Nash guided them south at a fast trot; he knew that King Sargus, by default, would send his men down the road toward Praetha to catch them.
“Where are we going, Nash?” Saria asked. “This doesn’t look like the way we arrived,” she observed.
“It’s not,” Nash replied. “We’re going south for a while. The king’s men will waste their time searching for us on the road to Praetha while we escape south,” he explained.
Saria considered his words before speaking, “I want to go home, Nash,” she said.
“I’m not against that idea,” Nash assured her. “For now, it is safest for you to escape and hide until King Sargus forgets about you.”
A deep frown creased Saria’s face, she worried about her father’s reaction to recent events. “My father has probably discovered by now that his daughter, Princess Adriana, is dead and that his youngest daughter, is missing. Can we at least send a message to him to let him know I am safe?” she asked hopefully. “I cannot imagine the anguish he is going through right now,” she prodded.
Considering the suffering of his victim’s family was one thing Nash usually avoided. It was an emotional loop that fed on itself until unmanageable. It wasn’t that he was emotionally inept, far from it; if anything, his emotions were the only thing that held him back as an assassin. He took a moment to consider her position and her father’s.
“We will send a missive from the next town,” Nash answered her. “Something short.”
“Thank you,” she said, relieved.
The sounds of nature rushed at them as Nash released his grip on time. “Keep your wits about you,” he warned. “You’re a wanted woman,” he said with a grin.
She laughed, “And not in a good way,” she said.
“I’ve never seen King Sargus like that,” Nash said to her. “There has to be more to the story than he told me.”
“We will never know,” she said and laughed. “I wonder if he accepted your resignation letter.”
“Yes,” Nash said, embarrassed. “I had a history with Agamen, and while angry, that seemed like a good time to settle it.”
“You don’t have to explain it to me,” she said. “You saw what his men were about to do with me. I would have been okay with killing them all,” she said with a ferocity he had not heard from her yet.
They continued on in silence, and the light was beginning to fail as the sun sank in the west when the next village came into view.
“Are we stopping for the night?” Saria asked. She was a bit excited at the prospect. This was more traveling than she had ever done, and she had never stayed at an inn, though she had heard about them.
“No, we need to keep moving,” Nash said, “but if we can send your message from here, we will. Is there a nickname your father had for you? Something he would recognize and believe that it was you?”
Saria blushed, “He refers to me as his ‘little pumpkin,’” she said, “I was a chubby child, and even now that I’ve thinned down, he still affectionately calls me that.” Nash was a bit surprised. He couldn’t imagine this skinny girl in front of him as ever being chubby.
They were passing the stables in the center of the village when Nash saw the placard for a messenger, so they stopped.
“I need to send a message to Praetha,” Nash said. “Is that possible?” he asked.
“We send messages there on a regular basis,” he said. “I have a man that runs that route once a week for a silver coin. He leaves tomorrow, and the message should be there in two days. If you need faster, we can send a special messenger for a gold piece.”
“Speed is not important,” Nash said dismounting. He was glad to hear it was a regular route. They would be less likely to be searched.
“Paper is inside,” the young man said and showed them where.
“Many thanks,” Nash said to him. He leaned into Saria’s ear and whispered so only she could hear him, “Keep it simple, do not mention your location, and sign with your nickname.”
Saria understood as she scrawled in her perfect penmanship. “I am safe. Pumpkin.”
Nash nodded at her. It was short, vague, and unidentifiable. It was perfect.
She tri-folded it and sealed it with the wax that was provided before addressing it to King Rowley. Nash and Saria exited the small alcove where the writing material was and handed the letter to the man they spoke to earlier.
“To the king?!” he said, surprised.
“Is that a problem?” Nash asked.
“No,” the man said. “Royalty can be a pain sometimes, but it will get to him.”
“I know what you mean,” Nash said with a grin. “It’s not super important,” he lied. “I just forgot to tell him when we would be back with his next delivery.”
“Okay, it will be there in about two days,” the young man confirmed and stuffed it into a leather pouch with several other letters.
Nash and Saria remounted and began the next leg of their trip. It was fully dark by the time they were clear of the village, they plodded along carefully on the unfamiliar road.
“How far are we going?” Saria asked.
“Far,” Nash answered ambiguously. “At least out of the kingdom of Kheozia.
Saria had no idea how big Kheozia was, “How many days do you think we need to travel?”
“Three or four at this speed,” Nash answered. “We will be at the next village in two or three hours, and there, we will rest until daybreak.”
“How old are you, Nash?” Saria asked out of the blue.
Surprised, Nash said, “You’re just full of questions today.”
“I’m bored,” she said and stared at him while she waited for an answer.
“I’ll be twenty-five in a few weeks,” he responded.
“Why do you look so old if you are only twenty-five?” she asked.
“It’s a curse of my ability,” he explained. “Even though I stop time around me, I continue to age. The longer I use it, the quicker I age. I suspect it has to do with the stress of using the ability for long periods of time.”
“So don’t use it unless you have to,” Saria suggested.
“Now that I am no longer an assassin, I will not have to use it as much,” he said. “Unless King Sargus’s men find us.”
King Rowley had received word from one of his spies that Saria had been seen in Kheozia the day after Adriana had died. Rowley’s court mage had indicated that Adriana’s death was unnatural and had asked to let him investigate it. Meric had never let Rowley down; he gave Adriana’s body over to Meric’s care.
