A/N: Hey everyone, so I'm back. I know it's been a long time and I promised I'd update more often this summer. Unfortunately my job this summer has been more demanding than I thought it would be so I haven't had a lot of time to write. This chapter may seem kind of rushed, because I am in the middle of a 12 hour shift. Leave a review and let me know if I should never write while at work again.
Guest: Thanks for reading. Good guess, you'll have to wait to find out for a few more chapters. Thanks for the well wishes I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
The next morning Gail and Hayden were up early. "Are you up for a short run?" Hayden asked. Gail was a little unsure, but she decided that it wouldn't be too much of a problem with the King's guards everywhere. It didn't end up mattering, because as they were getting ready Holly woke up and asked to join them.
As they were running through the gardens they passed by Lorelei who was tending to the rose bushes. They smiled as they passed and she looked up to smile and wave back. It was a quiet run but as they went by the fountain Holly thought about her mother again. She said a silent prayer and a thank you to her for her continued influence. The run was good for all of them, because it allowed them to clear their minds and prepare for the trip back. Gail and Hayden were separately plotting their trip back. While Holly was in the meeting signing the official agreement they would take a map and put their ideas together to come up with the safest and most efficient trip home.
After a twenty minute run they went back to the room to clean up and get ready for the meeting. Holly was the only one who would be required to be in formal dress, because Gail and Hayden were not attending the meeting. They dressed in their travelling clothes, a tight green t-shirt, brown tight three-quarter length pants, brown boots, and for Gail a hat to cover her platinum blond hair. Meanwhile Holly put on a blue dress that was fancy, but not over the top. At the top of her travel bag she left a set of clothes similar to what Gail and Hayden were wearing.
Hayden and Gail walked Holly to the meeting hall where she would sign the papers. When she was inside the room they stood at the table that they requested be set up right outside the door. First Gail marked the route she suggested they take with a dotted line. It would take them back almost the exact same way they had come in. As soon as she was done Hayden took the pencil from her and shook her head. "Gail the point of this agreement is to protect all of the people, we don't need to avoid any specific areas. We'll just be careful and quick when we go through them. It'll save us almost a full day to go straight from here to Nimrais." Gail shook her head. "We need to be careful on the way back, because the treaty doesn't take effect until after the King has signed it. Anyone who wants to stop this from happening will take this trip as their opportunity to stop us." Now it was Hayden's turn to shake her head, "Nobody knows that King Brian has to sign the treaty for it to take effect. Holly signed the last one, so people will just assume this one is the same. We'll be careful." Hayden said as she erased Gail's lines and marked her own. Gail knew there was no use in trying to convince her, Hayden wasn't trained from birth to expect trouble like she was. She would just make sure to remain ever vigilant.
When Holly came out she was sent to quickly change and they set out. As they passed through the gate Gail disappeared. They passed through and Gail dropped silently down behind Jeremy who was once again guarding the gate. She dropped down and swept his feet from under him causing him to flail and fall to the ground. She cackled as Hayden laughed quietly, "You should pay more attention to your surroundings there Jer." She said as she walked away. He grabbed a rock off the ground and threw it at her back. She turned at the last second and caught it, "nice try, but you'll have to do better than that." She dropped the rock, turned and walked away.
Hayden shook her head at the blonde's actions, but couldn't completely contain her chuckles. They walked until they reached the edge of the forest before turning and waving to the King and Queen who had come out to see them off. Then they turned back to the forest and continued to walk. Gail got into a tree and began to run in front of the other two. She kept a sharp eye on them and what was in front and all around them. She was so focused on everything else that she almost missed one of the branches and fell, but she managed to keep her balance and right herself without making too much noise.
The first day was as uneventful as their trip out had been. The second day was just as bad, but Holly was talking on and off to Hayden about her mother, and all of the things she wanted to do to remember her mother. It took up a lot of the time, and the rest of it Hayden was telling stories about Thalin and Elinath. The final day was when things began to go sideways.
