Chapter 5
"Do you think she is alright?" Cam asks as he watches her eyelids flutter shut again. "Fevers should not affect her as much as it has. Do you suppose they did not have Red Fever in her time?"
"Its possible that the length of her captivity has lowered her tolerance to disease. Imagine being frozen without food or water for centuries in suspended time. She is strong, and apparently not ready to give in easily to the Keeper's desire. What disturbs me is why the Keeper hasn't tried to claim her. Why has she been spared for however long when so many barely make it past infancy. Whomever she is protected by must favor her for some reason. We may never know," Lonathe mutters quietly. He gently lowers the woman back down onto the makeshift bed.
"With her healing nicely, shouldn't we deposit her in the nearest city and continue on our way. The King will not cease his search for Lord Raseac" Cam said. "We must think to his safety first, and she is a liability. An unknown, she might sooner slit our throats as save us."
Lonathe brushed a fallen lock of hair away from the Lady's face in a gentle caress. With care to make sure she was as comfortable as possible, Lonathe fixed the fallen blanket back over her before turning to look at Cam.
"She deserves a chance to prove herself. What happened to your sense of honor? Even if she isn't this fabled warrior, who does she have to look after her? What customs will she know? Can she even learn to speak? Until she can do that on her own, she is my ward. It is my doing that released her, if harm fell upon her before she is whole and hale enough to care for herself... Well, that is my duty and yours, as a knight, to ensure no danger shall befall her." Lonathe stated, his unspoken need to protect the seemingly fragile body next him lay unvoiced. The two companions merely sat and watched the flickering firelight for the rest of the night.
In a dark room, many miles away a man sits contemplating a series of reports when a messenger emerges from the shadows.
"Have you found them yet?"
"No Majesty, Lord Raseac seems to have chosen his companions well. Not only is Sir Lesied an excellent tracker, he knows most of these lands from personal experience; any attempts to follow him have failed. No doubt he is attempting to bring Lord Raseac to a sanctuary in the Northern Territories. If they are not already near the border to it, he will be nigh on impossible to trace once he gets there. Right now we suspect they are near or on the island of Eir. As you know my Lord, only thieves and bandits have lived on that forsaken island after your Father died. If we do not find them. The bandits will, and they will be easy fodder for so many murderers and savages."
"That is not enough! I want to crush them myself, even if it means destroying the entire island in the process I want them brought back. Raseac has defied me for the last time. He has what I want, and if I have to chase him across the empire, I will get my prize." Yes, he thought, the Oracle shall finally belong to the rightful King. Father had no right to deny me access to the Oracles' power.