With this new information, the puzzle pieces fell together in his mind, and he knew what had happened. Adriana was murdered to prevent the alliance with the Drenad Kingdom, but why was Saria taken?
Today, a diplomatic entourage was being put together to confront King Sargus with these facts. Kheozia was an insignificant kingdom when it came to might, they would not deny a search of the entire kingdom if demanded.
A messenger was led into the king’s planning chamber, where he was consulting with several advisors. As he accepted it, he was surprised to see a message with his name in script on it. The was seal was a common press from the village of Ziger, south of Kheozia.
King Rowley broke the seal and opened the letter. He began to laugh. “Send the diplomats,” he said. “Have them press Sargus as hard as they dare.” He pointed at the letter, “Have them search for her for a show but let them know that she is not there. My Pumpkin sends word that she is safe.” Rowley looked the letter over again. “Send Daniel to me.” Rowley had a starting point for her to look for Saria. If anyone could find her, Daniel could.
“What is that smell!” Saria asked as they rode along the side of what looked like a river. It had taken six days to get here.
“It’s the rot from the saltwater marsh,” Nash said, indicating the moving water and tall grass to their right. “We’re nearing the coastline.”
“It smells awful,” she said disgustedly.
Nash laughed because he couldn’t smell it. “It’s at its worst when the tide is low,” he said. “It won’t smell like this where we are going. I couldn’t live with it.”
“Good!” Saria agreed, “I don’t think I could put up with it for long.” She held her nose as they rode.
Saria was amazed by the nets and other strange items she had never seen before when they arrived at the small fishing village. A dock jutted out into the water, and several small boats lined it. Her head swiveled from side to side. “What are those?” she asked and pointed at boxes with netting on them.
Nash had no idea, “We’ll have to ask at some point, I’ve never been curious enough to ask.”
They stopped at the Crashing Wave Inn & Tavern. “Are we eating here?” Saria asked expectantly?
Nash chuckled, “We can eat here,” he said. “We need information.”
The two of them sat and ordered some food. While they were waiting, Nash got up and talked to a few men at another table. Saria could not hear what he said, but the men pointed him to another man that had just sat down.
Nash went to him and, after a few moments, sat down across from him. The two chatted quietly for a few minutes, and Saria was getting genuinely curious about what they could be talking about for so long. She watched Nash laugh and stand. He shook the man’s hand and came back to Saria just as the food was arriving.
“Doesn’t that smell good,” Nash said, noticing the steam rising from the food. In truth, he hadn’t smelled anything but peppermint for days now. He kept his ointment under his nose all the time now. He was going to have to search for ingredients soon, though. Nash paid the barmaid and sat down to eat.
“What were you talking about with that man over there?” Saria asked between bites.
“I found us a place to stay, maybe,” Nash said. “We’re going to look at it after we eat.”
“No more sleeping on the side of the road?” Saria asked excitedly.
“No more camping,” he said with a smile.
“This old shanty has seen better days, but the well is good, and it’s close to the house,” Norm said. Norm had led Nash and Saria from the Inn to his property. It was a pleasant piece about two miles from the shore, but he was right, the four-room building had seen better days. “I’ll provide tools and material,” Norm said. “You fix it up in lieu of your rent. Fix it at your pace, it’s worth a year’s rent to me. After that, we can discuss rent in coins.”
“That sounds fair,” Nash said.
Norm extended his hand to seal the agreement, and Nash took it. “I’ll be back in the morning with tools,” Norm said, and waved to Saria, “Bye.”
They watched him slowly make his way back to the road for a few minutes.
“Let’s see what we have to work with inside,” Nash said to Saria and opened the door.
Inside, they found a table and a few chairs. An old straw broom stood in a corner. The kitchen featured some built-in counters with a sink that drained to a bucket. The cupboards were separating from the wall and hanging at an odd angle. There was a rusty old cast iron stove as well.
“We’ve got some work to do,” Nash said.
“We?” Saria parroted.
“We,” Nash repeated. “Unless you like living in dust, you can start by opening the windows and sweeping the cobwebs down from the ceiling. I’ll work on removing debris from the bedrooms.”
It rained that night. Saria was glad that they had a roof over their heads, but it leaked. “Unbelievable,” she said as she fished her poncho out of her pack to put over her head.
“I guess the roof made the top of the agenda,” Nash said with a laugh.
Saria sighed deeply. He listened to her breathing as she fell asleep. He wondered if they were truly safe here.
In just under three weeks, Nash and Saria had made the shanty into a home. Nash was cutting and splitting wood and stacking it on the front porch for cooking when a lone woman approached on horseback. Nash noted her leather armor and earth-colored cloak as he buried the ax he held into the stump he was using. He walked towards her while watching for any sign of danger. The woman rode right up to him and smiled.
“I am Daniel, of the Praetha Kingdom,” she introduced herself. “King Rowley ordered me to track down Saria. Is she still safe?”
Nash looked her up and down for any indication that she might be lying but found none. “This way,” he said and led her into their home.
Saria was scrubbing the cast iron stove with a coarse rag and vinegar when they walked in. She looked up at the two of them. “Daniel?” she asked.
Daniel smiled, surprised that Saria remembered her so quickly. “Your father is worried about you,” she said, “but your letter helped ease his mind.”
Saria put her rag down and washed her hands in the sink. “How did you find us?”
“It’s what I do,” Daniel said. “Are you ready to go home?”
Saria looked to Nash. There was sadness in her eyes.
“I think so?” she said uncertainly. “What do you think, Nash?” she asked.