They were walking just a few hours away from home when everything went wrong. The path Hayden had plotted took them right passed their mystery village from their original trip. They speed up to get through the area faster, but it didn't matter. Gail who was about 100 yards ahead spotted the group of humans first. It took her a couple of extra seconds to see the weapons. "Pull of the trail and find a hiding spot behind us" Gail ordered through the wind. Hayden immediately did as she was told, and Gail spent an extra minute watching what she assumed was the citizen army. They were just sitting around talking, but each of them had weapons next to them.
Gail turned away and went in search of Holly and Hayden. She found them quickly and ducked into their hiding spot. "It looks like it's the citizen army that Arthur was warned about. For the record this is why we should've avoided this village at all costs." Hayden dropped her head. "Why don't we just go around now? They didn't see us." Gail nodded her head agreeing to that plan. They would have to be super careful, but with Hayden helping her she had no doubt they could do it. That was until someone went running passed their hiding spot towards the group yelling, "Guys, I just heard from the Northern patrols that the princess passed them about half an hour ago and she was headed this way on the path with a few guards!" The group all cheered and picked up their weapons. "This is it boys! Get ready and don't let anyone through here." Then they all lined up along the path making a blockade.
"New plan, we're not gonna be able to get through this. I'm going to go distract them. I'll get them to chase me back North, when I pass by here Hayden make sure nobody stayed behind then get Holly back to the palace. I'll duck away from them and get back as soon as I can." Hayden straightened her posture, "No Gail, this is my fault. I was the one who decided we should come this way, I'll be the distraction." Gail shook her head, "No you won't. You're the best navigator in Nimrais, so even if you have to deviate from this path you'll be able to get home fast. Plus you have Elinath and Thalin waiting for you to get home. I'll be right behind you." Gail said. Then she looked at Hayden and held out her arm for Hayden to grasp her forearm. "namaarie nilde" She whispered. (Farewell friend) Then she turned to Holly and cupped the other woman's face in her hands pulling their lips together passionately. When she pulled away she whispered, "I'm sorry." Then she ran off to circle around to come back down the path without giving away the hiding spot.
She walked down the path acting like she was trying to look out and be careful. "Who the hell are you?" She asked when she came to the blockade. "We are an army of citizens of the United Lands and we do not approve of the agreement with you elves. Are you with the princess?" Gail gave him a fake skeptical look. "I am one of her personal guards. What do you want with the princess?" The man chuckled, "We want to get rid of the agreement. Get her, she can lead us to the princess." Almost all of the men stepped forward to surround Gail, but the blond was not having that. She jumped up flipping over the man behind her and pulling her sword killing the man as she landed. She sheathed her sword and as the leader shouted "Get her, no matter what it takes, bring her back here to me." She took off running and a quick look over her shoulder showed her that everyone, including their leader, was following her. As she passed Holly and Hayden's hiding spot she whispered "it's all clear, wait a minute, check, then get out of here."
Hayden did as she was told. She and Holly took off running as fast as they could manage back towards Nimrais. The journey that should have taken another two hours on foot took them three-quarters of an hour running.
They went directly to the palace and burst into the throne room. King Brian stood, but when he saw Holly he smiled. That smile faded when he saw that she was red and out of breath from running. Then she began to try to give them instructions, "We have to go back out there. Gail… she's… out there. We have to… organize a rescue party and go save her!" She spoke through her heavy breathing. "Woah, Holly slow down. Take some deep breaths and then try that again." He said. Finally Holly managed to get her breathing under control, "Our path was blocked by this citizen army of humans who wanted to stop the agreement. Gail volunteered to distract them so Hayden and I could get away. We have to organize a search and go find her!" Brian's face hardened. He turned to his assistant, "Do as she says. We leave no man behind, organize every soldier we can spare and go find her!" The woman ran off to do as she was told.
Meanwhile, Gail was running through the forest. She knew that Hayden and Holly would be far enough away by now that she could disappear and go home without being followed. The problem was every time she turned there seemed to be another human blocking her path. She had just turned off the path again when she felt a pain like she'd never felt before in her ankle causing her to crumple to the ground while screaming out. She looked down to see a metal clamp with sharp teeth digging into her ankle. The men caught up to her and chuckled at her misfortune. "Aw did the poor elf get stuck in our trap? That's unfortunate." The leader said and Gail glared at him. "Well tell us where the princess is and we can let you go." He said. The glare stayed in place as she rolled her eyes. "You don't want to cooperate? That's fine with me." And he stepped forward and kicked her in the stomach. The guys all lined up and kicked and punched her. That was the last thing she remembered.
