Chapter 10

Sorry for disappearing of the face of the Earth. Well I'm back now and promise to finish this story. If any of my readers would like to beta this story, I would be glad to have you.

Morning came and the Wakir's servants brought us a wonderful breakfast of fruit, coffee and bread with jam. Halt was musing over his coffee mug, most likely on the talks that would occur that day. Horace and Gilian were talking about something sword related and Ishea sat in the corner as if she didn't feel welcome. Halt finally broke the silence, "Alright; Ishea come over here, this concerns you as well. Horace and Gilian, I'll see you here tonight. Will how about we rendezvous in four or so days."

"That will be fine," said Will, "Come on girls lets see what we can figure out from some old friends. I hope they have better hospitality."

Quickly we rode out into the desert to some place where Will said we would find the Bedullin. If I didn't trust Will completely, I would say he was crazy. He wasn't even using his north seeker and when I asked all he said was, "bitter experience."

Quickly the sun reached its zenith and Will settled everyone down to rest in some red sandstone rock formations. The horses were allowed some water from a collapsible bucket. We drank sparingly from the water skins and I reminisced about the cool clear streams back home. I settled down for a nap while Will kept watch. Ishea had been very quiet and starred out into the desert lost in thought.

"Will", I asked, how did you find the Bedullin in the first place. I asked the locals abut them and they gave me the feeling this tribe was very secretive."

Will chuckled, " more accurately they found me. I was looking for Tug at the time and my northseeker malfunctioned because of all the iron in these rocks we're riding through. I was severely dehydrated when a mountain lion killed the borrowed pony I was using and one of the tribes scouts found me. I then later led the tribe to drive the blue veiled invaders out of the town they occupied. Normally, I know we wouldn't interfere in other countries politics but the blue veiled raiders had captured Halt, Gilian, the Princess and the Oberjarol Erak. Ask Halt for more details, he will gladly oblige you two with a story of how I waited until his head was about to be cut off before starting my rescue. Look at the sun Amber, should we resume riding?"

"um… The sun is past its zenith so lets pack up and get a move on.", I said

Will nodded in approval before starting to pack up the water skins.

"lets move out," Will called. We made it out of the hills and to a small water whole. Will filled all our skins with the murky water and let the horses drink their fill. We were about to set off again when a shout came from the crest of the hill. The vulnerability of our position suddenly struck me we were trapped in a valley and surrounded on all sides by horsemen with bows! "oh god," I muttered this doesn't look good.

The lead rider came forward and Will walked forward to meet him. "Umar, old friend care to put down your bows, you're scaring the two ladies here."

The rider dismounted and Will and him grasped arms in greeting.

"Will someone care to explain the situation here?", I asked.

Will stepped forward, "Umar this is Amber, my apprentice and Ishea, a friend. Ladies this is Umar and the Bedullin. We traded the desert dwellers traditional greeting, two fingers to the mouth, the forehead and back to the mouth. It signified, we talk, we consider, we eat. I remember reading about it in the cultural scrolls given to us before we left. We travelled to the Bedullin camp and Will talked about the assassination with his old friend. I assume he met him last time, and Will mentioned him saving his life once. I was wondering what lead to that, Will didn't usually need saving, I decided to ask Halt the true story later. Will was asking if the Bedullin knew anything about the exploding sticks. Will mentioned it in a joking tone but his friend was dead serious when he spoke, "They were traders from across the desert. Funny looking men with round faces and wearing robes. They ate with two pieces of wood and offered to trade the finest cloth I've seen with us. My wife bought a bit of it for a dress for our baby girl. And they offered us the exploding sticks. It was a hollow tube, made from metal like a sword. You put a round ball, some black powder in the tube and lit it with a slow burning flame. Then the powder exploded and the ball flew out. It was indurate over long distances and we didn't buy any. Too expensive and the bow and arrow has much better accuracy. "

Will pondered this for a moment, "Do you believe these traders assassinated the Wakir."

Umar replied, "I don't know, Selethan bought cloth and other goods, but like me he declined the metal sticks. If I had to guess, the Arradia for the people's party would have assassinated him. They were very vocal about Selethan's choice to send horses to Araluln."

"Is their candidate in power now?" asked Will

Umar only nodded before Gillian came in at a fast canter. Gillian said, "The princess has been attacked. Halt asked me to come and get you."

Will shot to his feet, "Gorlog's fangs." He swore, " everyone get packed be ready to leave in ten minutes!"

"May I come as well perhaps we can sell some of our horses to you, its been a good year for the foals. " said, Umar.

Will nodded his approval and hastened to pack his things.