Two hours later, Cokrin lay on a not so comfortable bed. With a flash of Brelan’s coin bag, the inn Teal had found had not asked questions and had even provided Cokrin with a healer. Fortunately, the wound was not too deep. It had been covered with medicinal herbs to stop infection, and he had endured the gash being sewed back together. The gold Cokrin now held, was enough to give him time to rest without having to move on.

Saying goodbye to Teal had been hard. Deep down Cokrin understood he wouldn't be able to join him. Teal couldn't wait for him either, not when there were pursuers in the forest who would be searching for someone with the scroll. It wouldn't take much to work out that Brelen had come across their camp, and now that it was deserted, it would be obvious they had moved on. And if Brelen didn't have the scroll with him, it would be evident that those at the camp now did.

Cokrin fretted, wondering whether they had been followed. He lay quietly, thinking of Teal and hoping he had made it away. He was sure he would have. Teal was fast and strong, much faster and stronger than he was.

Exhaustion was starting to set in when Cokrin heard loud banging on the inn door below and muffled voices. Only a minute later, footsteps were on the stairs. Panic hit Cokrin's stomach as the room filled with soldiers, dressed in uniform with the Emperor's emblem on their shoulders. Their faces were taunt and serious. Cokrin stared up at them, too filled with awe to be filled with fear, and too filled with pain to be filled with desire to try and run.

"I guess I didn't pay the innkeeper enough gold then," Cokrin managed, intending jest.

The commander’s rough expression softened, and he waved the soldiers that had accompanied him, back.

"That's your caravan we found out in the woods earlier?" he asked.

Cokrin swallowed and hoped the truth might keep him alive. He nodded.

"A friend of mine, a fellow soldier is dead. His name was Brelen."

"We didn't kill him," Cokrin cut in.

"I know. You said 'we'? You weren't alone?" the commander asked, pulling up a chair to take a seat beside Cokrin’s bed.

"I was with my friend, that's all."

"Where is he now?" the commander asked.

Cokrin’s lips remained shut.

The commander's eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward, arms resting on his thighs. "Why don't we start by telling the truth? Did Brelen give your friend anything?"

Cokrin maintained his silence. The commander's face held an unreadable expression.

"Send men out to search,” the commander ordered, looking over his shoulder. “Whoever this friend is, he can't be that far off. We'll catch up with him."

Cokrin reached for the commander’s forearm and gripped it tightly. "Wait! Don't hurt him. He's... taking something to the Emperor."

"We'll save him the trouble," the commander stated.

"Just... He's, he’s a Lombock."

Everyone in the room paused.

After a brief moment of silence, the commander scoffed, "Impossible!"

"He won't hurt you, if you do not have intent to hurt him," Cokrin told him.

"Does he have the scroll?" the commander asked.

Cokrin closed his mouth again, unsure of how to answer. Would he be endangering Teal or helping him?

"Your silence is answer enough," the commander stated, rising to his feet. "It is fine. We are here for the Emperor."

The small room emptied, and Cokrin sighed. He dropped his head back on his pillow with only the ability to worry.

>>

Teal perched on the branch of a tree, precariously high. He had taken a moment to take stock of his situation, how this evening had suddenly taken a whole different direction, how his whole life had suddenly been thrown into upheaval. It was too much to process, really.

There were more people trekking and searching through the forest. He could spy their movement from far off. It was time to make a move. His hand grazed over where he had stashed the scroll on the inside of his jacket. He had lost his blood-stained shirt earlier, but there had been no time for him to retrieve any of his other clothes from their caravan. It was the beginning of summer so there was no need to worry of the cold.

He had the scroll. He had enough gold, and he had a destination. Brelen's horse was waiting below, and he would make use of the advantage the animal would give him. Without hesitation, he nimbly swung down several branches, and when he had clear range, he allowed himself to drop the incredible height to the ground, his ability to see in the dark allowing him to judge accurately. He landed agilely and ran the short space to the horse. He swung his leg over the animal and turned in the direction of where the sun would rise.

The people following him would have a hard time keeping up with him.

Three weeks to get to Cleaven Estate, a place he had never heard of before and had no idea how to find. Even so, he was sure he could keep those following at bay.

>>

Exhausted, dirty, and emotionally drawn, Teal sat on Brelen's horse three meters from the cusp of the forest. Beyond the break in the trees sat Cleaven Estate with its two-and-three story stone buildings and decorated half-hipped roofs. It was protected by a single wall and the lake that surrounded it. A single path ran up the front where people could enter by means of a small draw bridge. It was not a castle or a fort. This was a place where the rich and upper class took time to unwind and take part in frivolous activities, but it was still designed to make approach difficult without being seen.

Teal could easily scale those walls if they didn't open the gates for him. The horse stirred underneath as if he had been privy to his thoughts, and Teal patted its neck. That option was not going to be possible. He had on several occasions over the past two weeks thought of leaving the horse behind but no, he couldn't leave such a faithful creature behind. Though the horse was still nameless to him, he had to be returned as well.

A rustle up in the branches above Teal’s head caught his attention, and he froze. He snapped his head round in the direction of the movement with unnatural speed, the instinct to attack and defend himself paramount.

His body had been on continuous high alert over the journey. His eyes found a man who was crouched frozen in the tree behind him, the man well aware he had been spied and most likely now in mortal danger. Soothing energy coursed through Teal's veins and rose up to his eyes causing them to glow. This man was different, and the presence within him knew it.

This man was with the Emperor, a scout, Teal believed. This man, watching him in the trees, would not harm him and so in turn, Teal would not hurt him. In fact, over the past two weeks, he had been aware of several scouts that had joined him on his journey. They had followed when they could and when one lost him, another found him a couple of days later.

