II

After cresting a few hills, they finally spotted Sorika.

“Who are those knights she is with?” Dantera asked as she glanced toward Yoreno with a surprised expression which quickly turned to one of suspicion.

Shrugging, he said, “I don’t know. But they wear the colors of Aevalin.” Those colors being blue and gold, and with some red, but not much of the latter.

As they neared, Yoreno saw that their armor was jet black, their capes a deep blue with gold on the underside. He glanced at Dantera.

“Black Guard,” she said quietly.

Sorika came to Yoreno and Dantera and turned to face the Black Guard knights.

The man in the lead smiled smugly. “Well met, Knights of Aevalin.” When he said the words his bright green eyes flicked to Dantera specifically.

“And you as well,” she said, though Yoreno thought she returned the greeting with a guardedness about her.

“Dantera Brennovo,” their captain said thoughtfully. “I knew you were banished from the kingdom, but I didn’t think to find you out here.”

She put a hand on her hip. “And why is that, Lord Shane?”

He glanced back at his ten men, then back to Dantera, his smug look returning. “One might think… that a lady who can’t even protect her own king would hardly be able to avenge him.”

“Ha! And that coming from a Black Guard.”

Lord Shane’s face hardened. “What are you inferring, Knight?”

Glancing between them, Yoreno caught Sorika’s gaze and he saw a wide-eyed expression. Weather she was afraid or simply just nervous, he didn’t know, but Lord Shane had an intimidating air about him, almost villanouse—but Yoreno knew that wasn’t fair. Clearly they were at odds for some reason.

Lord Shane’s eyes were piercing, his chin strong and his cheeks smooth, but slightly gaunt, and his nose, a hook—carried an air of smart authority, the kind that liked revenge.

“Oh, it is nothing,” Dantera said, clearly feigning nonchalance.

“Say it!” Shane snarled.

Good lords, Yoreno thought. Something made him want to put his hand on his sword hilt. But nothing would happen between their group and this group of Black Guards headed by Lord Shane.

Surely?

“It is just that the Black Guard hails from a long line of traitors,” Dantera said with a smile. She spoke as if to a group of friends, snickering at a party. “And of course, similar failures if you count the ineptitude of your forebears in protecting king Balthazar.”

Shane’s lip curled. “I won’t stand here and trade insults with the likes of you, Brennovo!” Shane turned back to his men. “We’re going back to camp.”

As they started heading back, Shane glanced at Dantera. “You would do well not get in our way, knight.”

With his proclamation implying her lesser status, Yoreno instinctually squared his shoulders. He was a lord, Lord Brendara.

Standing there and watching the knights trudge back over the hills, several of their men unseen until now, met Shane and his men on horseback.

“They are well manned and provisioned,” Dantera said.

“What was that all about?” Yoreno asked, feeling confused. There was a hostility there between Dantera and this Lord Shane that he clearly had no understanding of.

“They are Black Guards,” Dantera said. “The Brennovos and the Black Guards haven’t fared well since…”

“Since the Grand Bastard and the usurped throne by Prince Balthazar,” Sorika finished for her.

“Well, Yoreno—your friend seems to understand. I thought you had been studying up on your history?”

“I was,” he said. “But I’ve been busy.”

“No doubt,” Dantera said with a smile. “Anyway, it seems that ‘legion of knights’ Queen Neslyn sent to avenge her brother has begun to make its presence known.”

“Would have been helpful when we were sitting in caged wagons,” Yoreno said. “Do they plan to contest our efforts?”

“Hmm,” Dantera noised thoughtfully as she put her hands on her hips.

They were standing in the sun now, the warmth on Yoreno’s back felt good, despite the heat of his exertions. It was early morning and the air was nippy. Now that he wasn’t running in pursuit of cultists, that chillness was making itself known, but not by much. He was fully armored after all.

“Let’s go back to camp,” Dantera said.

Sorika turned and started leading the way.

