Chapter 5
We broke camp at first light, continuing our journey west in two columns. Sardis and Vomeir rode at the front followed by one half of the queen's guard. Patera rode alongside me, followed by the woodsman's cart, with the woodsman and his wife on the front of the cart, Zore and Prentice on the back. Botek and his men, and the other half of Patera's men, followed the cart. Miletus and Derbe brought up the rear.
"Can I assume you're planning to seek the support of General Dacus and the Army of the West?" Patera said.
"General Dacus isn't fond of Bedonna. I once heard him warn mother that if Bedonna became queen, it would not bode well for Adah."
"Soon after that, she put him in charge of the Army of the West. Convenient for you."
"You think she knew I would seek Dacus's help?"
"I think she knew you were spying on her and General Dacus when he warned her of Bedonna. She always knew when you girls were spying on her." Patera looked me over and smiled. "Not So Little One."
The appreciative grin was for my outfit. There was a dark blue silk skirt that flared out like the ankle length gown I wore yesterday. The upper half of the outfit was also identical to the red velvet dress. It had long sleeves, a scooped neckline, and a built-in corset that laced up the back. The main difference between the two outfits, aside from the material, was that the skirt and top of this outfit weren't connected. I wore my black riding boots and straddled the horse, refusing to ride sidesaddle.
I kept my hair in a ponytail for the simple reason that it was quicker and easier to do than a braid. Instead of the Ruby Crown, I wore a princess crown, a simple silver headband with the royal seal engraved on the front. I still felt ridiculous, dressed in a fancy gown, but at least this outfit was lighter and easier to move around in. The sword around my waist made me feel less ridiculous.
"When your mother gave me those outfits, I told her that she was wasting her time, that you wouldn't wear them. She insisted that you would wear them when the time was right."
"I feel like a little girl playing dress up."
"You may feel like a little girl playing dress up, but you don't look like one. And that's all that matters."
"I feel like I'm trying to fool people."
"Fooling them into thinking you're a beautiful desirable woman, or fooling them into thinking that you're fit to be queen?"
"Both."
"You actually believe that?"
"Yes."
"Then perhaps it's time you take a consort."
I made no attempt to hide the shocked look on my face. "You must be joking."
"It wasn't until your mother took a consort that she began to see herself the way others saw her, as a beautiful, desirable, intelligent woman with much to offer."
"I'm not sure I'm ready to take a consort."
"Some other time then." Patera's weathered face grew more serious. "There's something else we need to discuss."
"What?"
"It's been several months since your mother last heard from General Dacus and the Army of the West."
"Is that long?"
"Normally, she received monthly reports. A few months ago those reports stopped coming. She sent several messengers to find out what was going on, but they never returned."
"Perhaps they were waylaid by bandits," Vomeir said, joining us. "I don't mean to alarm you, Your Highness, but these hills have eyes."
"We're being watched?" I looked around. If someone was watching us, they were hiding in the trees on the mountain side.
"A woman lives in this valley," Patera said. "She commands a handful of men and is known as the Queen of Thieves. It would be her men that are watching us."
"Do you think she killed the messengers?" I said.
"Doubtful," Patera said. "They were always accompanied by a dozen armed men. The Queen of Thieves doesn't have the manpower to go up against that many soldiers. They were in no more danger than we are."
"Then something happened to the messengers when they reached the Army of the West," Vomeir said.
Patera nodded, then looked at me. "I was hoping Lila could use her gift to find out what happened to General Dacus."
I focused on General Dacus. A short stocky man with a shaved head and piercing violet eyes. I saw him sitting in a prison cell. He was still in uniform, but the gray leather breeches were dirty and the green tunic was tattered. He had grown a beard since I last saw him.
"He's in prison."
"Who put him there?" Vomeir asked.
"I don't know. I can't see into the past. I can only see things that are happening or will happen."
"Sounds like a coup," Patera said. "Can't say I'm surprised. The Army of the West has always had its share of malcontents. That's one of the reasons they were sent out here, to get them away from the population centers where they could cause real trouble."
"So we're riding to seek the aid of a legion of malcontents that no longer answers to the Queen of Adah," Vomeir said.
Patera looked at me. "Sure you don't want to turn around?"
I thought of what Bedonna did to Salisha, how she scarred her face out of spite before killing her, and then took her braid as a trophy. "Thanks, but I think I'll take my chances with the malcontents."
I didn't have enough men to defeat Bedonna in combat, and nothing I said would convince her to spare my life. So there was no reason to turn around. I didn't have enough men to go up against the Army of the West either, but I might be able to find a way to win back their loyalty. I wasn't sure how I would do that, but I still had a couple of days to figure things out.
That night, when I lay down to rest, I had a vision of what lie ahead. I saw us arriving at the Western Palace. Like the other two palaces it was constructed of white granite. It sat on top of a gently rolling hill with brown grass and a few palm trees. The surrounding hills looked the same. Behind the palace lay the mountains. In front of the palace, somewhere beyond the rolling hills, lay the Desert of Shifting Sands.
The Western Palace was a rectangular building that ran from left to right rather than front to back. It was a two story structure. There were no windows on the first floor, just a pair of heavy double doors in a recessed archway set in the middle of the building. The second floor consisted of a balcony that ran the length of the building. Several smaller doors opened onto the balcony. At each end of the building was a square tower.
At the bottom of the hill, a white granite wall surrounded the palace. Scattered on the hillside between the wall and the palace were several buildings. The buildings were made from logs and served as barracks, mess halls, and various other buildings for the Army of the West.
