Chapter 3.5

The child in the arms of the woman trembled in fear, afraid that the soldiers might de-ice it just like they did to the friend. Meanwhile, she kept reassuring her granddaughter.

Even as the horses set into motion and the carriage, along with its entourage, disappeared into the distance, the child couldn't be calmed.

She continued trembling incessantly, her eyes filled with tears for her lost friend.

"Nala," she sobbed. "Why did they take her?"

Her little princess was still too young to understand everything. The danger they faced daily here and the older woman's fear that she might grow up with the same blinders as her mother. Still, she put on a reassuring smile before speaking to her granddaughter.

"He's a friend of your mother's, you know that Nette wasn't born in our village."

"But Nala! I want her to come back!" The girl burst into another wave of tears.

"Just believe that she will find her way back to us." Alesa's hands stroked comfortingly over the child's back. She had seen Marli go with them.

If the judge was truly as honorable a person as Nette reported, she would be able to tell the child about her origins. Then she could decide for herself which path to take. And Alesa hoped it wouldn't be the sluggish life of a noble that enticed her.

"He will take good care of your friend."

"Do you think so?" came the venomous hiss of a cobra from her daughter Melasa. "Marli is foolish if she thinks the judge won't hand her over as a prisoner at Castle Telja."

The young woman kicked a stone in her anger, nearly hitting one of the men on the head, who approached them in the armor of a soldier of King Selon.

His hair was as dark as the night, his eyes bright as a misty morning.

"She's leading Nala to her doom! And what can I do? Should I follow them to snatch the child from the clutches of these barbarians?"

"It's pointless," said the young man with the pretty eyes. He was only slightly younger than her daughter.

Now he crouched near her on the ground, his gaze scanning in the direction where the last soldier had disappeared.

First, he checked all directions for possible enemies and then sketched a route map for them and his people on the ground.

"The judge travels with 20 of his own men. Another 30 have been assigned to him by the king. You would have to sneak into their overnight quarters in the next town, which is heavily guarded. The judge has ordered the most protection for his family. He himself will probably only have the commander with him when he checks on the horses in the evening."

Alesa smiled with interest.

"It was your plan to attack at that moment," the Amazon concluded.

"Not in this city," the young man said. "The stable is too exposed there. Just fields where you can spot any enemy from afar. But the next inn near the border offers good opportunities to sneak in."

"Should we still go through with it?" one of his comrades demanded to know.

In his response, he blurred the sketch at his feet.

"It's pointless!" the man said. "Beldor now knows of our plan. He won't let us provide him with a point of attack. If we do, we'll be trapped."

"We should have attacked him immediately when we had the chance," grumbled another of the men. "But our leader said we should let him live. Yet he was the one with every opportunity to slit the bastard's throat."

Alesa laughed.

She had heard much about this man known in the land as the executioner of Ylora.

"You laugh while our future lies in the hands of such evil?" Melasa exclaimed.

"Dearest daughter," she said. "Nette wouldn't have wanted it any other way! The child is safe in his care!"

After all, his whole hope was based on this child growing up. To fulfill the promise of two men, which threatened to break with Nette's marriage.

She remained silent about this knowledge of the judge.

Nette had truly told her a lot. Not only about her own family and carefree childhood. Also about this man, she reported with love, like a father.

A judge who wielded the full severity of his office in the courtroom, without making an exception for anyone. Not for money or the tears of the family.

Of his often strict hand at home, but also the love for his family, where she always felt comfortable. Her friendship with his oldest son and initial plans for a marriage between them.

She never understood why her father yielded to the king's wooing, while his endeavor was always to marry one of his daughters to his best friend's son.

Again, the men cursed against the judge and how close they were to their goal.

"Killing Beldor makes no sense!" was their opinion. "He's a man who takes his job seriously, not a true enemy! The ones you need to kill are the three kings! They warm their behinds on the throne without a glance at the true problems of their citizens. They are the ones you must overthrow!"

"You Amazons are a strange bunch!" judged the young leader. He stood up. "Come now! My father will know what to do with you, where the executioner sends you to him."

The thief Morlo was also a celebrity among them. Unlike many smaller thieves, he didn't care who his victim was. He preferred to target the wealthy residents instead of plundering and murdering the population.

Just like their heroine of yore, who never raised a hand against the starving population.

Just as she called it a joy to experience the much-mentioned judge, it was for her to meet this thief once.

That would provide an interesting opportunity.