancaster.
Lady Juniper was up early, making her way down to the temple when three of the rear guard stopped her. She'd finally had enough as they were being rude and discourteous toward her, "I am the Lady of Lancaster and you will show me the respect and courtesy I deserve."
One of the guards shook his hand, "Ooooh, we will, will we? And what if we don't?"
Lady Juniper's eyes darkened as she pulled her owl emblem out from under the neckline of her dress, "Then you will find out what a Cleric of the wise Lady can do to you."
"Maybe it's time for Beyon to become a widower," the guard told her as all three drew their swords.
"You will address my husband as Lord Beyon," Lady Juniper demanded.
The closest guard swung and Lady Juniper spoke a word and a yellowish energy field surrounded her as his sword struck the field and stopped his attack.
The Master at Arms came around the corner on his way to speak with Lord Beyon and his eyes went wide as he immediately jumped the guard closest to him, slamming him face first into the stone wall.
The other guard turned to see what the noise was and saw the Master at Arms standing there beside the other guard who was lying unconscious by the wall.
Lady Juniper held out her hand and concentrated and that same yellow energy formed and quickly became the war hammer she used last night.
The first guard swung again and the yellow shield faded a little as the other guard advanced on the Master at Arms.
Lady Juniper swung her hammer and caught the guard with a glancing blow. It was still enough that the power of the hammer knocked him off balance and into the wall on his right, his armor rung almost like a bell upon impacting the wall.
The Master at Arms drew his sword and engaged the other guard, the steely ring of their swords clashing rang through out the hallway.
The first guard having been knocked into the wall was unable to recover before Lady Juniper swung again and caught him upside his head. He fell to his knees, dazed and confused. Lady Juniper looked to the Master at Arms and saw that he was easily overpowering his opponent and she swung her hammer again in an upward stroke and caught the guard under his chin and he collapsed to the ground dead as his head snapped back and broke his neck.
As she looked back up she saw the Master at Arms had run his sword through the other guard and then kicked him off his blade. She gestured and the yellow energy around her disappeared and the hammer faded.
She looked up as she heard shouts and feet running in the hallway.
The Master at arms quickly sheathed his sword and grabbed a sack off his belt. He opened it and put it over the head of the guard still unconscious. Lady Juniper saw teeth emerge from the bag and bite into the neck of the man. The Master at Arms continued to pull the bag down his body as it disappeared into the bag. Lady Juniper nodded and quickly helped to get the other two bodies into the bag.
The Master at Arms had just secured the bag to his belt as three more rear guard and four of Lord Beyon's men showed up. Lady Juniper looked at her men, "Attack them."
The Master at Arms quickly redrew his sword as they engaged the three members of the rear guard. The fight was short but Lady Juniper had to heal two of the men while the Master at Arms and the other guard disposed of the bodies into the sack with the others.
"On my authority, you men will go back to your posts and not speak a word about what has happened here," Lady Juniper told them.
The four guards saluted and left quickly. "My Lady," the Master at Arms started before she stopped him.
"Let us meet in the temple Mistress's office as soon as possible," Lady Juniper told him as she walked off.
The Master at Arms walked off a different way so as to not attract attention.
As they ate breakfast Lord Walter informed the members of his company about the communication from Raynold during their watch last night. While everyone showed anger to realize that Florence had betrayed the Lord and Lady, Paige noticed that Happy was particularly upset. "I'm going to wring her freaking neck when we get back," Happy swore under her breath.
Paige smiled, "Happy, while there would be some justification for such an action, I would not want you imprisoned for that. Nor would I want my Lord to have to order that for his oldest friend. You mean too much to us."
Lord Walter smiled, "My Lady speaks the truth. Florence will not like what she will reap from her toils. Never fear. We're three and a half days from the split in the road going to Lancaster and down into Harris and five and a half days from Harris. If there are no objections, I want to stop at Lake Perine just before the split and we'll rest there a couple of days. Fresh water, swimming, some fishing, fish to eat would be a welcome change."
Lord Walter looked at Allie, "Would we have enough of the vegetables you need to keep making the supplement for my Lady?"
Allie considered it, "Well, if we eat the ambrosia for dinner the next two nights I believe so."
Lord Walter thought about that, "While the ambrosia is okay, I don't know if I am willing to keep eating it. Perhaps because I have eaten it for many meals, I could summon Selease this evening if you want and you could go to Harris and buy the supplies. I could give you an order demanding the governor to let your sister journey to Scorpion Keep as well."
Allie smiled, "I would like to see my sister, maybe introduce her to Cabe if he is willing. But I worry about just taking an order from you to the governor to let her leave. I would rather we stop by Harris after we leave Lancaster and take her with us. I don't trust the governor."
Lord Walter looked at her and nodded, "I am okay with that. I'll have to remove a few things from my bag so you will have room to add the food stuff to be safe."
About an hour later they had struck camp and began riding south along the road.
The Master at Arms turned into the hallway leading to the office of the temple Mistress. A Cleric standing outside of her office knocked on the door and opened it, "Mistress, the Master at Arms is here."
