Jace awoke to the smell of something cooking, standing from his bedroll and exiting his hut, he found that Lyn was sitting cross-legged by a small fire. There was a small animal roasting over the fire on a makeshift spit.
"Good morning Jace." She said with a kind smile. "Breakfast?"
"Oh gladly." He responded sitting down next to her. "What is it?"
"Rabbit." She offered him a portion, which he gladly accepted. "Jace may I ask you something?"
The tactician nodded through a mouthful of rabbit, and Lyn posed her question a moment later. "I know you're not planning on staying here, but where you plan on going after leaving Sace?"
"I was planning on heading to Bern." Jace said, sitting up a little straighter. "While my mother and I were living there, I never got to study Wyvern tactics."
"Why is that?" Lyn asked, and Jace felt his stomach contract, and a dark shiver go up his spine.
"My father… He kept sending the Grimleal after mother and I." Jace replied keeping his voice low.
"And … And the Grimleal are?" Lyn asked softly, worry creeping into her voice.
Jace inhaled deeply, his hands shaking slightly. "They are … They are insanely devout servants of another ancient dragon like Naga. The difference being while Naga is known as the Divine Dragon, and the lord of creation. Grima on the other hand is the Fell Dragon. The lord of death and destruction."
"And people worship this Grima?" Lyn asked clearly horrified.
Jace nodded. "From what my father is a member of the Grimleal, and a high ranking one at that. I don't know how he continued to find us, but he sent agents of the Grimleal after us no matter where we were in Elibe. I learned very fast how to use both a blade, and wield magic."
He continued on after a moment. "My mother never liked killing, as she herself was once a member of the Grimleal. She had been fascinated by the ideals, but had lost interest after learning just how insane my father was. Yet the last time the Grimleal had found us, she had no choice. They were personal guards sent by my father, they followed him and his ideals blindly. They were not afraid to maim in order to bring us back. I've never seen my mother fight the way she did that night. I couldn't see her blade, nor see her cast her spells. Yet she refused to allow herself nor myself to be taken back to my father, so she obliterated these Grimleal agents. There wasn't a single one left standing to report back to my father."
"Father Sky... " Lyn said breathlessly.
Jace nodded, his hands still shaking. "I am sorry for putting this all on you Lyn. You didn't ask to have all of this heaped onto you."
Lyn reached out, and took Jace's hands in her own. "Jace it's alright. I understand."
Jace slowly laced his fingers through Lyn's, a small relieved smile tugging at the corners of the tacticians mouth. "Lyn I know you're going to ask to come with me, but with all that's happened to me, it might be too dangerous."
Lyn shook her head. "Jace I'm the last member of the Lorca tribe. Everyone else, my father, and mother all perished six months ago in a bandit attack. I can still see the axes falling, and hear the screaming."
A single tear fell from Lyn's bright green eyes, and as if on instinct, Jace reached out and wiped away the tear. He didn't know how or why he had done that, yet in that moment it had felt like the right thing to do.
Silence followed, and it was a long while before Lyn spoke. "I love Sace as it's all I've ever known, but Jace there is nothing else here for me here. I want to come along with you to Bern, despite the danger these Grimleal pose to you."
It took little to no time to take everything from Lyn's small hut, and secure it to her horse. Jace's own horse who was a Chestnut named Brego, nudged his nose under Jace's hand with a soft nicker. The tactician smiled and produced an apple from within his coat. He cut the apple in half with a small knife, and fed one half to Bego and the other half to Lyn's steed.
It was several days ride to their first destination. The city of Bulgar. It sat upon the border between Sace, Lycia, and Bern, and was the center of commerce between all three countries. Although one did not see many Sacean people among the bustling city crowds. The tactician and the swordswoman made it not five steps into the bustling city, when a voice raing out.
"My heart, what vision of loveliness has graced mine eyes today?" The two of them stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the speaker. Said speaker turned out to be a knight clad in a green breastplate, who was no less than three feet away from the pair. "Would you favor me with your name? Or better yet your company?"
"What manner of land do you hail from, that you speak so freely sir knight?" Lyn asked, as Jace was doubled over with fits of silent laughter.
"You favor me with your voice even!" The green clad knight exclaimed. "I hail from Lycia, from the Caelin canton. Home to men of fire and passion!"
"It seems it would be more appropriate to say it was 'home to callow oafs with loose tongues'." Lyn retorted, forcing Jace to one knee as he desperately tried to hold back his laughter. Although he was fighting a losing battle there. When the knight walked away defeated, Jace could no longer hold himself back and was soon howling with laughter.
Several hours later, Jace still having a small case of the giggles, the tactician and the swordswoman were making their way out of the city. They had planned on visiting a small shrine dedicated to a sacred blade named the Mani Katti. They were close to the city's gates, when they spotted the green clad knight being berated by a rather stern knight in a red colored breastplate. The two had gotten close enough to hear the conversation between the two.
