The Thieves of Otar

Fox Den

"You lied to me, King Donathan," Arch said, pacing back and forth. 

Arch was in the grand courtroom of the King. The ceilings were high and domed and were decorated with gold leaves. It was the same courtroom in which Arch had provided the witness account that got Daxtor sentenced to death twelve years previously.

"I did not lie, Mr. Reems," Donathan said patiently.

"You withheld information- critical information- about this war, and you let me send off not just my men, but my children into the thick of it without alerting me that it was my daughter that was the main target of our enemy forces!" Arch's chest inflated and deflated with anger.

"I assure you, Mr. Reems, had I known that the legends were indeed true, I never would have kept back, as you put it, such 'critical information'," the King assured him. "I thought that the Skilaens were just spinning some wild story to get the upper hand in this war. But now that it has been brought to my attention that they are not, in fact, stories, I can only say that this complicates things."

"Complicates?" Arch's brow shot up. "My daughter is a complication?!" His voice range and echoed through the courtroom.

"Calm yourself, Mr. Reems, or I will have you restrained," the King warned.

"You'll have to do much more than that," Arch mumbled under his breath. Then, before the King could ask him what he had said, he quickly continued, "You said the group we sent out returned recently?"

Glad to have a change of subject, Donathan nodded. "All men reported here to inform me that their mission was a complete success."

Arch frowned. "Then where are my children?"

The King had feared this question might come. "My decorated Guard, Sir Percival, has informed me that your son and daughter have continued journeying down into the Westfell Pass.

"What?!" Arch wasn't sure if he was glad or disappointed that he didn't have anything to throw at the King's head.

 "My men reported that along their journey they encountered a Skilaen village girl who had been captured by a group of smugglers they encountered in the Pass-"

"Didn't you say no one knew about the Pass?" Arch said accusingly. 

"It was my belief that no one did," he admitted. "But it appears that I have been wrong. Anyway, your children have decided to take the girl to her village near the Pass entrance on the Skilaen side. They are accompanied by one of your men and my Captain of the Royal Guard. I can assure you, Mr. Reems, that with the Captain, your children are perfectly safe."

Arch didn't need to ask which of his men had stayed with Ike and Zia. Heath stuck to their sides as though they were joined at the hip.

The King's chuckle brought Arch out of his thoughts. "Of course, from what the Trodaithe tell me, your girl can handle herself just fine."

"The who?" Arch asked. But his voice was not one of confusion. Instead, it rather seemed like he had not heard the King.

Donathan mentally kicked himself. Stupid slip of the tongue, he thought. He sighed. He had already said the name of the top-secret organization, and Arch was a smart man. Donathan knew that he wouldn't let the King change the subject without an answer.

"The Trodaithe. They are a highly trained band of men, each one capable of fighting twenty men at once. They are a very secret group, I might add, so I hope this conversation can remain between the two of us?" Arch nodded and the King continued. "I was considering sending them instead of your men, but with negotiations falling through with Skilae, I needed them close at hand in case a brutal attack was launched here. Though I suppose that line of thinking was useless, as I sent them eventually."