The Two That Came To Ilarnek

Chapter 20

It was nearly noon when the four riders, Grimm, Freyja, Marus, and Tulo the Silent saw the waiting caravan loom up on the horizon before them, with surprising suddenness. Two figures stood before the camp, gazing in their direction, as though waiting.
    The two figures, one large and portly, the other short and slim, moved towards them excitedly. It was Abrim and Despina. Abrim wore his customary silken finery, but gone were Despina’s slave livery. Now the slim young woman was girt as a warrior.
    “You have returned, safely, by Inanna’s bosom!” Abrim ejaculated, clapping his ring bedecked hands together flamboyantly, a look of relief upon his face. Then Abrim looked out over the rolling plain, his relief marred by a hint of concern.
    “Father was about to send me after you,” said Despina. At the words Freyja turned a quizzical look at the woman. Despina winked and answered Freyja’s unspoken question, “I too, am a warrior, trained in the assassin’s art since the time I could walk.”
    “Not all is as it seems, in the camp of Abrim,” said the merchant, sagely, then his eyes turned again to the plain.
    “What vexes thee, master Abrim?” asked Marus.
    “Father is concerned for Katemperos-Tsa. He has not yet returned. Father is a shrewd merchant, but his heart has a soft spot for the mage,” explained Despina, “they are old friends”.
    “There! He comes!” exclaimed the corpulent Shemar trader, the cloud of worry evaporating from his pudgy face, and with that they all turned as one, to see a dark figure racing towards them across the rolling steppe.