A Plan in Motion

As morning dawned, Eira woke the rest of the group. The others stretched groggily as they came to their senses.

Mairwen rubbed her face in her furry pillow, oblivious to the smell which could have suffocated the personal guard when she reentered the hideaway.

"Good morning," the princess cooed to her husband. "You seemed to have slept well."

"Gag me," Alaron pretended to choke as he pulled out some dried bread and canteens of water for the group.

Renat smiled down at his wife as she sat up. Then his eyes went wide. "Why did no one wake me for my turn at the watch?!"

He looked for an explanation between the soldier and the Guardian. While Renat understood that Mairwen was not to have a turn keeping watch due to her value to the kingdom, he had always been given a turn up until now.

"It would have been rude of me to make my sister's bed wake up and leave in the middle of the night. What am I? Heartless?" Alaron's mouth hung open, appalled.

Eira chimed in before the two men could go further. "That was only part of it. In truth, if you are well rested, you are less likely to be emotional if you run into trouble. I didn't mind a little less sleep if that meant a better chance at success today. I will rest while you are out."

Renat nodded, slowly admitting defeat. "Thank you for your sacrifice." The brown wolf sniffed at the air and snorted with satisfaction. "I am glad that the mud from the shoreline seems to be covering your scent. I can hardly discern you from the smell of the earth."

The soldier picked at the dirt caking her skin. Other than more pungent alternatives, it was the best way that she had been able to mask her scent from the abominations. Her muddied armor was why no one had said anything about the dirt plugging her nose or the strange nasally quality her voice had this morning.

"Smell is a serious concern for me right now," Eira agreed.

They ate their meager meal in relative silence, each contemplating the task that was about to come. The few times they spoke were to check their mutual understanding.

Renat and Alaron would be going again; this time they did not plan on splitting up.

"Are you sure Renat just walking through camp is the wisest move?" Mairwen asked one final time as they finished the dry bread.

"His movement is silent enough, but his large size makes him very visible. He will be less noticeable if he acts like he belongs there rather than if he is caught lurking." Alaron assured his sister.

"It's true. If you remember, I did the same thing successfully when trying to escape Livie's camp. And there are far more abominations here with new recruits coming in just today. There is no way that that any one person would recognize everyone in the camp. And why would anyone challenge a fellow monster?" Renat was confident in his ability.

Getting in would be easy. Getting out? Less so. But there was no need to worry Mairwen with that pesky little detail.

The princess seemed to read Renat's thoughts. "I want to keep an eye on your back. You know how good I am with a bow."

"Impossible." The brown wolf ran the back of his finger gently along his wife's cheek before handing her something to drink. She took the container with a sad nod.

"I only wish you had more support going into this." Mairwen took a drink of water to calm her nerves.

"Funny, thats's exactly what I said to Justum last night." Alaron smiled innocently. The spray of water from his sister's mouth all over him was completely worth it when he saw her shocked face.

"You spoke to a Fate last night and didn't think to tell us?!" Mairwen shook the water-skin at her brother as she scolded, sending more droplets flying.

"I was waiting for the right moment," the Guardian said blandly.

"And this was the right moment?" Eira dabbed some water from her cheek.

"Absolutely." Alaron shrugged unapologetically.

Carefully Renat corked the water and took it from his wife's hand. He had to give credit to his brother-in-law; the Guardian was excellent at deflection and redirection. There was no way Mairwen would continue down the path of complaining about being left out now.

"Care to tell us what Justum said?" Mairwen asked in a sing-song lilt.

Like Renat, Mairwen realized her brother's tactic and had regained her calm. The sooner she came back to her normal self, the quicker Alaron would move on with his news.

The Guardian's face became tense. "There is not much to tell. Justum said the Fates won't be helping us until they are sure that they will not die."

"Not even Hanna?" The princess could not believe her ears.

"Not even Hanna. Though her actions may not be her choice." Alaron sighed.

"What do you mean? Wasn't Hanna healed?" Renat did not like the idea of someone being able to hinder such a powerful being.

"She was healed physically, but Justum mentioned there was a complication." Alaron ran over the words of the Fate in his head. "I think that is what sent the Fates into a panic. They have never come close to facing their own mortality before…"

Pressing her lips together, Mairwen held in her disappointment with the development. She had suspected that the Fates had withdrawn again, but the confirmation of that fact obliterated any hope she had of not having to see this battle to the end without them.

For now, humanity was on its own.

"What of the Empress or His Majesty? Did Fate Justum have any news of them?" Eira came to terms with the facts faster than the others and moved to other pressing matters.

Alaron ran his fingers through his snowy hair. "I wish I had been able to ask. Justum's visit was short. Though my guess is that since he did not seem to know where we were up until now, he probably would not have had any information on the others."

The group went quiet, each left to their own thoughts. Without magical back-up, their mission to reach Dania was possibly the most crucial event in the course of this war.

If they failed, things could get very bad, very quickly.

"We are wasting daylight." Alaron abruptly moved to the exit. "Wish us well, ladies. We shall return with another to add to your number. I'm calling it now that she does not get the same voting privileges or we men shall always be outnumbered, right Renat?"

"Your on your own. I value my life far too much to step into that rabbit trap." The brown wolf shifted away from his wife, kissing her forehead with his furry snout.

Alaron cast a weary gaze at his companion. "Honestly, brother, how will you ever learn to get out of trouble if you won't let me get you into it in the first place?"

With that, the Guardian hurried from the root-filled hideaway before his sister could give a biting retort.

"I love you. I promise to keep him out of trouble." Renat followed Alaron, replacing the brush after exiting the hole.

Eira pinched her nose, knocking the dirt from her nostrils with a relived gasp. Tears filled her eyes as she could finally take her first real breath since coming inside.

Mairwen gave her a sagely nod. "I know," she said. "I miss them already too."

———————-

On the edge of Taran's camp, four lizards were dutifully tending the fires of the cauldrons while another dozen were making sure they were adequately filled with magical water while collecting the non-magical droplets for consumption.

The warning from Yumeto had reached them, and they would not face Taran's wrath by being caught sleeping on the job again. As such their hard work was producing both products at a much faster pace than the night before.

So when the brown wolf entered the camp and wove through their work, most of them couldn't be bothered to notice his disdainful glances.

It wasn't until he has passed them and headed on into camp that one of the abominations took notice.

"Where do you think you are going?" The lizard with scaly brown hair on top of his head asked.

"Come help us!" a wolf who was struggling with the pump hollered.

All eyes turned to the brown wolf.

"Not my job."

He shrugged and turned away, walking slowly as if he had not a care in the world. The other abomination grumbled and growled, but none of them could argue with his claim.

They watched, burning holes into the back of his head until he disappeared between the tents and buildings. Reluctantly they returned to their work, cursing the brown wolf with each and every breath.

That is why, even as a brown wolf paraded proudly into camp, no one saw the shade of a shadow following behind.