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Chapter 13...

Kalaw struggled back to his feet, his scales stinking and sticky from all the vomit and even more unsavoury discharges his twitching and unconscious body had spilled upon him over the previous forty eight marks. He stumbled, muzzy brained towards the drinking pool, inhaling water like a lost soul in the desert as his body fought the urge to throw it back up again. His eyes caught the glimmer of his captive's eyes watching him, "Don't think to take advantage of this, bitch!" he growled between swallows.

A few teeth showed as her back lips curled.

"If I had died, you would have starved to death before any had come to find you!"

A couple more teeth showed, her silence still assured by the gag that filled her mouth.

"Ack...I give up with you. Maybe I should send you the way of your sister...I need more power for my spells..." Kalaw muttered, watching as even more teeth showed from the upturned lips, "Then again...I should maybe try to tie and tap your suffering soul to fill my power reserves..." The teeth vanishing as her desperate eyes widened. Kalaw chuckled... "Yes I think that is what I will do...so much potential...though the scale worms seem to be doing their jobs quite well!" He turned, stumbling towards the bathing river that ran clear at the deepest point of his cave.

~~~~

"So we are to head South-East?" Aspenall questioned Rena as they watched over everyone packing up their tents and supplies neatly on the fourth morning at Sekal/Rena's.

"Yes...when I masked the blood tie two mornings ago, I got a fix on him. He can no longer scry us easily, as I have masked that as well." Rena confirmed as she tied down her own saddlebags in preparation.

"Can you scry him?" The otter Captain asked.

"Not without him tracking us as well...I cannot break the blood tie with Dante, and as I have never actually encountered Kalaw, nor do I have any item of his, so I cannot personally get a fix without using Dante. That would undo the mask and leave us at square one."

"So Kalaw can move before we reach him?"

"Theoretically, yes...But that is a risk we will have to take Aspenall. If we find his stronghold, he will have left something behind...I can even get a fix from his latrine if I have too. Most idiots forget that a Mage can trace from anything that is personal, including piss and shit! I did that a few times when my targets were not where they were meant to be...including tracing them into personal bunkers." Rena replied, vaulting into Charles' saddle.

"As a dragon myself, I think it unlikely that my sibling has a second lair...Keeping one free of competition is difficult enough," Dante added, coming up behind them.

Rena grinned, "Would be easier if you hired guards..."

Dante lowered his head and licked her nose, "It takes a certain something to get a dragon to part with even a copper from his hoarde."

"And I am that certain something in your case? I feel honoured..." Rena replied, gripping her chest with one hand dramatically and half bowing in her saddle.

Dante chuckled, "Despite you being one fiery package of sarcastic and deadly delights, you have your softer sides as well when you choose to show them..." he turned to Aspenall, ignoring the stare from her that was easily as deadly as her daggers. "In regards to dragon hoardes though Captain, unless my sibling has the same access to replenishment mines like I did when I was bored, he could be running short on resources. If he does move, he will be running light at a guess."

"Why would he be running short?" Aspenall asked, "As you said, dragons don't part with their hoardes."

"If he has been hunting me for who knows how long, employing assassins and whoever. That costs money. The reason we dragons amass hoardes is because we like sparklies and decorations, not to amass wealth. I have no idea how long an average hoarde is likely to last under those circumstances."

"If the quality of his stones or his metals is anything like yours...a long time," Rena muttered.

"That is the question though...we don't know. You yourself know that what is in those packs of mine you are guarding so carefully is supposedly worth a lot...but," Dante shrugged.

"...There are a lot of shit stones out there for every good one." Rena finished for him.

"We will have to travel blind then," Aspenall stated, "I can always use my contacts when we get closer to where you think he is."

"Depends on how good your contacts are that far afield...we are not exactly around the corner from the fix I got. Let's aim to up our travelling to twenty leagues a day from now on while the going is strong...I think that is manageable as we are mounted."

"We don't want to lame the horses..." Aspenall mused.

"We can replace horses...It is more important that we resolve this quest and conflict before we run into winter. That could stall us as you well know," Rena insisted.

The otter sighed, "It may well lame my arse as well...I am not as young as I used to be..."

Rena chuckled, "Use one of the new silk gowns I bought as padding if that is the case!" she commented before wheeling Charles and shouting the orders to move out, without allowing Aspenall the prerogative.

Aspenall looked up at Dante out of the corner of his eye, getting a sympathetic wink. "I know, I will talk to her later about it. I am more likely to survive."

Aspenall grinned, "It would appear that you are saying that more and more often...I would not trade places with you, despite her attractiveness..."

Dante returned the smile, "I wouldn't let you anyhow..." he replied before stepping away and taking off, heading down the line of troops who had all scrambled to follow Rena's unorthodox lead.

****

Ten days later...

"What do you mean; they don't want to let us in?" Rena asked, as Aspenall wheeled Fel around next to Charles.

"The gate guards are being polite about it, and as you can see, they are not closing the gate on us...but they have a policy that they will not let parties of our size into the city without being sure of our intentions. Dante's presence is only complicating things as well," Aspenall replied as they waited next to the roadside near the North entrance of Houli. It was the last major settlement on the road that headed South from here, through desert and into a scrubby hill area.

"You explained that we had been travelling hard and require a few spare horses, some pack ponies and a resupply before we enter the desert?" Rena asked crossly.

It had been an unwelcome development, the knowledge that the country they were about to enter was going to be so rough...but the Inn in the town a day or so back had made sure that they realised that forage was going to be non-existent soon, so they had diverted off course a little to Houli.

"Of course Princess...but they are adamant."

"Will a good behaviour bond not suffice?" Dante asked.

"Not this close to the desert. They have had issues with parties of desert brigands before...If I may suggest something though?" Aspenall asked.

"Go ahead...we need access to the place one way or another...and I would rather not make more enemies that may follow our trails..." Rena threatened ominously.

"Use some of your luggage that we have been carting around with us...Do what you don't feel comfortable with, and dress up like the most spoiled popinjay like Princess that you can. Their main objection is that they believe I am lying about having you amongst the party, as no warrior Princesses have been heard of...and no royal party would be travelling with a uniformed force and carriages. Their wall guards can clearly see with their farsee'ers that we are essentially a mercenary troop. Pull rank on their commander, and he will have to send for the Lord who runs the city." Aspenall suggested.

"And if we have another like Polomavit?" Rena queried.

"Houli is too prosperous and well-defended...the men I spoke to were very loyal to their master and city. So I doubt it."

Rena huffed, "Very well, I will make myself a peacock...but one with taste and not like one they have seen before. I warn you though, I may let my language and manners slip if I get irritated..."

Aspenall grinned, "Get us through the gates without bloodshed, and I am sure that Dante and the rest of us can ensure no interference when we find a place in an Inn for the next couple of nights."

Rena offered a slight smile, dismounting and heading towards the pack horses, reading the packs contents, which had been magically inscribed on their flaps and spell sealed as she had purchased them.

