A/N: Okay this chapter takes place a little bit after the last. They've crossed the Vassa (hence the title lol) and are in Scanra now.
Chapter Thirty-One: Across the Vassa
"'Are you mad?' [Neal] demanded hoarsely. 'I see their mages!'…
[Kel] yanked the feather band from her head and thrust it onto Neal's.
He looked at the valley and turned beet red. 'Oh,' he said, and slipped off the band. 'Very well, then, it's the best illusion I've ever seen.'…
'Are you sure it's an illusion?' asked Owen…
Kel thumped her forehead with her fist. Dom gently pulled her arm down, then borrowed the griffin-feather band…"
-Tamora Pierce, Lady Knight
After crossing the Vassa, the renegade party followed the wagon tracks swiftly through the night, in the cover of moonlight. They took a rest after burying a few more bodies of dead refugees killed along the way. They had already buried more that they had come across earlier on their journey.
Again, Dom kept a close watch on Kel. Her expression was becoming more determined the closer they seemed to get.
It wasn't long before they came across the first camp. Apparently some of the refugees had been sold to slavers, and that was the camp they had found.
They attacked after a long night of sabotaging the camp, secretly slipping the chained refugees knives and other weapons. Dom and Neal flanked Kel as she led the charge into the slaver's camp, her glaive held expertly in her agile hands. With his sword, Dom took down quite a few of the soldiers, though he noticed the now-freed refugees were definitely doing their part with the weapons they had supplied them with throughout the night. Dom helped one refugee who tried to take on three slavers at one time. The man was doing well, but three was at least one too many. Dom took down the third swiftly for him, the poor soldier still too drugged with sleep, but the refugee was able to take care of the other two himself. The men clapped each other on the backs before searching for their next adversaries.
The fight ended quickly enough, with no serious wounds on their side, just some good cuts and bruises. The refugees had done their job well.
Dom had taken immediate notice of something during the fight, and sought after Kel to discuss it with her, though he was sure she had noticed just as immediately, or sooner, than he.
He found her checking the dead. Coming up beside her, Dom said softly, "The children."
Kel stopped and nodded. "I noticed, too."
They weren't there. None of them. All the refugees here were adults. Stenmun had to be taking the children to Blayce. Their worst fears had come true, and he would be moving more swiftly now with all the adult refugees no longer with him.
She glanced up to look at Dom. When their eyes met, they both knew they needed to say no more. They both understood what this meant. They had to move quickly.
Kel sent Merric back with most of the refugees to Tortall, though some, like Fanche, insisted on staying with her. She didn't even try to argue with her, knowing it would get her no further than she did with Dom, Neal, Owen, and Tobe, who were also staying with her.
As the party who had not gone back to Tortall moved on, Kel felt considerably better. She was nearing Blayce now, she was sure of it. The children would be safe until then, Stenmun not wanting to hurt any of them for the benefit of later use. But she wasn't going to let that goal materialize. She and her group would be there before that happened.
Dom could visibly see that Kel felt more optimistic now. Though still looking determined, there was a more positive, controlled light in her eyes, as if she had already come up with a plan. Knowing her, he figured she had already come up with more than one.
It was dusk when Owen returned to inform them that Stenmun had set up camp just a couple of miles ahead. After giving the location and other important details, Kel began to set up one of her plans. Dom grinned to himself. He was right in thinking she had already devised a few different options.
This attack would go differently than the one on the slaving camp. The goal in that offensive was to free all the adult refugees. It was almost the opposite now. They wanted Stenmun to lead them to Blayce, and for him to do so, the children would still have to be with him. However, a little sabotage wouldn't hurt again.
The animals that had accompanied Kel kept the enemy soldiers up most of the night, keeping them from a restful sleep. She and the others slept just fine during their quick naps.
"Great job, Lady Kel, couldn't have done better myself," remarked Wolset during the night.
"We always told you our pranks would rub of on you for the better," added Fulcher, keeping his voice down. Both men grinned.
"Too bad they were never as useful as these have been," said Dom from Kel's right. He had conveniently taken that spot next to her as soon as they had settled in to spy on Stenmun's camp.
"I object," retorted Fulcher, "Some of our better pranks were quite useful."
