The Border Post

As the track they were on was the only feasible route across the mountains for hundreds of miles, the Allarians maintained a post on their southern border in order to keep an eye on who was travelling between the two nations. "If the king has managed to get a message to them informing them of our aborted mission," Astra said, "then they may try to persuade us to turn back. Of course, since we have received an order from my mother, we will have to firmly decline. But since I understand that magiic in Allaria is less advanced than our own sorceresses, they may not have heard, in which case they will no doubt be surprised to see us."

"They try stop us leaving?" Fred asked.

"By using force, you mean? There could be a little unpleasantness, but it won't come to a fight. That would be an act of war against a friendly country who had tried to help them."

The night was uneventful, and in the morning they resumed their journey. The foothills on either side of the track grew higher and the vegetation sparser, and in the distance they could see the snowcapped mountain range wpproaching. Their track would pass over a col between high peaks on either side, though even the col was at a substantial altitude. Their way was more noticeably uphill now. Well before they reached the col, though, they arrived at the border post. They would have stopped anyway, to observe the formalities, but the soldiers blocked the trail, forcing them to do so.

This naturally made the Aqualarians nervous, and Astra wondered if she had misjudged the situation, but she was pleased to see that her troop were well-disciplined enough not to do anything rash.

The senior Allarian officer informed Astra that they had had heard from the king, and they had a message from him for them. He was sorry that they had had to abort their mission, but understood that the security of their own country had to come first. With that, the tension that had been building immediately evaporated.

Astra was relieved that there had been no attempt to persuade them to change their minds. Before they went on their way, she thought it was worth finding out whether any of the Allarian detachment had any links to the D'Honaires and - if so - whether they could throw any light on who Hannah might be.

1. One of the soldiers was in fact not just a D'Honaire but Fred's young cousin - not that either of them was aware that they were related to the other, of course.
2. She didn't have any luck, and they were soon on their way again.
3. Before they could leave, the post came under attack from a band of monsters.

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