~~~~

"What?" Rena asked, grinning as every eye turned towards her as Dante revealed her by folding the wing he had shielded her from view with as she changed.

"Well this is certainly going to be interesting..."Aspenall muttered to Flaughten.

The tiger grinned, "And to think that I was going to be in the service of that stuck up prick of a fox for the rest of my working career...It sure beats it!"

Rena tapped her foot, "Ahem...I can hear you know. Is there an issue with my attire?"

Aspenall rolled his eyes, "Erm...not exactly. I have a feeling though that possibly an attack at dawn will generate less attention than it!"

Dante grinned, "I warned you..." he said quietly to Rena.

"I refuse to be conventional...They take me at face value, or they take you for their lack of manners," Rena replied with a chuckle. "Let's get this over with and see what wasps and ants we can disturb from their afternoon slumbers."

Aspenall sighed, "Fall in men...be ready just in case," he ordered, as Rena vaulted onto Charles and headed up the road on pointe. "What's happening on the walls?" he asked Dante who was squinting slightly, his eyes far better than any manufactured device.

"I think we may be paying for a few broken farsee'ers..." he replied with a grin as he watched one of the wall guards drop a scope in shock.

Aspenall just shook his head, "I really hope then that the Lord of this city is as good as I got the impression he is from the gate commander."

"I will walk down with you at the rear...wouldn't more than a few wing sweeps for me to get airborne if things go awry with Rena's show," Dante replied, "You had better join her on pointe, or you will not be taken seriously."

"With that outfit on...Do I really want to be?" Aspenall questioned, a grin on his face.

"Just don't ask how much money she had to pay the tanners, seamstresses, leatherworkers, cobblers, jewellers, glovers, knifesmiths and armourers to make it in time for her to leave in Gilensia. It only arrived the morning we boarded the ship. She would have delayed departure otherwise."

"I would take a guess at more than my whole bloody wage for this quest..." The otter replied. "Is it actually practical, or all show?"

"From helping her don it...I will say that you need to remember that armourers and knifesmiths had a hand in creating it. How she imagined it up and designed it so quickly, I have no idea." Dante replied.

"Well it is certainly unique...I just hope we don't have to take direct action because of it."