"Don't worry," Wolset told the other corporal. "We can't trust his biased opinion anyway."
"What are you two knuckleheads talking about?" Dom asked as Fulcher nodded his head in agreement.
"Why, anything Lady Kel does is brilliant in your opinion. She could hack you in two and you would tell her to do it again," replied Wolset. "Not meaning any disrespect, Lady Kel," he added politely.
She chuckled, "None taken, corporal."
"Oh go bother one of those Scanrans," Dom told them, waving them off. "Put your annoyances to good use, already."
"We can take a hint," said Wolset, moving back and grinning all the while. "Come on, Fulcher, they want some alone time."
"Ohh," replied Fulcher, sending Kel and Dom a knowing smile.
Dom laughed quietly, "Go on, you two. Go bother my cousin instead."
They followed his request, smiling as they searched for another lookout spot. Dom could hear Kel laughing softly beside him as they observed the camp below.
"What?" he asked her, smiling.
She shook her head, still chuckling, "Nothing. Just laughing at what they said."
Dom grinned, then swiftly took her hand and raised it to his lips. She looked over at him, surprised by the action. "Maybe they were right about what they said," he replied in response to her unspoken question.
Kel laughed as Dom took a quick look around. Then he said very quietly, "You know, we could sneak a few minutes back in the trees and no one would be the wiser…"
"Dom!" she scolded playfully, "Don't be ridiculous!"
"Am I to fear that you've tired of my kisses then?" he teased in a whisper.
Kel snorted and said, almost more to herself, "As if that will ever happen…"
He chuckled. "Good."
They held hands for the rest of the watch.
Everything was going as planned. The animals were doing their duty, and Kel and the other best archers of their group had picked off the sentries just before dawn. Now they just had to wait for morning to come and see Stenmun's response when he learned they were being followed.
Kel wanted the clearest view of his reaction, so she thought a tree was the best observation tower she could find.
"What in the name of Mithros are you doing, Kel?" asked Neal from below her.
"I'm climbing a tree, Neal, what does it look like?" she asked him sarcastically.
"Well that is clearly apparent," he replied just as dryly, "But why?"
"For my health."
Before he could question her more, suddenly Dom approached Neal. "Neal, what is she doing?"
"Climbing a tree, what does it look like?"
Dom raised a brow at the deep sarcasm and frustration in his cousin's voice.
"But why?"
Neal groaned and waved toward Kel, "I don't know, ask her."
"Kel, what are you doing up there?" he called up to her.
"I wanted to get a clear view of Stenmun's reaction when the camp awakens," she replied, already looking out over the camp below.
Immediately both of the cousins' stances became rigid.
"Like hell you are, I'm not letting you get picked off by one of their archers," protested Dom.
"What do you have, a death wish?" questioned Neal, just as disapproving as his older cousin.
"If you don't come down here, I'm going to come get you myself," Dom warned.
"That's if I don't get there first!" added Neal.
"Relax, you two," said Kel. "I'll be fine. Besides, someone has to gauge his reaction so we can try to figure out his future tactics. It'll help us immensely, and you know it."
They both knew she was right, but they still tried.
"Can't someone else do it?" asked Neal.
"Yeah," agreed Dom, "How about Meathead here?"
Neal rolled his eyes at the name, muttering, "Thanks a lot."
"I'd rather see for myself," Kel answered, keeping her eyes glued to the camp.
Both cousins sighed and shook their heads to each other. Sometimes she was too stubborn for her own good…
Despite their worrying, Kel was fine and everything went as planned. Stenmun now knew that they were being followed and had packed up camp in record time. Some of the men joked about it.
"Let's hire him to move us out next time," chuckled Sergeant Connac. The rest of the party voiced their agreement.
As they pursued the Scanrans, they were able to pick off more of their guards when they stopped. They even managed to steal back seven of the children with Tobe's help from the horses.
However, when their scouts came back to report of a great army just over the bluff near the castle they could they assumed was Blayce's, they immediately dismounted to go see.
And what they saw was just an illusion, as Kel quickly found out with the help of her griffin feathers. With that finally proven, they all realized just how close to the end they now were…
A/N: Well, they're at Blayce's castle now, it really is nearing the end! I'm thinking that there will be between five and six more chapters to go!