She nodded and pushed the door on open, "Enter Master at Arms."
He nodded as he stepped past her and into the room pushing the door closed as he saw Lady Juniper sitting before the Mistress. "Mistress, Lady Juniper," he greeted them both.
"Terean, thank you for being there for our Lady," the Mistress greeted him.
"It is my duty and honor to serve Mistress," Terean told her.
"Our Lady has just explained she had a long discussion with our Lord last night and he has agreed to rescind his summons to Lord Walter and to advise him exactly what is going on here. We need to get this to him as fast as possible," the Mistress told him holding up the note they drafted.
Terean shook his head and laughed a bit, "That would have been easier if I hadn't sent Javen to stop Wendell. Her mount could have had the message to him in three days. It will take at least a week to get the message to him now. Plus we are going to owe Javen a sizeable amount for having to shut down her business to deal with Wendell for us."
"Whatever it takes Terean, Merrick must be stopped and we need Lord Walter to do it. We could summon our forces and put these rear guard soldiers down but they could do a lot of damage to everyone here inside the castle before we can accomplish it." Lady Juniper told him.
Terean nodded, "As it is we will have a hard time explaining what happened to those six members of their guard. Is our Lord finally going to stand up to them?"
Lady Juniper nodded, "I believe he will, especially if we can get Lord Walter here. He is beginning to worry more about everyone else's safety than his own."
The temple Mistress smiled, "That is good to hear. What about you, are you prepared to do what you have to do if he doesn't?"
Lady Juniper nodded, "We discussed it at length last night. He understands and while he doesn't want it to happen he supports me doing it."
"Good," the Mistress handed the order to Terean. "I know I don't need to say this but I am going to anyway, this can not fall into the wrong hands Terean."
Terean reached out and took it while nodding. He tucked it inside his tunic under his chain mail, "I'll get it dispatched before lunch my Ladies."
Lady Juniper looked at him, "How long do you think it will be before Lord Walter will arrive?"
Terean considered that, "Well depending on his situation when he gets it. If he comes with a small party probably eight days after he receives it. If he puts together a fighting force it could add a week easily to arrange supplies to feed them while they travel here. Longer if they don't have mounts for everyone."
"I think we got enough of a force here, perhaps we should add that to the letter." Lady Juniper suggested.
The temple Mistress shook her head, "Just tell the messenger to explain he is needed immediately. There is too much danger in getting caught trying to go back to Lord Beyon and getting a new letter or adding to this one."
Terean nodded as he turned and left.
Paige looked over, "Are we not stopping for lunch today Love?"
Walter smiled, "Of course my Love." He pointed and they guided their mounts a short distance from the road. Walter got down and quickly blessed the land as Happy drove the iron rods into the ground and strung the lead wire between them as almost everyone lashed their horses to it.
Paige smiled from atop of her mount, "You do remember the blight is broken right?"
Lord Walter laughed, "I've done it so many times now, and it is second nature to bless the land before we use it." He reached up and lifted Paige up and off her mount. He held her while she wrapped her arms about his neck and they stared into each other's eyes before they kissed.
Toby rolled his eyes as Ralph just stood smiling at them.
Paige bit his lip as they started to part, "You do know I am quite capable of dismounting my horse myself?"
Walter smiled, "I do, but you do know how much I love to hold you, right?"
Toby continued to roll his eyes, "Oh brother, get a room." His eyes opened wide as they both looked at him.
Happy stepped up and slapped him in the back of his head and he quickly turned and walked over with her to the pack horses.
Sir Cabe walked back from the pack horses carrying the coffee pot and several other items with a frown on his face.
Lord Walter noticed as he put Paige down, "Sir Cabe?"
"It's a good thing we are going to Harris tonight. I didn't realize how low we were on coffee. We got just enough for everyone to have a cup. Well, except our Lady," Sir Cabe answered as he set the items down before making a fire pit.
"Oh sure, rub it in Sir Cabe," Paige frowned.
The further south they rode the better the air became. Most of the horses were responding to that as it picked up their spirits. Only Lord Walter's charger seemed immune not only to the uplifting but to the fatigue the others felt. But she certainly enjoyed Paige's singing and playing of her lute. Lord Walter had finally given up trying to correct her habit of almost dancing when Paige started singing. He knew she was bored with the slow pace of the pack horses and it helped her to deal with it. Whenever Paige had to take a break his charger became irritated. She would snort at Paige off an on until Paige would finally laugh and start playing again.
"I think you have corrupted her my Lady," Lord Walter smiled.
Paige smiled, "She's got good tastes."
"That she does," Lord Walter laughed.
Ralph was beginning to show his excitement as they rode on. Knowing that his Dad was going to call Selease and he was hoping that maybe he could get to take a ride on her sometime before bed. He asked for the third time, "Will we be stopping for the night soon Dad?"
Walter looked at Paige and they both smiled, "About another hour Ralph, are you that tired?"
