Things are Not what they seem to Be

" Yes I do, before any party comes looking for us."

"But that's crazy!" replied Andrea. "It's the middle of the night, there is hardly any light, and I do not know the way within this maze of branch and root!"

Even before Astra could respond, they heard the shouting of men not far off. They also saw the flickering of torches and lanterns. Even Andrea knew that danger was at their footstep, so the two women fled into the forest.

Some time later the men returned to the keep. The leader of the search party walked directly to a guardroom. Upon entering he saw three men; Jasper Hewlett, Victor Packard, and Lucien Caldecott. "Well?" asked Lucien. "Where are they?" The soldier kept a grave face, "They have not been found," he answered. "Then go back and look again, and do not return until you have them bound and gagged!" "Aye," and with that the soldier left.

"This be not good, Lux, not good at all." The voice was a deep baritone. The face was chiseled out of strong bone and flesh browned by a life in the sun. The lantern-light cast shadows that played upon his features as he spoke.

"Victor, Victor, Victor," came Lucien. "Do not worry. Even if the lass escapes from us, we are far from any town that could aid her. Templeton, Renouw, and Aserford are ours this night as well. The forest she has run into is wild with game and beast, and even a brigand or two. She is a little girl and the monsters of the night are sure to eat her alive."

"Lux," said Victor. "We both know that the real monsters have been dead for centuries. And even little girls have a way of finding sanctuary. Besides, she already has an avenging angel; who else could've dispatched poor Elrik so?"

"Indeed," murmured Lucien. "He liked my robes so, yet only wore them a mere few hours and now he is no more."

"Give me the little girl's body like she has given me my mage's, then I shall sleep easier. And find the angel, tie him up, and rip his wings off!"

Many hours later, even as the cock began to crow, an elderly woman lifted the copper lid from off her copper pot and sniffed at the brew. Her wrinkly hands reached for a tin cup and then carefully poured the elixir therein. With one hand she pinched her nose, and with the other she tipped the cup into her mouth. ~~demonios, how I hate that stuff! ~~ she thought to herself. Then she spent the next hours washing, drying, dressing, and fixing a little breakfast.

By midmorning she was outside and in her garden. Her small hut lay within the forest, she had cut down trees many years prior and had since cultivated the earth. There was a stream of clear water but a stone's throw from the garden, and ample bushes thrived under the mixed shade and sun of a not-so-dense patch of wood.

This was the powerful mage whom our duo of damsels wished to find. There were a few problems, of course; for starters Andrea Croix had heard that she was a he. Secondly, they were heading northward while her hut was to the east. Thirdly, a ranger under the employ of the pretenders at Croix Keep had just discovered the two women's tracks. And lastly, the Keep and the three towns, and six hamlets were now under the control of the pretenders, and they had all been sent messages to be on the lookout for the daughter of the Lord of the Keep.

1. The two women enter the village of Chante, not knowing that the Elders are under order to arrest her.
2. Lucien continues his machinations within Croix Keep, preparations for the dubious takeover of pretenders throughout the realm and deep into the Great Kingdom.

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