Another sound some distance off caught both of their attention, and they looked in the direction in which it came. Teal wasn't out of danger yet. There were more men on their way to try to stop him, men who wanted the scroll. He cursed in his head. The only way they could have kept on his trail was by knowing where he was heading. They were persistent, his pursuers, and skilled. He would give them that. Very skilled. Others would have given up at his relentless speed, at the pace he pushed himself at. He had survived on little food and little sleep, cutting down the travel time from three weeks to arriving in just over two.

Without another backward glance at the sole figure in the tree, he urged the horse into a gallop, its hind legs powerfully leaping into the task. The forest broke, and the horse landed onto the smooth flat grass. He turned the horse sharply for the path and galloped alongside the edge of the lake. They slowed only to turn onto the gravel path and once again, with a loud cry, the horse began to gallop toward Cleaven Estate.

Teal sensed movement behind him.

"Open the gates!" he shouted. "Open the gates!"

He kept the horse's reins tight in both hands, gave an extra hard squeeze with his legs and shifted his weight forward, anything to help his horse pick up speed as the arrows started from behind and sped past his head.

It had all come down to this, this mad bolt at the end. All of his hard work at keeping those in pursuit at bay over the past two weeks would mean nothing if he was killed right now. Two weeks on the road, the cream-colored scroll with its blue unbroken hummingbird seal. No one had gotten their hands onto it. No one knew what it held. Teal was too scared to think of what the repercussions would be if he dared to open it. He was too terrified to even think of what it might contain with how many people were bent on stopping its arrival.

Along the outer protective wall of the sprawling residence, Teal spied the watchmen coming to attention and on guard, shifting to point their crossbows in his direction. He didn't hear shouts or calls for alarm. The sound of the horse's hooves on the dirt path held a rhythm with his heart, blocking out any other noise.

It was a good horse. The kind of horse that Teal would never have the coin for, the kind of horse that had been trained to move as one with its master, to anticipate what was expected of it. Muscled and twenty hands high, the speckled gelding had been a steady and reliable companion. Dirt flung up catching in its tail, its nostrils flared and sweat sheened off the side of its neck, but still its powerful legs pounded over the terrain without complaint. He would miss the animal once this was over.

More arrows shot by and then, all of a sudden, one, two, three stabs in the back as something else that wasn't an arrow hit Teal. Instinct told him to turn and fight, and the gentle force that pulsed alongside the blood in his veins, was going to give him leeway again. But the gate, the gate to Cleaven Estate, it was so close, so close, if he could just hold on for a little longer.

"Open the gate!" he cried.

To his utter relief, the gate began to move. Slowly and surely, it was beginning to open.

The horse raced over the drawbridge and into the entrance, a small courtyard built to receive guests. He drew up his horse sharply, its front and back legs jumping in quick successions. Before they came to a complete halt, Teal pulled on the reins again turning the horse quickly so they could look back at where they had just come from. There was no one directly following but in the tree lines, he detected a whisper of movement. The gates began to close, trapping him inside and finally, he was safe.

Teal let out a slow breath of relief and took stock of himself. Apart from his sore shoulder, he appeared to be safe and well. He keened in the realization and then stopped, noting the silence behind him. A prickle of a shiver, tickled over his neck and warily, Teal looked over his unhurt shoulder. He was greeted with a sea of hostile faces that had formed a defensive arc around him, guards with their weapons drawn. Swords, spears and crossbows pointed in his direction; Teal could take his pick of how he wanted to die if he chose.

It looked as if they had been waiting for him. Impossible! How could they know? Yet, as the horse still skittered with its forelegs held high, with each and every step, the men had a preserved and cautious sense of calm, even if Teal could sense their disbelief.

It was always going to be a risk, showing his face. They were always going to be staring at his hair, his eyes.

The silence held. Teal swung his leg around and dismounted, his shoulder complaining with a sharp stab of pain. He winced but otherwise ignored it, and put himself on the same level as the other men. He held up his hands showing no signs of wanting to fight.

"I bring a message for the Emperor," he said loudly so everyone before him would hear. He turned slowly seeking for who was in charge, for someone with a different uniform, or a badge or a pin announcing their status above the soldiers on guard. Only cold, expressionless gazes met him. Teal turned slowly fighting a grimace and a wave of nausea as he did so.

"Where is Brelen?" a voice of authority suddenly cut through the silence, and a young man with messy hair and a crossbow strapped over his shoulder, stepped through the line of men and stood before Teal. "You have his horse."

"It is not good news for him," Teal responded reluctantly. "He walks with his ancestors."

The man swore, furious. "So, it's true!"

Teal cast a nervous glance at the gate he had come through, now secured and closed, heavily guarded. He dove his hand inside the opening of his clothes and retrieved the scroll before anyone could act, pain jolting through his upper body again. The seal was face up. He did not pass it over though, only held it close. "Brelen asked me..."

Before Teal could finish, his vision darkened, and he staggered for the horse who was still standing faithfully at his side, just like it had with Brelen.

The man standing in front of him frowned. "You have three Ashkin darts in your shoulder," he said simply.

"Really!?" Teal asked, quite surprised. He turned his head to try to catch a glimpse of them, but the action only caused his vision to swirl even more. His hand rested on the horse, trying to ground himself. The dizziness continued, only becoming more and more persistent. Darkness creeped into his vision and no matter how he tried to blink it away, still it encroached. Teal swayed, his legs giving out underneath him, and he slid down the sweaty foreleg of the horse to the ground. He looked up at the man who had greeted him, helplessly.

"Go get Jale," the man ordered grimly to no one in particular. He squatted in front of Teal. "Thought they were joking, I did. But they proved me wrong. You are real."