"From all the shouting and gesturing going on, and the way the road traffic is parting around her...I think she may pull this off!"

Aspenall squinted down the road, watching as everyone seemed to melt out of the path of Charles, most with dropped jaws, others with slight bows... "You may be right..." He spurred Fellericksy on, getting an angry whinny and snap out of her as she cantered down the line to where the spectacle continued to unfold as they approached the walls.

**

"This would have been a lot quieter if you had just taken me for my word." Aspenall stated, staring up at the city's troop leader.

The thylacine commander was trying to tear his eyes away from Rena where she had stopped, posing in the sunlight before the gate, "Erm...What?" he asked.

"I said...that had you not doubted me, this could have been a lot quieter." Aspenall gestured at the still gathering crowd of onlookers...including a sizable portion of the city's available barracks. All were gaping in astonishment, despite the fact that Rena had yet to say a word.

What she was wearing could best be described as...well something that any respectable bride would dream of...and yet not. Made of a pure white leather that appeared on the surface to have come from the most new-born of calves...it billowed into sleeves, trouser legs and skirt...and yet fitted her form tightly somehow. Matching boots complemented it perfectly, as did the white bowl style helmet with a filigree gold and diamond inlaid tiara design. Hanging from the back of it was a steel strip incorporated white leather neck guard. She was even wearing gloves that vanished into her sleeves seamlessly. When she had stepped out from under Dante's wing in the road camp, it had hung just like a normal outfit that you would expect to see in the highest of courts...but made of gossamer and silk. It was only when she mounted, that the clever pleating in the dress' make up, parted enough for her to sit astride and not side saddle. There were Dante knew, around thirty easily accessible, but totally hidden surprises in various sheaths, bandoliers and quick release harnesses built in, as well as the very visible white scabbarded rapier that sat on her hip. Oathkeeper resided in a saddle scabbard, the stark black of it's case a total contrast.

"Ahh...well...erm...You must understand..." he paused as Dante moved up through the party in order to settle at Rena and Charles' side, a slight smile on his muzzle. Rena reached a hand out silently and patted him on the nose like and oversized hunting dog, he in turn snaking his tongue out to lick it, letting out the faintest wisp of smoke... "Oh lord..." the commander whispered.

"Do you still question my travelling merits, and that of my party?" Rena asked, as regally as possible.

Aspenall was desperately trying to keep his face straight as no one seemed capable of answering.

The commander straightened up a little, "I mean...you have to understand...Erm Princess...We at Houli do not exactly get visited by...erm...ones of your rank. And...Umm...I have never in my time heard of one such as you..." he replied, stuttering slightly.

"So are you questioning if I am a Princess, or that if I am a Mage and a warrior?" Rena sneered angrily, "One is difficult to prove, the other of course isn't. My goodwill bond should be enough for us to rest here for a day and replenish, if my word is not." Her sneer turned into a half smile, "Is your helmet made of triple boiled and tanned leather?"

"Why...erm Ye..." his tongue and words froze in his mouth as a single throwing blade embedded itself just above his nose-guard...a gentle trickle of blood running down into his eye from under his brow line. No-one except maybe Dante saw where it came from.

"I think that proves part of the second half of my credentials...I would remove the blade and return it to me before you try and remove your helmet...Let the nick I have given you remind you that if I had not judged my throw like a professional with the skills I possess, you would not be able to do anything ever again, as it would have easily gone through to the hilt!" Rena stated. "Now do we enter freely, or are we going to be forced to take what we need, rather than pay for it?"

"Enough!" A gruff voice grumbled as a huge shape parted the crowd and soldiers alike, "Bruce, stand down and report to the medic...after you have given me that knife. We will talk later!"

"Yes 'Sir!" The thylacine replied with a salute, gingerly pulling the blade from his helmet and handing it to the lightly armoured, but well attired rhino who had issued the order.

The Lord carefully examined the slightly bloodied blade in his hand, before wiping it clean on one of the soldier's trousers next to him, "Made by Folwort and Bwiller's in Gilensia unless I miss my guess. You young Princess, are well travelled," he said, addressing Rena before handing the blade back to her. "May I welcome you to Houli?"

Rena nodded her head, accepting the blade, immediately making it vanish again, "It depends on who is welcoming me, and if that welcome extends to all of us?"

"Your party can be accommodated; we are in a quiet season of trade at the moment, so my inns are half full. My name is Lord Abioye, the ruler of this city. I fear that I cannot accommodate you myself in my own abode. I believe in the philosophy that if you show yourself to be above the people you serve, you are not one of the people yourself...So I do not have the largest of the properties you will find here," the rhino replied deeply.