“Wait,” Yoreno said. “Dantera, I thought you said you had something interesting to show us?”

“Oh,” she said as if she had forgotten. “Yes, that is right. But first, I think we should go back to camp. Just in case Lord Shane’s Black Guards are watching us.”

“Why would they do that?” Sorika asked as she turned around.

“Leave it to a Black Guard to get anything done without stealing the efforts of others out from under their feet, no?”

Yoreno smiled. “Maybe that bad blood between the Black Guards and the Brennovos goes both ways.”

Sniffing with amusement, Dantera said, “Yes, well… just in case.” She started walking. “I hope Mai has not emptied her guts out by now.”

“She’ll be all right,” Sorika said. “I gave her some herbs.”

“She’s pretty sick,” Yoreno added. “Why can’t she just heal herself?”

“Bad germs,” Sorika said. “Until they’ve left her body, they’re going to continue to upset her stomach.”

“Then maybe she should wretch her guts out.”

“Why do you think I gave her the herbs?”

“Wait,” Yoreno said. “You have herbs that make people wretch?”

Sorika grinned. “Among other things.”

“All right,” Dantera said. “That is enough of that—what are we, commoners?”

“Just building up our defenses for when Lev returns.”

“Indeed…” Dantera said dubiously as she gave Yoreno a sidelong glance. “Perhaps that is enough ‘practice’ for this morning. I would like to enjoy my breakfast.”

“Now that you mention it,” Yoreno said, “I am rather hungry. Can’t you just tell us what you found?”

“No,” Dantera said. “You must see it for yourself. “We will eat breakfast, pack camp, and then I will show you.”

“Do you think Mai can travel yet?” Yoreno asked.

He felt concerned for her, but from what Sorika said, perhaps she wasn’t doing so bad after all. Yoreno just hoped he didn’t get sick with the same thing Mai had.

They wandered back into camp, which was situated on a flat rock located on an elevated piece of terrain. They always searched for elevated areas. They were the best places to make camp to allow everyone to have a clear view of their surroundings and any possdible approaching enemies.

The only thing that was better was an enclosed space, preferably with a second exit, such as in a cave or between large rocks.

Yoreno glanced about as he looked for Mai, but he didn’t see her anywhere. “Mai?”

Footsteps approached from within the forest and Mai revealed herself. She was carrying a bucket of water.

“Should you be working?” Yoreno asked as he noticed the fire was still crackling strongly due to fresh wood having been added.

“I see you have gotten breakfast ready for us,” Dantera said as she glanced down at the skillet where sausages and potatoes were cooking in butter.

Normally Yoreno didn’t want too much fat in his food, but it was cold out here, and being active all the time kept him thin. It was good food, though sometimes heavy to begin the day with.

“I’m actually feeling a lot better,” Mai said with a smile. She looked at Sorika and. “Those herbs were the hells, but they really helped out.”

“Good,” Sorika said.

“So?” Mai asked in her small voice. “You didn’t catch any of those cultist archers who were sneaking around?”

“None,” Yoreno said with a disappointed shrug. “It’s too bad you’ve been sick, otherwise we might have managed it. We ran into some friends, though.”

“Friends?” Mai asked.

“Black Guard knights,” Sorika said. She smoothed her honey-colored har back by dragging a dinger through the crook of her ear.

“Oh,” Mai said, her eyes going over to Dantera who started busying herself with some mundane task near the horses.

It had been a few months since they had lost their horses at the dungeon of Kilik. Once the group had gotten out of danger, they had bought new horses.

Travelling without them was simply too difficult.

Yoreno bent by the fire, smelling the mixture of wood-smoke and cooking meat. “Is that water for drinking or washing?”

Mai glanced at the bucket. “You can drink it. You can eat, too if you want. The food is done.”

“I think I will.” As Yoreno grabbed his plate and put a sausage and five quartered potatoes onto it, his mouth started watering. He took out his eating dagger and stabbed a potato.