"If you were more serious, I would not have to be so severe! We had a mission to complete Sain!" The red haired and red armored knight growled at his green clad companion.
"Oh Kent relax, it's not as if we are on a timetable. Have a little fun." The knight named Sain replied to his far more stern companion.
Kent pinched the bridge of his nose, and growled in exasperation. It was then that Lyn cleared her throat and spoke to the red armored knight. Clearly ignoring Sain. "Pardon me, but could you move your horse? Only it's blocking the road."
"Of course, I apologise." Kent moved his horse out of the way, glaring at Sain until he had done the same.
"Thank you." Lyn said nudging her horse forward. "You at least seem to have some honor."
"Pardon me milady, but have we met before?" Kent asked.
Lyn turned to face Kent, her expression confused. "I beg your pardon?"
"Hey no fair Kent! I saw her first!" Sain cried out causing Lyn to roll her eyes, and spur her horse forward.
"Come Jace, it seems there are no honorable men among Lycia's knights." She huffed, as her horse trotted away from the two knights who were deep in argument once again. Jace on the other hand was trying to keep himself from laughing once more.
They were a short way away from Bulgar, when several horseman rode up to the pair. Something about their expressions put Jace off, and then the tactician noticed the large axe that hung from the belt of the horseman in the lead.
"Hold on the door girlie." He said in a gruff voice. "Your name is Lyndis is it not?"
In shock, Lyn almost fell from her horse. "What did you call me?"
"An absolute waste this is. A damn shame. The things I'll do for money. Ah well time to die girlie." He raised his battle axe, but was knocked off of his horse when Jace's spell hit him square in the chest. Jace lept off of Brego blade drawn, and his horse cantered off away from the battle as Jace had trained him to do.
"Get out of the way boy, and you won't get hurt." The horseman growled.
Jace's response was to raise his own blade in challenge. "You want Lyn, go through me." The fight that ensued between the horseman and the tactician had seemed like the fight with the bandit Batta. To Jace it was once again strength against skill, yet this man was nowhere near as strong as Batta had been. And Jace had more than just his blade in his arsenal, and he didn't exactly fight clean either. Twice Jace kicked the horseman in the fork of his legs, buying him time to cast a spell at the other opposing horsemen. The fight had since been joined by the Caelin knights Kent and Sain, and despite the misgivings he had about the knights personalities, Jace was very impressed at their skill. An hour later, the horsemen lay dead, the one who had started the confrontation had a hole in his chest where Jace's thunder spell had pierced his heart.
"It appears we owe you sir knights." Jace said, as Brego trotted back up to his owner.
"Think nothing of it." Kent said, dismounting his horse. "It was five on two, hardly the fairest of odds."
"Yet you followed us from the city." Lyn cut in, her tone skeptical. "What I'd like to know is why?"
"If you'll permit me to explain milady." Kent began. "My name is Kent and my overly flirtatious compatriot here." He gestured to Sain. "Is Sain. The two of us have been tasked with finding Marquess Caelin's daughter Lady Madelyn."
Lyn's look of irritation at the two knights, melted into a look of shock.
"I believe it was nineteen years ago, that she married a Sacean chieftan of the Lorca tribe." Kent continued, and Lyn's mouth fell open.
"I only ever saw a picture of Lady Madelyn within Castle Caelin, and you look very much like her." Kent said.
"My name is Lyndis, but to my parents I was just Lyn. We lived a happy life on the plains of Sace, until the bandits came. But why come looking for my mother now?"
"Lord Hausen, the Marquess of Caelin sent us to find your mother, and we only found out that Lady Madelyn had passed away days after sending a letter to Lord Hausen saying she was enjoying life on the plains with her husband and nineteen year old daughter. We were about to give up hope, when we saw you. And I knew from seeing that portrait of Madelyn, that you are the Lady Lyndis."
"That bandit horseman called you Lyndis didn't he?" Jace asked, as something did not seem to add up. "How would he know?"
"He must have been Lundgren's man." The green armored knight Sain said scowling.
"Who is this Lundgren?" Lyn was scowling now. "And why does he want me dead?"
"Lord Lundgren is Lord Hausen's younger brother." Kent explained. "When Lady Madelyn vanished, the position of heir defaulted to him. It seems he may be trying to keep it that way. Although… I did not think him capable of murder. Especially kinslaying…"
"But I have no interest in any title!" Lyn exclaimed.
Kent sighed. "That may be, however Lundgren is not the sort of man to believe that. Attempts on your life may continue unless this is stopped."
"Then we have to stop this." Jace said. "If this Lundgren isn't going to stop, we will have to stop him."
"You're right Jace." Lyn said, determination in her eyes as she turned to the knights. "I will come with you to Caelin. I wish to meet my grandfather, and Lundgren must be stopped."