Rena smiled, "That Lord will not be an issue...I am hardly a conventional Princess as you can see. I wish nothing more than to be allowed to re-provision before heading South on my continued quest."

Abioye smiled, "Good...Then welcome. The Mouwler Inn opposite my home and offices on the city square has their main suite free Princess Cresentstar and Dante..."

Rena's smile dropped, "I have not revealed our names...how did you know?"

The rhino chuckled, holding his palm out flat and muttering something, sparking a flame that floated there silently until he snuffed it, "I am just enough of a Mage for parlour tricks...but that means I am also enough of one to be able to pick up the whispernet. I like to keep abreast of things in the arcane world, and Mages are notorious gossips when not trying to keep secrets. This whispernet that one of them came up with a few years back is great at spreading news, and all the kingdoms and cities worth having a Mage use it. You may thank the unicorn Mage, Ammy for my knowledge of your names...There are hardly going to be two warrior Princess' travelling with a black dragon who stays in her rooms, around in these lands..."

"I'll kill her," Rena muttered, "We are on a fucking quest and if this 'whispernet' is spreading our movements around, the one we hunt will know our whereabouts."

Abioye laughed, "Don't...she said to provide aid wherever possible to you, and that you are to be trusted. Lord Miles also added his affa into Ammy's signature. No goodwill bond will be required of you. As for this Kalaw dragon that you hunt...I had no idea you were going to grace this city, as your appearance is the first time anyone has heard of your party since you left Gilensia. I need not update it if you don't want me too, and I am the only Mage within these walls. Now come...Bathe, eat and drink tonight. My city is sure to provide you with what you want on the morrow, and I will see you off personally with my advice on the dawn that follows that."

Rena smiled again slightly, "So be it...and we would be very happy if you would not update this 'whispernet'. Thank you Lord."

The rhino just tilted his head to one side, "You speak as if you do not know of it, and yet you are a far more adept Mage than I? Just promise me that all my men will also survive for that time period..."

Rena laughed, "My education was cut short over five years ago...From what you just said, this source of information is a new one that has developed since then. I have not exactly had much time on my quest to socialise with my peers. As for trouble, if your men behave themselves, you will not notice that we are all here. If anyone breaks discipline in my ranks, your jailors can have all the fun they want with them."

Abioye nodded, "Good...I will give you instruction in and access to the net before you leave as well. It is useful tool. Now I must return to my offices. Account books wait for no-one. I will see you at the South gate in thirty eight marks. Rest well." With that he turned and strode back through the crowd without another word as it began to disperse.

Rena turned to face her party, "You heard our words...You are all off duty for thirty eight marks...find an inn for yourselves and your horses, and get the keepers to send the bills to The Mouwler to be settled. Whores are not on me though, so flex your own purses this time!"

"Yes Ma'am!" they all replied.

"Aspenall...you stay with me as I need you to run the horse market in the morning while I run the suppliers with Dante...he tends to spook livestock!"

