Sneak Peek

Silver remembered his strange conversation with the man near the border. The 'old man' had been quite keen to make sure the 'bad guys' were locked away. Why was he concerned with the imprisonment of a knight of Lakyle. Were they enemies?

Sage pulled him from his musings as she tugged on his cloak. Scooting back, he nodded that he had completed his task. They moved so close to one another that their opposing ears and mouths were touching as they wrapped each other in a hug below the low wagon.

The position would have been awkward if not for the closeness they had already experienced and the seriousness of the situation. There was nothing romantic about what they had to do, and they needed to keep their voices down. With the cloaks which enveloped their heads now touching, no one outside could hear their whispered conversation.

"Did you recognize the general as well?" Sage asked quickly, unwilling to waste time.

"The general? No, I recognized the supposed father and son. I ran into them when leaving the fort. They were posing as peddlers crossing the border and wanted to know what had happened to the men I captured." Silver wished that he had more information to give Sage, but most of what he felt was just intuition and guesses. "Tell me what you meant about a general."

"The man in boots up against the cart. I know him. He is General Kaarel: one of King Willric's top officers. Why is he posing as a penniless nomad?"

"I doubt it is because he is hiding from Willric. If that were the case, he would not have so many men with him. Which means Willric must have sent him." Silver sighed.

His breath made the fabric of Sage's hood and her hair ripple against either side of his face. It was a wonder he could breathe at all, but the magical cloak seemed to have no problem letting fresh air pass through.

Pulling away from the intoxicating scent of the woman he loved, Silver forced himself to refocus. A Lakilian general hiding out in Birle was very bad news indeed, but it was not surprising.

When Silver and Sage had at last decoded the document, they discovered tentative plans for a full-scale invasion. But from the way things were written, it sounded like the Guardians had plenty of time to warn the princess and by extension, the king.

But either their interpretation of the timeline was off or the document was much older than they had originally thought. Either way the result was the same—Lakyle was already here. Or at least a hundred or so troops were.

'At least it isn't a few thousand…' Silver comforted himself. 'They must still be assembling. And none of the ones I saw were part of Willric's Vipers so maybe he did not send them.'

While those two pieces of news were positive, it still begged the question:

What did this discovery mean for their mission to get to the castle?

Silver was not sure. Part of him wanted to stay and fight these men—even though it would clearly be suicide. Another part of him wanted to get Sage out of harm's way and then figure out how to get his sister as far from Birle and a coup as possible.

But a third part, the reasonable part, knew he needed more information. He was motioning for Sage to head back into the wheat field so they could decide the best way to scout out their options when he felt the hairs on his arm stand on end. That was never a good sign. He held up his hands to stop.

But how could he communicate what was wrong to the woman without sounding like a fool? It turned out, he did not need to explain. For the female Guardian had gotten the same sinking feeling.

With a perplexed expression, Sage looked past her companion, her eyes fixing on something beyond the shade of the wagon.

Silver noticed it only a moment later. Based on the noise, at least one person was dismounting a horse and engaging another in a heated conversation. It sounded like one of the participants was being dressed down for not being more vigilant on his watch. The other man was defending himself very poorly. It did not sound like he had a good excuse.

The Guardian wondered if the man which he had seen in the wheat earlier had lost interest in his task and found a place to rest. It would explain the sharp tone of the second person.

"Is this all that Lakyle has to offer? What a waste! I do hope the rest of your troops are better than you..."

The loud words intensified and pretty soon, the men lazing about inside the camp noticed the ruckus as well. By the stances of their feet they were not expecting visitors. Silver heard the cover of the wagon be thrown back and many pieces of metal clank together.

'The wagon is full of weapons!' A feeling of dread washed over Silver. If each of the wagons held a small arsenal, then there were potentially many more men ready to fight than the few that were here. 'Don't jump to conclusions...'

"Be ready. If it is that farmer again, he is going to water this field with his blood." The tone of the general's voice indicated he did not think it was the farmer. The threat was merely to get the men riled up and ready for a confrontation.

It worked, for the men growled with anticipation. Because they had been idle for so long, they seemed itching for action.

Silver also tensed. He had no idea what was about to come next, but he could see no good outcome for what was about to happen. Little did he realize just how right he was.

Through the tall grain, a pompous figure emerged with a scowl. Even with the still-healing scar above his eye, the blonde was quite handsome. If not for the perpetually vain expression, he might have even looked friendly.

Silver barely got a glance at him before his head was obscured by the body of the wagon, but the armor he was wearing was clearly in the Birlian style. The men in the camp must have seen it too, for rather than lower their weapons, they stances grew more firm.

"State your business, stranger!" The gruff-voiced man moved away from the wagon and toward the field. While he was not wearing any protective armor, it was clear he did not fear the younger man. He was that confident in his own ability.

"Who's in charge here?" The knight asked indifferently.

"I am," the general answered with equal indifference. "Now who are you?"

The man pretended not to hear the question and instead answered the previous one. "I am here to make sure it is safe from prying eyes. Both for my master's sake and yours. Thus far, I was not impressed with your security measures."

The general stiffened. "I don't know what you are implying. We are simple merchants who are bedding down while we regroup for an upcoming market."

"Of course, of course." The knight's voice became stilted. "Good merchant of chaos, allow us to sample your wares."

Silver heard the General sheath his sword. "Leave us," he told the others. "No one comes near my wagon unless they want to die."

Without question, the others cleared the area. The world around the wagon went still.

"Well, are you going to call him or what?" The general seemed to be losing patience with the other man's inaction.

Rather than answer, the knight walked between the wagons and checked for any lukers. The two Guardians were barely able to scramble behind the wheels to escape his probing gaze.

"It's clear!" he announced at last.

The two Guardians peeked out to see what would happen next. They almost wished they hadn't.