The flavor was good, but he was getting tired of the same herbs in every meal. He reached over and took a wooden mug and scooped up some fresh water with it.

He washed the potatoes down and then sliced his sausage into several bite-sized pieces. “Mai, you’re not going to eat?”

“Well,” she said, rubbing her stomach. “I feel a lot better, but it might be best for me not to eat right now.”

It was only now that Yoreno realized there was a slight rasp to her voice, probably from the retching. “Can you travel?”

She bent and took up some water in her own mug. “I think so.”

“That is good,” Dantera said. Then she glanced at Yoreno expectantly.

He smiled as ger golden braid bobed at her shoulder as she moved about.

She seemed to have lost a slight bit of her patience, because she turned her head and widened her eyes a little. “Well, are you going to tell her or not, Yoreno?”

“Oh. Uh—Dantera has something she wants to show us.”

“Oh?” Mai asked. “What is it?”

Sorika came over and poked a sausage with an extended arrow. Dantera looked at her dubiously, but said nothing.

She wasn’t their mother, and she didn’t treat them like she was either. Especially now that she no longer had control of the Roaming Lions. That, and every single one of them now ranked above her on the social ladder—all except Lev. This in particular seemed to shame Dantera.

But she needed to get over that, Yoreno thought.

Mai sat back on the log and put her arms around her shins. She was wearing tight leggings underneath her knee-high dress and thick leather boots. “Really? What is it?”

“I don’t want to tell you,” Dantera said. “That would take away from its majesty.”

“Majesty?” Sorika asked.

“Now I’m intrigued,” Yoreno said.

Dantera smiled at him. She smiled often, but sometimes he thought she had a smile just for him. “That is why I want you to see it with your own eyes before I tell you what to think.”

“I’m ready to pack camp,” Mai said and got up. She seemed to have a lot of energy.

Sorika poked a potato with her arrow.

“What are you doing?” Yoreno asked. “That seems like something Lev would do.”

Mai giggled. “Maybe she misses him?”

“Not on your life, Mage.”

Mai laughed more deeply. Then she turned to Dantera. “Lady—er, I mean—Dantera?”

“Yes?”

“You said there are Black Guards out there?”

“That is what Yoreno told you.”

“Yes, but I mean… what are they doing out here?”

Dantera poked a sausage with her knife and slapped it into her plate. “Looking for king Branlin’s assassin, no doubt.”

“And… should they find her, won’t that take away your chance at getting your title and lands back?”

Nodding quietly, Dantera took a bit of her sausage, though she didn’t react to the taste in either a negative or positive way. Instead her eyes went far away.

She was worried about that. Clearly. “To the hells with that!” Yoreno spat.

Dantera looked up at him, obviously surprised by his vehemence. It wasn’t often that Yoreno lashed out by spitting words or yelling.

“We’re not going to let the Black Guard beat us!”

Dantera signed heavily and kicked out her foot across the ground. “We should not hinder their efforts, Yoreno.”

“I didn’t say we should prevent them from serving up justice to our king,” he said. “But isn’t competition a good thing? It will drive us—and them—to work that much harder. That’s assuming they even want to find the killer.”

“You have a point,” she said. “But you think they don’t want to find the assassin? Why is this?”

“Just a hunch of mine,” he said. “There’s something about them that bothers me. Especially that Lord Shane. It’s like he has a sneering disdain for it all.”

“That’s just how they are,” Sorika said. “Arrogant.”

“Some of that arrogance,” Dantera said, “I will admit, is well founded.”

“Are they that good?” Mai asked.

Dantera nodded. “Mmm.”

“Well then we better not let them win!” she said with a smile. “Come on, let’s pack camp so Dantera can show us this wondrous sight.”

Their once-mistress-and-leader of the Roaming Lions coughed inside her mug. “Wait for me to eat my breakfast!”

Mai laughed.