Chapter 6
Vomeir and I left camp at first light, heading toward the mountains on the southern side of the pass, to the spot where Vomeir said there were people watching us.
"You're sure we're headed in the right direction?"
"Positive, Your Highness."
I took his word for it, since I could neither see or sense anybody hiding in the trees.
"Don't suppose you can tell me how many there are?"
"One that I know of. Maybe more."
"And they won't try to shoot us?"
"If they wanted to attack us, they would have already done it."
We reached the southern side of the pass, where the grass covered flats met the mountains. Even at their base, the mountains were steep. At this elevation, pine trees grew thick. Further up the mountain, they began to thin out, until you reached the tree line, the point where they didn't grow at all.
I pulled the mare up and surveyed the trees. I still couldn't see anyone. I couldn't hear anyone either, due to a stiff morning breeze that whistled through the trees.
"Say something," Vomeir said. "They'll hear you."
"I am Lila Marie Haran, heir hopeful to the throne of Adah. I request an audience with the Queen of Thieves."
A woman stepped out of the trees. She wore black riding boots that looked surprisingly new. Probably stolen from an unlucky traveler. She wore brown leather breeches, a long sleeved white wool shirt that tied in the front, and a brown leather jerkin. Her head had recently been shaved and her hair was still short, cropped close to her head like Bedonna's.
That was where the similarity between her and Bedonna ended. She was shorter than Bedonna, not nearly as muscular, and a lot prettier. She was also too young to be the Queen of Thieves, somewhere around my age. She had a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder and held a bow and arrow in her hand. The arrow was ready to fire, but she kept it pointed at the ground.
"Why does the heir to the throne of Adah wish to see the Queen of Thieves?"
I dismounted and handed the mare's reins to Vomeir. "Wait here."
Vomeir didn't argue with me. He took the mare's reins from me and remained on horseback. I walked over to the girl and looked her in the eyes. "I'm going to meet a man that has taken something from me, something I want back."
"You intend to steal it?"
"Not exactly."
"So what do you want from the Queen of Thieves?"
"I need to know the best way to kill a man who shares my bed."
The girl smiled. "The Queen of Thieves might be able to help you, but she will want something in return."
"I can offer her and her people amnesty. She'll be free to live anywhere in Adah that she wants. She can even return to the Port of Nadal. I'm told Nadal was once her home."
"If you become Queen of Adah, you can offer the Queen of Thieves amnesty. But you are not the queen yet. What have you to trade now?"
"What does she want?"
The girl circled around me, studying the silk gown I was wearing. It was cut exactly like the red velvet gown I wore a couple of days ago, except that it was made out of yellow silk and had white lacing around the hem, neckline, and cuffs. Once again, I wore my hair in a ponytail and had on the silver headband known as a princess crown. A white silk cloak with yellow trim around the hem and hood covered my shoulders. "The gown you're wearing will suffice."
I couldn't imagine why an elderly woman called the Queen of Thieves would want a silk gown. Not that I was going to argue. I was more than happy to give her my gown in exchange for some advice on how to kill Trager Selis.
"We have a deal?"
I nodded. "We have a deal."
She put the arrow back in the quiver and slung the bow over her right shoulder. "Come. We will go to the Queen of Thieves's camp."
"You will assure my safety?"
The girl seemed amused by my question. "I will assure your safety."
"If she's not back by sunset," Vomeir said. "I will hunt you down."
I followed the girl into the trees and up the mountain side. Not an easy thing to do in an ankle length silk gown. We trudged up the mountain a good mile. Eventually the trees began to thin out and the air grew cooler. By the time we reached the tree line, I was out of breath.
"Your friend is following us."
"He's just worried about my safety. As long as I'm not harmed, he won't cause trouble."
"Sounds like he cares for you very much."
"He's taken an oath to serve me." I stopped and put my hands on my knees, trying to get my wind back. "Is it much further?"
"We are here," the girl said.
I looked around. A ring of rocks that once served as a campfire was there. Next to it was a bedroll, already rolled up, and a knapsack. There were no men, no women, no Queen of Thieves.
