Rose didn't see Lynde and Artsanna off since she was busy. While she did see Artsanna take off from Borromeo Castle, she wasn't even in Aberon at the time; she was running to catch up with Daras Guildsward, who had also left that morning. Daras had several hours of a head start, so it would be difficult—but not impossible—to catch up.
It had bothered her how fast Daras had discovered Arlen's arrival, so she wanted to ask him how he found out. She didn't want to tell anyone of her suspicions as they might not amount to anything, but there could be an agent of the Empire among the rebellion. It was a terrible possibility, so she wanted to investigate carefully.
It took her two hours to catch up to Daras. Fortunately he and his entourage of guards were riding at a casual pace, and Rose was at her physical peak. When she arrived she called out to him shouting, "Daras Guildsward, halt!"
The riders stopped and looked to her. "Who goes there?" the rider next to Daras said.
"Rose Redcloak, companion to Lynde of Cathalorn," she replied. "Allow me to approach, for I have some questions that need answers."
Daras deliberated with the rider next to him for some time. After a while, Rose got impatient. She was about to call out to them when they finally responded. "You may approach Guildsward, but if you intend him harm, I will kill you."
"If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't do it at close range," Rose noted. The riders seemed insulted by that, amusing her.
When she came before Daras he said, "What questions have you for me?"
"What were you doing at Borromeo Castle?" she asked.
"I was invited by King Orrin," he said. "He wanted me to train a group of bodyguards he had in the art of the sword. It took me some months, but I did manage it. Of course, they would be no match for me." Rose accepted that as truth, as there was no reason to disbelieve him about that.
She then asked, "Who told you Arlen had arrived at the castle?"
"It was the sorceress Trianna, I believe," he said. "It was good of her to do, as otherwise I might have never known of Arlen's presence."
Rose now had a lead to go on. Trianna was a member of King Orrin's inner circle, which was worrying. If she was an Imperial agent, then she could do a lot of harm in her position. But so far her actions were helpful, even aiding Lynde in signing the document that started the whole rebellion.
She had a terrible thought as to why. What if whoever had sent Trianna was attempting to make an example of Lynde? Many times the punishment for rebellion—which was counted as treason—was death, so killing Lynde would show something to everyone: it didn't matter who you were; even if you were a Rider, it would be unwise to defy the Empire. It was the only thing that could be gained by this.
All things considered, it wouldn't surprise her if it was High Queen Nasuada herself who put this into motion. A show of force like this would terrify Orrin back into place, and make any other decenters fear the Empire. While she didn't know how the Riders would respond to this, she knew that many would fear Queen Nasuada.
While Rose thought it was a suitable move, it could burn for all she cared. In order to make this move she had to kill Lynde and possibly Artsanna, and Rose would not allow it. Fayre was dead and Rose would look after her child as if she were her own for as long as she could, as if she had made an oath in the Ancient Language to that effect. She had to make for Aberon and Borromeo Castle with all haste!
As Rose ran through the city she paid no mind to onlookers. They saw a woman of nearly thirty years run like an Elf of three hundred, and that would be all the information she'd give them. She was in a hurry, and couldn't be asked to explain her speed or looks.
She maneuvered through crowds and obstacles easily enough, as her reaction time was trained to the very limit of Elven possibility. She had once run through the great forest of Du Wledenvarden for as long as she could without stopping, and she had gone from daybreak to past sunset on a hot summer day before finally collapsing from exhaustion and thirst. Running through a crowded street was easy for her, though she felt like there was someone was watching her.
As she ran through an intersection, a dart hit her in the neck. She stumbled and felt weak. She wondered how it had gotten past her wards for a second before blacking out.
She drifted in darkness for a while, hearing only the occasional word. "Not here; too many witnesses," a voice said. She had no thoughts about it or anything when she was in this state.
When she came to she was blindfolded, gagged, and had ropes tied around her. She tried listening for something—anything—from whoever had done this, and she found nothing. Eventually someone pulled something out of her ears—some sort of cloth probably—and she could suddenly hear a whole lot more. There were the sounds of dozens of voices, but they were distant alongside the exchanging of goods and the moving of a wagon's wheels. Louder than what she heard outside—or at least she assumed it was outside and that she was inside—was a voice.
The voice she heard was calm, cool, masculine, and had an accent that definitely came from the very edges of the Empire. It had no arrogance about it, which she was scared of; most men would be very arrogant of their abilities after capturing an Elf, though she did wonder how random her capture was. "You are drugged," he said. "It tires you and prevents you from using magic. The dart we hit you with had a carefully crafted spell that allowed it to pass through your wards, though it was a possibility that you had something to prevent it. That should answer some of your smaller questions."
The man drew a large breath in before continuing. "You are probably wondering who captured you, which would also answer why you were captured. You see, I am a man hired by the Empire to do a job. This job requires you to be out of the way, and since I was not paid to kill you I will not. For now you will remain here, and my associates will guard you. I have a job to do, which is a shame since I would have liked to guard you myself.
"I do not trust the men I leave to this duty, but I suppose an Urgal and a Dwarf of—as he puts it—Dûrgrimst Vrenshrrgn, whatever that means, will have to do." So her captors were both more powerful than Humans and especially warlike. Fortunately, Rose had also been raised for battle, and could probably take both of them in a fight if she ever got loose of her bonds.
She then considered when the best time to get loose was. If she tried now, there was no telling how many mercenaries would be upon her. It was best to wait until it was just the Urgal and the Knurlan, and when they were at their most vulnerable. It was most likely going to be night when that happened, so she would have to wait until then.
The man spoke again. "Goodbye, ranger, and let our paths not cross again—for both our sakes." In contrast to him, she looked forward to meeting him again, for it meant that she would arrive in time to save Lynde—if they were actually going after Lynde that is.
She listened to the man's footsteps fade away and she settled in for a nap. There was no point in also being tired, so she would wait for when all the noise from outside died down—which could only mean that it was night—to make her move. There were only two problems with the plan; one was that she didn't know what she would do, though that could be remedied with careful planning, and the other was that she sensed that she would have to relieve herself eventually. She hoped that the first one would turn out to be more of a problem than the other.