"How did you find this place?" Zia asked the King, speaking for the first time since entering the tent.
"I've been searching for the location of your Headquarters for months- years, really." Donathan admitted. "We only found it when we got wind that...
"Are you sure you can't stay, dear?" Jodie asked, tears brimming her eyes.
Jay, Heath, Ike, and Zia were just outside the door and she had come to see them off.
Jay sighed. "I am so sorry, Mother, but I'm afraid we can't. The fate of the kingdom rests on us getting to the King with some very urgent information."
Jodie nodded, looking choked up as she turned away so Jay couldn't see her wipe away a tear. But Zia could see it, and her heart nearly broke. She couldn't imagine how hard it must be, only having Jay for years, and then thinking she had three extra family members, and now they had to go.
"We'll come and visit," Zia promised. "Very soon."
Jodie smiled at her. "Thank you, dear. I look forward to it." She wrapped Zia in a hug which Zia gladly returned.
"Goodbye," Zia whispered, surprised to find her voice hoarse.
Jodie gave her one more tight squeeze before releasing her. She then proceeded to give Ike and Heath each a big hug and a kiss on the cheek, which looked rather funny because she was so short and had to pull them nearly to their knees to reach them.
"Be safe," the old woman called from the door, waving as Ike, Jay, Heath, and Zia headed southeast, starting their journey to the capital.
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"Now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Ike teased Heath as they walked.
"It was... strange," he replied. "It was odd to call someone else 'grandmother'."
Ike smiled. "What about you, Zia? Was it really that bad being Jay's wife?"
Zia felt her face turn red. "I wasn't actually his wife. We were just pretending."
"That bad?" Ike said, eyebrow raised.
Zia couldn't think of a good comeback, so she rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless."
"I thought you said there was no such thing as hopelessness?" Jay reminded her.
He had her there. She tried to think of a reply, but couldn't, so she changed the subject.
"How far is it to the capital again?" she asked.
"About two-and-a-half days on foot. If we had horses we could cut that time in half, but..." Jay left the sentence hanging in the air.
"So if we hurry, we should be able to get to the King before the Skilaen army gets through the Pass," Heath calculated.
Jay nodded. "But we may have a problem."
Zia wanted to groan. Of course things couldn't go smoothly!
"And that would be?" Ike prodded.
"I'm not sure if I know exactly how to get back," Jay mumbled, looking at the ground.
"WHAT?" Zia wasn't sure who was louder, Ike, Heath, or her.
