Chapter 14
"What are you saying?" the Queen angrily at the Captain of the Guard. She shook her head. "I have proof that she's there. I know for a fact that…"
She stopped as the Captain shook his head. "I don't know where you get your proof from, Majesty," he said, "but I can tell you that…"
The Queen frowned angrily and stamped her foot. "How dare you speak to me that way? And what's more it's none of your business where I get my proof from, understand? You work for me, not the other way around."
She glared at him. "I should have you and the rest of those men thrown into prison for that last remark, but it's not worth it to me. As of now, you and your men are out. I'll locate that girl myself and my missing articles if it's the last thing I do."
The Captain shrugged. "You'll need help, my lady. We are here at your disposal."
"And you're right, Captain, you certainly are disposable. There are some still left here who can help me out when I need it and he's offered to help out several times in the past. Why I keep using you guys is beyond me."
The Captain shook his head. "You realize, Your Majesty, that if we go, there'll be no one left to protect you. It will only be the two of you left here."
"And there you go again, Captain. What business is that of yours? You just do as I tell you and get the heck out of here. I can use some privacy and some time alone and it will finally be with someone I trust and care for. He'll take good care of me and I won't be in need for anyone again."
She stared at the Captain. She sounded like a little girl, but right now, she really didn't care how she sounded. Right now, all she cared about was finding what belonged to her and destroying her competition.
"You and the guards are dismissed," Gothel said with a wave of her hand. She turned her back and left the barracks. The Captain sighed with disbelief as she mounted her horse and headed back to the castle.
She would pay for this, but he and rest of the guards would be long gone.
XXXXXX
The old man walked away from the window of his room and shook his head. He'd been holed up at the Village Tavern in Perth for two weeks now. He knew he was early, but he was only try to fill his part of the bargain. He was lucky, the only reason he hadn't been charged an extra fee is because he knew the innkeeper well.
And that meant that he'd keep his secret.
He still couldn't understand what was taking his companions so long to arrive. They should have showed up at the tavern days ago. The old man kept asking after if there were any new arrivals, but to no avail; not even his old friend heard or saw anything out of the ordinary.
But he did have a story that he relayed to the gentleman and it had to do with three men who had been escorted from the Inn of the Seven Dwarves and seemed to have fallen off the map somewhere.
The old man just nodded at this tale. He had been eagerly awaiting four men, not three and hopefully, with one woman accompanying them. Why, the old man only inquired just this morning and there was still no news. He was growing impatient, so impatient that he couldn't stand it any longer.
He sat down on the bed and thought for a while. He wondered if those were the men he was looking for; but it couldn't be, could it? It would explain a lot of things, especially why they hadn't shown up yet. But it didn't explain why they were still stuck in the woods. They were hunters, hired hunters and bandits, good at what they did. He'd hired two of them early last year; assured by two of his most trusted men that they were the best in the entire village of Pern; that they knew the land like the back of their hand.
When the five of them met secretly, here at the tavern, they had put this plan into effect. But it was the winter that slowed them down, at least according to a message that had been sent. The blizzard kept the roads impassible for days. But days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months and before he knew it, four months had gone by. Four months stuck in a little cottage in the woods. That's where he was supposed to meet them, but a new message arrived, informing him that everything was going according to plan, except that there were new details that would need explaining.
But that wasn't enough to change the original set up. The only problem was the location. The old man would have to abandon his cottage for the tavern; there were reasons that would be explained when they met him.
The old man was starting to believe that these might be the men he had been expecting after all; that some small accident had caused them to be late. He hadn't heard a thing for at least almost a month's time, Maybe it was about time he'd hunt them.
He decided then and there to head for the Inn of the Seven Dwarves and find out just what was keeping these guys.
And he was going to leave just as soon as he could get himself a new horse. It was about time he'd find out just what was going on in the first place and it was about time he'd do something about it.
XXXXXX
Bastian was still trying to get his bearings when the winds picked up. He looked through thousands of trees to notice the darkening sky. A flash of lightning and the sound of thunder completed the picture.
It would only be a matter of time before it started to rain and from the sound of things it seemed the time was now.
He knew the cottage was here somewhere, now if he'd only remember where it was. He also prayed that it was empty and really why shouldn't it be?
He found the twins and herded them over to a large boulder with a large overhang that the locals used as a shelter from surprise spring and summer storms such as these. Bastian was lucky to have even remembered and located this. They were in need of good luck and he hoped that more would come his way.
The rain started as soon as the three of them took shelter under the rock. It was about this same time that another couple traveling in the same vicinity would chance upon the same rock as the rain began to fall.
Another storm was brewing, but this time it wouldn't be with wind and rain, but with words, deeds and actions. And it was going to be sooner rather than later.