"Where is everybody?"
"The Queen of Thieves died last winter, as did the last of her men. They were old and these mountains are not kind to the old, especially during the winter months. I am the last of her people."
That explained why she thought it was funny when I asked if she could guarantee my safety. There was no one around to threaten me except her.
The girl tossed her bow and quiver on the ground and sat on a fallen log. She opened her knapsack and began to rummage through it. I sat next to her, grateful for the chance to catch my breath.
"How long have you been by yourself?"
She paused in her digging long enough to look at the sun. "Mother died just before spring arrived and it's now midsummer. How long would you say that is?"
"About four months. You're the Queen of Thieves's daughter?"
"I am." The girl pulled something out of her knapsack and looked at me. "My name is Talia Pock. My mother was Sharice Pock, the Queen of Thieves."
"Why did you stay here after your mother died? You're not wanted and no one knows who you are. You could've went to one of the cities. Started a new life."
"I was born and raised in these mountains. I've never been to a city, wouldn't know how to live in one."
"Don't you get lonely, living here all by yourself?"
"I am familiar with loneliness. I am not familiar with cities."
"Suppose you didn't have to go to the city alone? Suppose you went with a friend, someone that knew all about cities, knew all about the people that lived in them."
"You are speaking of yourself?"
"The people that are with me have taken a oath to serve me. If you'd be willing to take that same oath, you'd be welcome to join us."
"First we trade," Talia said. "Then you will explain this oath to me."
She opened her hand and showed me two palm-sized pieces of bone connected by a thin silk cord.
"What's that?"
"This is what you need to kill the man that took what is yours." She grabbed a piece of bone in each hand and snapped the cord taunt. "This cord is very strong, strong enough to choke a man to death if you so wish."
"Where do you hide it? Especially if you're naked?"
Talia looked at my gown. "First you give me the dress. Then I'll show you how to hide it in plain sight."
"I'll need something to wear."
"You can have some of my clothes."
"You'll have to help me out of this." I stood, dropped my cloak, and turned my back to her, so she could see the lacing on the dress.
Talia glanced toward the trees, then lowered her voice to a whisper. "Your friend is watching us."
"Let him watch."
Talia pulled an outfit out of her knapsack that was identical to what she had on. It looked a lot more practical, not to mention comfortable, compared to what I had on, so I gladly gave her the gown. Talia's breeches were a little long for me, but fit well once they were tucked inside my riding boots. The sleeves on her shirt were a little long but worked fine once I rolled them up. We were about the same size in the waist and chest, so the jerkin fit perfectly.
Talia insisted on trying the dress on, alth
ough she left her other outfit on beneath it. The gown was a little short on her, reaching only to mid-calf. The sleeves were also a touch short, but she didn't seem to mind. In fact, she looked ridiculously happy.
She whirled. "Am I as beautiful as you?"
"Maybe more so. Now, where do I hide the choking device?"
Talia moved behind me, removed the silk ribbon that kept my ponytail in place, and replaced it with choking device. "You hide it in plain sight. No man will suspect that it is anything except a frivolous decoration."
"Your mother taught you this?"
"My mother taught me everything I know. She said men are quick to assume that anything a woman wears is for vanity." Talia pointed to the sword I was buckling around my waist. "Some might even be stupid enough to think your sword is a frivolous decoration."
"Let's hope the man I need to kill is that stupid."
"What did he take from you?"
"He took my army," I said. "And if I'm going to win the throne from my sister, I must get it back."
Talia sat. "Tell me about this oath I must take if I am to travel with you."
I told her about the oath, and Bedonna, and the two hundred men that Bedonna had at her command. She expressed no fear of Bedonna or her men and said she would be willing to take an oath to support me as queen.
I smiled. "You just did."
I got the impression that she had been watching us not because she feared us, but because she was lonely. Four months was a long time for a young woman to live alone in these mountains. I was pretty sure that if Bedonna had come along first, Talia would have joined her cause. Not that I thought she would go back on her word. She didn't impress me as a young woman that was afraid to fight. She was just a young woman that was tired of being alone.