She woke up sitting on the floor with her hands chained above her head. There was a woman kneeling in front of her. "Are you alright? You've been out for quite a while." The woman said as she brought a cloth up to wipe at Gail's face. Gail flinched when the cloth touched her skin. That caused her head to explode with pain. "Be careful, you're pretty beat up." Gail really focused on the woman helping her. She had long blond hair all the way down her back, even in the braid it was pulled up in. "My name is Elizabeth, I just want to help you. I've been their prisoner for a long time." Gail relaxed a little bit knowing she wouldn't be able to fight even if she wanted to.
The woman helped her clean up and dressed as many of her wounds as possible with the few supplies they had. It wasn't long after that when the leader of the army came in. "Are you ready to talk to me now?" Gail glared at him. "What good will it do? Holly is home by now, she's probably already sent guards out to raid your little village. No matter what you do to me it's over, especially because King Brian has definitely already signed the agreement. It's over for you." She said glaring. He smirked at her and punched her, "well then I guess it doesn't matter what I do to you." Then the world went black.
Back in Nimrais
The search party looked for hours before returning empty handed. They went out the next day and the day after before reluctantly Brian had to call off the search because they could not afford to keep sending out all of their soldiers.
Holly had been spending a lot of time with Hayden and her family. The day that they called off the search for Gail officially Holly knocked on Hayden's door and the short haired brunette answered, her hair was crazy and she had tear streaks on her face. "Hayden what's going on?" Holly asked worriedly. "They called off the search for Gail, and even worse your dad wants to give me a medal of bravery. That's not my medal! I can't accept that! I don't deserve it! How can I look my son in the eyes and try to be a good role model for him if I accept an award I don't deserve. I left my partner behind!" Hayden said slowly getting more and more frantic. Holly put a hand on Hayden's arm and led her inside and onto the couch. "Listen to me Hayden." Holly said gently. Hayden looked up from where her head was in her hands. "Gail ordered you to leave, she didn't give you a choice she made you do it. This medal is for following orders even though you didn't want to, it's for getting me home safely and for searching for Gail for days straight. Do you know the most important reason that you're getting this award?" Hayden shook her head. "This award is Gail's award, but Gail can't accept it. You need to accept it for her. As for being a role model for your son, accept that award and then deserve it. Teach him about Gail and tell him this story, especially if she never gets the chance to-" Holly's voice cracked when she said that, but she pulled herself together because Hayden needed her. "Teach him what it means to be brave and to deserve this bravery award." Hayden nodded and hugged Holly. They both began to cry. That's how Elinath and Thalin found them an hour later.
The ceremony was scheduled for the next day. It seems kind of rushed, but the whole ordeal was so public, and King Brian wanted the public to see that they were not shaken by this. They were all set up and Elinath and Thalin were sitting in the front row. Hayden was in her dress uniform trying to get over the guilty feeling in her gut telling her she didn't deserve this. "For her impressive work in bringing my daughter home safely I award Royal Guard Hayden this medal. In the face of the enemy she stood up and risked her safety to get our princess home." Hayden had to stop herself from shaking her head and saying she didn't deserve this.
There was a rustling in the bushes and everyone turned to look at him. Hayden stepped forward to be between the rustling and the king. As soon as she saw who was in the forest she ran forward and jumped off the stage. She didn't break stride as she ran passed the crowd to the bushes. She ran straight to the area where the noise was coming from and she reached down to help a broken and bleeding Gail to her feet. "Thank you" she whispered before going limp in Hayden's arms.
A/N 2: So there it is. Leave a review and let me know if you think I should never update from work again. Also I have set up a poll on my page where you can go vote for who you think should or is Gail's mother. I'm hoping to get another chapter up soon, but I have a few overtime shifts coming up and I can't promise that it will be as soon as I want it to be.
Until next time
Hold the Line and Don't Look Back