Ten of Swords (Draft Only)

Chapter 20

Moving forward, there were a few paths they could take. Confronting the dark mage or mages was out of the question. They could try to take them out quietly, but they would have to know where they were first. Interrogating Redrain wasn't an option. Even if he was at any point unguarded, he was a hard nut to crack. He believed wholeheartedly in the virtue of his cause, and trying to get someone like that to violate their principles would be as fruitless as trying to find fresh water in the ocean. If she wasn't trying to prevent a looming disaster which could come at any time, she might try it. Starting with someone lower down the chain of course, which would be less noticeable. Then if they had nothing to give, she'd try to get Redrain to talk, knowing that it would take some time.

With so little manpower and so little perceived time it just wasn't an option. That meant they had no information. There were only two viable options. The thieves, and the crown. Both wee in the same direction, so she didn't have to choose right away who to approach first. The thieves were the safer option, as they knew both Elise and Samson. Though she had left the guild almost a decade ago, she had kept in contact while working for the rebellion. She hadn't seen them in person for a long time, but if she sent a letter ahead of their arrival then they would probably be happy to hear her out. She still had a few friends among their ranks. When he was young, Samson had even played with some of the thieves' children. When he wasn't helping his mother distract their targets, of course.

Elise rode with her son this time. She hadn't noticed it earlier, because she had preoccupied with other things, but something felt off. When she talked to him, he responded in short sentences and would only really talk about what they were doing or where they were going. When he has stood up for her against Redrain, she thought that maybe he was ok, but that was unreasonable. Of course he wasn't ok. She felt as though she had failed him. Maybe she should have spent less time in her own sorrow and tried to help him through his. Whatever it was that lead to this, he felt closed off.

She wanted to probe for answers, find out what he was thinking or at least gather enough pieces to get some kind of clue. If she pushed too hard though, she was worried she might just end up making things worse. She didn't want to corner him when he couldn't comfortably back away. While they rode, he had no place to retreat to if it all got too much. She didn't want him to associate her with that kind of helplessness. Instead, she just held onto him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and holding on tightly. Hopefully he could find some comfort in knowing she was there.

The trip would be a fair bit longer than the previous legs of the journey. Their destination would be the capital, where there was a very active branch of the Thieves Guild. Not to mention, it was where the king spent the most time. Getting there before summer fully set in would be essential, as that would be when the king went on holiday and would no longer be listening to petitions. Not to mention, chances were that she would have to wait in line. There wasn't a very high likelihood that things would turn out well for them, but if they were also investigating a potential alliance with the thieves then not all hope would be lost if things went sour.

They had to stop for lunch. It gave the horses and the cats a chance to rest, and the group the opportunity to eat something. Grain was offered to the mounts, while the panthers went off to hunt. After their hunt they would need to take a nap, so the group prepared to settle down for a couple of hours. Elise wasn't pleased with the lost time, but she knew there was no helping it. Part of the reason large groups moved so slowly was because everyone had their own needs, after all. Having a wagon would make things a little easier, but they didn't have one of those. That way whoever was on the wagon could organise food from whatever they already had and hand it out, while the cats could nap in there after their hunt, and they could keep moving.