Between the Western Palace and the Desert of Shifting Sands lay the Land of the Wild Men. Calling them men might be a misnomer. Court scholars believed they were more like pre-men. They were shorter than men, the tallest being no more than my height. They had sloping foreheads and broad flat noses. Their arms were longer than a normal man's and their bodies were covered with brown hair that looked more like fur. They didn't wear clothes, didn't speak a language other than to grunt and screech at each other. Their use of tools seemed limited to rocks and sticks. They lived in small bands of no more than a dozen and survived by hunting small rodents and each other. Yes. They were cannibals.
In my vision, I arrived at the gates with Vomeir, Patera, and everyone else. I was wearing the Ruby Crown and the red velvet dress. I rode to the front of my party and called out to the men manning the ramparts above the gates.
"I am Lila Marie Haran, heir hopeful to the throne of Adah, and I request an audience with General Dacus."
My presence caused a stir among the men on the ramparts and they didn't seem to know what to do or say. Finally, one of them said, "One moment, Your Highness."
It was several long minutes before anything else happened. Eventually, a tall man with broad shoulders, short black hair, and a bushy black mustache leaned on a rampart over the gate. He was older than Vomeir, but younger tha
n Patera.
"Commander Trager Selis," Patera whispered to me. "One of General Dacus's division commanders."
"Princess Lila," Commander Selis said to me. "This is a pleasant surprise. What brings you way out here?"
"Queen Bella is dead. I seek the aid of General Dacus and the Army of the West in my fight with my sister, Bedonna."
"I see," Selis said.
"Is General Dacus here?"
"Oh, he's here. He's just not in charge of the Army of the West anymore."
"I don't understand."
"It's quite simple, Your Highness. The Army of the West is no longer under the command of General Dacus."
"Who does command it?" Vomeir said.
"I do." Selis bowed, introducing himself. "Trager Selis, King of the Western Hills."
Selis raised his right arm and a line of archers appeared on the rampart, crossbows ready. Patera and Vomeir ordered a retreat, but it was too late. The arrows came too fast for us to do anything. One hit Patera in the neck, knocking him off his horse. Two penetrated Vomeir's breastplate and he fell.
Within minutes, everyone who took an oath to serve me, save for Prentice, was dead. Before I could recover from the shock of what happened, the gates opened and half a dozen armed men came riding out of the fort. One of them took the reins to my horse and led me into the fort. Another threw a struggling Prentice face down over the front of his horse and brought her into the fort.
Selis was now on horseback. He circled around me, and looked me over. "You've changed since I last saw you, Princess. You've grown up."
"I wish I could say the same for you." In truth I didn't even remember the man. Not that I thought it was a good time to let him know that.
Selis laughed and spoke to the man holding the mare's reins. "Take her to the palace and put her in my quarters. Looks like I finally have a consort fit for a king."
I woke up and saw no more, not that I needed to see more. I could figure out what happened after that. What I needed to do was figure out how to get the Army of the West back. Getting them back meant dealing with Trager Selis, the self-proclaimed King of the Western Hills.
I grabbed the dark blue silk cloak I wore during the day, wrapped it around myself, and slipped out of my tent in search of Patera and Vomeir. Luckily, they were still up, sitting by the campfire.
"I know what happened to General Dacus," I said.
"What?" they said in unison.
"One of his division commanders, a man named Trager Selis, has taken control of the army. He's proclaimed himself the King of the Western Hills."
"And the Army of the West is loyal to him?" Vomeir asked.
"As long as he lives." Whether they would fall back into line if he was dead remained to be seen.
"He's a strong willed man," Patera said. "And apparently more ambitious than anybody realized."
"So what are your plans?" Vomeir said.
"I can't take anybody with me to the Western Palace. Trager Selis will kill them."
Vomeir leapt to his feet. "You can't go alone. I won't allow it."
"I appreciate your concern, Captain, but I'm one of two people in this party he won't kill."
"How can you be sure he won't kill you?"
"Because he didn't kill me in my vision."
"Even if he doesn't kill you, I can guarantee he'll make you wish you were dead."
"Vomeir is right," Patera said. "You can't ride to the Western Palace alone. It's too dangerous."
"What will you do when you get there?" Vomeir said.
"I'll request the aid of the King of the Western Hills."
"At which point he'll make you his slave."
"Trager fancies himself a king. The best way to legitimize his claim is to take a princess as his bride."
Vomeir scowled. "Bride or slave. Your duties will be the same."
"The best chance I'll have to kill him is when we're alone in the bedroom."
"And how do you propose to do that?" Patera said. He didn't seem as bothered by my plan as Vomeir, but I didn't expect him to be. He had been through all of this with my mother, when she had to battle her sisters for the throne.
"That's the part I haven't figured out yet. I need to talk to a woman, a woman with experience in deceiving, robbing, and killing men."
"The Queen of Thieves?" Patera said.
"My intuition tells me that she'll be able to help me."
"She'll want something in return."
"I was thinking maybe amnesty."
"That might do it. She's been out here for years, I suspect she's growing tired of living in these woods. I've been told she comes from the Port of Nadal. She might like to see the coast one more time before she dies."
"If amnesty won't satisfy her, I have some gold and jewelry. I suspect she'll accept some of that as payment."
Vomeir folded his arms across his chest and glared at me from the other side of the campfire, making it clear that he didn't like any of my ideas. "Are you planning on seeing her alone?"
"No, Captain. You may accompany me when I meet with the Queen of Thieves."
"When do you plan on doing that?" Patera asked.
"First light tomorrow, while the rest of you break camp. Assuming we're still being watched."
"We are," Vomeir said.