Ralph shook his head, "I'm just looking forward to seeing Selease again."
Walter brought his hands up to his mouth and whistled three times as they pushed on. Paige looked at him, "Can she really hear you from this distance?"
Walter shook his head, "I think it is more about the will behind it."
Paige nodded, "So you could probably just concentrate really hard a moment and accomplish summoning her then."
Walter looked at her, "I've never tried it, but I would imagine so. Does the whistling bother you?"
Paige shook her head, "No, but I was just wondering if you were ever in a position where you wanted to summon her quietly if you could."
It wasn't long before they heard Selease's shrill cry. Walter decided to try something and closed his eyes and concentrated. "Here she comes," Paige said pointing a few moments later.
Walter called for a halt and Selease landed on the road and came running up to them. Walter reached out and stroked her beak, "Ralph, come up here."
Ralph rode up and Walter looked at them both, "You can take Ralph for a ride, but I want you to be back within the hour. Is that understood?"
Ralph grinned as he and Selease both nodded. Ralph swung down and handed his reins to his Dad and climbed quickly upon Selease before she turned and ran south before flying up into the air.
Paige leaned over and linked her arm around Walter's and put her head on his shoulder as they watched the pair rise up into the air. "You are spoiling him," Paige teased.
Walter smiled, "You are my wife and he is my son and if I want to spoil either of you I will do so."
Paige grinned and kissed his cheek before they moved on south.
They were busy setting up their night's encampment when they heard the shrill cry of Selease as she descended with Ralph. Ralph's face was red from wind burn but the grin on his face stretched from ear to ear. Selease came running up from the south after touching down and stopped before Paige as she pushed in and nuzzled against her stomach. Paige laughed and stroked her beak, "I missed you too Selease."
Ralph jumped off and ran over to Walter and jumped into his arms, "Thank you Dad. That was so much fun."
Walter smiled as he hugged him tightly, "You are welcomed. Be sure to thank Selease."
Selease looked Paige in the eye as Paige smiled at her. Selease bent her head back down and pushed the side of her head against Paige's stomach again. She suddenly took several steps back and pranced around excitedly. Paige looked at Walter, "What is she doing?"
Walter looked over and frowned, "I don't know. She's never done that before."
Allie looked over at Selease and frowned. Speaking in the language of the Witch, /That's enough of that Selease, it isn't time./
Everyone turned to look at Allie.
Selease looked over to Allie and gave a shrill shriek.
Allie nodded, /I know Selease, I've known since that night you took me to them. But let them find out in the normal course of time as all humans do./
Sir Cabe stepped over, "Allie?"
Selease shook her head as she shrieked again.
Allie shook her head, /No, they don't need the pressure right now. They will find out in about a month maybe a month and a half./
Selease pawed the earth and shrieked so loud everyone had to cover their ears.
Allie's face grew dark, /Do not test me Selease. Paige is completely healthy. You don't have to worry as I will keep her healthy./
Selease rose up on her back legs as she shrieked again. Lord Walter grabbed Paige and pulled her back before quickly stepping in front of her. Lord Walter demanded, "Selease, enough of this foolishness, do you want me to send you home already?"
Selease cowered down a bit before Lord Walter.
Allie quickly spoke up, "It is okay my Lord. It is just a disagreement between us. She is just concerned for our Lady's health. She wasn't endangering our Lady. She was just posturing at me."
Lord Walter nodded, "Selease, Allie has mine and Paige's complete confidence. You can trust her."
Selease looked up at Lord Walter and chirped.
Lord Walter smiled and reached out and stroked her beak as Paige stepped back up and reached out to stroke her beak with him. Walter put his arm about Paige and pulled her tightly to him as they stroked her beak together.
Walter smiled, "Paige needs certain foods to ensure her health. Will you consent to taking Sir Cabe and Allie to Harris to get that food and bring them back Selease?"
Selease shivered and nodded enthusiastically as she pushed her head in between them as she nuzzled them both.
Sir Cabe removed his armor and sword before he walked over and got on Selease's saddle. Allie walked over and climbed on in front of him. Lord Walter removed the sack from his belt and handed it to Sir Cabe. "Whatever the cost, there is plenty of coin inside," Lord Walter told him.
Sir Cabe nodded as he tucked the sack away.
Allie jiggled the harness and Selease chirped before she took off running to the south and flew off into the sky.
Allie smiled as they soared up higher and higher. Cabe could feel the joy Allie was experiencing and he smiled, "Not to ruin your mood, but do you want to discuss what happened back at the camp between you and Selease?"
Allie shook her head, "Not really."
"It's clear that what happened was about something important and I don't think it was about our Lady's health. At least not directly, not the way Selease was acting," Cabe nudged her.
Allie shook her head, "Sorry, I have nothing further to say on the subject."
Still doing good here, hope all of you are as well. Had to replace the furnace filter and turned the air conditioning on, ridiculously warn already. Got some tornado threats tonight, been experiencing some minor power fluctuation but nothing bad. To the Adventure! -Tim