A Rock and a Heart Place (gxg)

Chapter 22

Inez shivered when Joppa finally left. She'd said anything she thought he wanted just to get him out, as she didn't trust him even after the truthful answers before. If she was going to talk to him again, she wanted Liana there with her. She started pacing as her stomach began to growl, and she hoped Medya would hurry back with the food. When Noa entered the tent with a skewer full of sausages and a loaf of bread, Inez looked at her in confusion. "Where are Medya and Katja, I thought they were with you?"

"They came back here a while ago, I thought they were with you?" Noa replied worriedly.

Inez raced from the tent, looking for the two young women. "Medya! Katja! Where are you?" she cried out, hoping to get an answer.

"Kat!" Noa called out, joining her.

A figure moved through the darkness towards them, stumbling a bit over a tuft of grass. Inez and Noa ran over to her, only to find Katja walking in the dark, her face tear stained, and her arms wrapped around her middle.

"Katja, where is Medya? What happened? Are you alright?" Inez asked as she and Noa both pulled the girl into a hug.

"No, I'm not alright. She's gone!" Katja spit at Inez. "She left as soon as we heard about your wedding plans with Prince Joppa and that she was just your little slave girl!" She backed up and shoved the box into Inez's hands. "She wanted you to have this."

"But I was just telling him what he wanted to hear!" Inez said dully as a lead ball settled into her guts. "None of that was real!" Looking down at the box, she opened it up to see a beautiful silver pendant of a sitting cat. It was as if it was looking right at her, with two dark brown diamonds for eyes. She unfolded the note that was in the box, trying to read the words as her tears dropped onto the paper. As she read, she collapsed onto her knees as the sobs wracked her body.

My Queen,

Just a little reminder of me for when I'm not around. I love you always.

Your mountain lion.

"She kept telling me that the slave girl doesn't get the princess, and I kept telling her she would. I guess she was right. She's on her way to kill King Hudd," Katja said as she knelt next to Inez, fighting through her own tears.

Inez looked at her with wide eyes. "She did? She is?" Katja simply nodded. Inez turned to Noa. "Go tell Nahmia and Liana to get everyone mounted up. Leave the tents, I want to ride as soon as possible," she commanded.

Noa bowed and then ran towards the guards' tent, yelling as she did. Moments later she could hear the yells of guards and the whinnying of horses as people got themselves mounted.

Inez hugged Katja tightly. "I'm so sorry, it never dawned on me that she would hear that, or even worse believe it. But we're going to get her back, I promise."

"We better, I don't want to lose her." Katja said softly.

"Good, then get your horse." Inez pulled the girl up and pushed her lightly towards the other guards. Striding quickly, she made her way to the tree that her and Medya's horses were tied to. She was glad Medya was on foot, hopefully they could beat her to the castle before she did anything too drastic.

It took a bit, mostly because many of the troops were relaxing and had to get dressed first, but before long, they were back on the road. Inez had Liana send someone to let Joppa know that they were leaving and that he could either catch up or not. She hadn't needed him before and she doubted that she needed him now.

"Alright ladies, if we keep up this pace, we'll be at the castle just after first light. We're going to make sure this is the last sunrise Hudd ever sees," Inez growled.