"Yes Princess," the otter replied with a grin, following Rena and Dante up the slight hill to where they assumed the city square could be found.

~~~~

"You will have to cover around 80 leagues of flat desert before you hit the scrub hills. I have taken the liberty over the last forty years while managing and building Houli of sentencing any who broke the law to well digging, so you will not be short of water...The wells are neutral territory, so even if there are bandit groups camped there, do not engage with them unless they attack first. If you are lucky, you will encounter the Ravenheart clan, though that bunch of fennecs hasn't stopped in for a while. They are excellent hosts though. Once you reach the hills though, you are out of my jurisdiction. There are bandits and cut-throats that prey on the hill road, as it is now the most travelled to the Southern Kingdoms. When the hills start greening up again, you have passed into the kingdom of Clouline...though I know you have crossed several borders before in your quest, this one is unmarked. Our King and that of Clouline decided that the desert and the hills were enough...plus the second Prince being married to one of his daughters does help keep the relationship cordial!" Abioye said, with a smile on his tired face.

"Where do you come from, if I may ask?" Rena queried.

The rhino huffed under his breath, "Around five thousand leagues or more, further South... Like young Lord Giles, I was taken in my prime as a slave. I got lucky and learnt from my Master, before I killed him one day and fled North. I settled here in this city, which was no more than a scrub town when I got here, overpowered the bandit leader and built what you see here today. It will continue to get better until my heart fails me one day...and then it is the King's, or even the Princes' issue as to what to do with it. I obviously have no offspring to inherit."

Rena nodded, "Well you have done a fine job, Lord Abioye. The King made a good choice in granting you your legal charter. I hope that one day I may find men and women as strong and honest as you and Giles to run my towns and cities when I accede to the throne."

The rhino grinned slyly, "Who said Lord Miles and I are honest? You have to get funds from somewhere of course...only we do it the semi-legal ways, not the totally illegal ones!"

Rena chuckled, "Fair enough...We shall stop in and pay a visit on our return."

"You will be more than welcome. I just hope that you do all return in one piece. Feel free to remove any hostiles during your passage...saves me running a muster every time a wagon train doesn't make it through in one piece."

Dante nodded, "It shall be our pleasure..." he said, flexing his wings.

"Till then, then," Abioye lifted an imaginary glass, and then turned, heading back through the gates.

****

"Are you in the position we agreed upon?" Kalaw questioned.

The capybara in the image nodded, "We have been camped for eight days. Was a bit of trouble with the bandit groups who normally prey on this road, but they are feeding the crows now, while their females are entertaining us while we wait."

"Good...I lost track of them fourteen days ago, and have been trying to find them since. The bitch masked my blood bond with my sibling while they were at her late Master's house. If she got a compass bearing on me, which is likely, the only way they will logically travel is by the Houli road as I guessed," Kalaw grumbled.

"So you do not know for sure where they are?" The mercenary asked.

"No...but I am staking my health on them heading through those hills on that road," Kalaw responded.

"And if your guess is wrong?"

"Then you have an easy time of it. Got any scouts out ahead of you?"

The capybara snorted, "You deal with your business, I will deal with mine. I have scout watchers on the hill's edge, and one on a fast horse camped at the last well in the desert that that stupid rhino had dug. His instructions are to mount up and ride the minute a dust cloud appears on the horizon."

"So where are you exactly?" Kalaw asked, angry at the snub again. Win or lose, the capybara would not survive to collect the second half of his payment...the bastard was just too much of an irritant.

"Camped on each side of a gulch that the road runs through...we have dug in and are camouflaged from above...around a day's ride from the desert's edge. We hope to catch them tired as there are no real campsites until they get past us."

Kalaw snorted, "We will see if you are camouflaged, if and when they arrive. Going on normal travel times, I would guess you will see action in the next couple of days."

"We will be ready, we already are. You go back to fretting in your cave, or come and join us if you think we are not good enough for the job, as you keep implying."

Kalaw revealed his teeth, "If I was going to deal with them myself, then you would not be being paid. When you start the ambush, make sure you pet Mage sends me a message. I want to watch in...Then we will see how good you really are."

"I will need his defensive magics..."

Kalaw snorted, "He hasn't the power in him to more than deflect an arrow from you. Make sure your armour is tight, and let him set up a scry point on a rock somewhere. He will likely be the last to die that way if you fail..."

"If you have so little confidence in us, then why are we here? I am beginning to consider just packing up and heading home, the way you are fucking with me." The capybara replied, spitting on the floor in anger.

"Do that, and there will be no home waiting for you, only me and ruins. As for why you are there, you were the only Mercs unattached within marching distance, as you well know and pointed out to me when I approached you. I want an easy fight with a weakened force if they get through you...I would prefer no fight at all. Despite your attitude, you and your band are not untried."

"Damned right we are not untried...You stay hiding in that cave of yours. We will take care of matters here. If you insist on watching it, I will do as you ask and have him sit on a rock like a coward then."

"Good...I look forward to feeling his Mage poke..." Kalaw responded, shutting the scrying pool down.

~~~~

Rena relaxed against Dante's side, a tankard of desert mistletoe wine in her paw and a grin on her muzzle as the camp around the last well buzzed contentedly with good humour, conversation and music. The clan leader of the fennecs, Lloyd reclined against Dante's rear leg next to her.

"If someone had ever told me that I would be using a dragon as a backrest alongside a Princess one day, I would have thought them sun addled!" Lloyd remarked, his huge ears swivelling in Rena's direction to catch the reply.

Rena chuckled. "You never know what is going to ride out of the desert I suppose," she replied, relaxed in his company, knowing that the ears of his mate were also picking up the conversation from twenty feet away.

"Or flying out," he remarked, eyes focussing on Dante, who grinned back.

"Our thanks for your hospitality," Dante said.

Lloyd raised his tankard, "Thanks for sharing your personal food supply," he replied, "Twas the least we could do when you slaughtered three of the scrub cows and led us to them. We will be able to jerk the meat and supplement ourselves for a month. Tis a shame the ferret who was already here didn't stay around when he saw your parties dust cloud. He had been here for five days, but pleaded fear of attack when you lot appeared, and took off down the road on his horse."

Rena raised her helmet a little, "You say five days? Do travellers normally camp that long in your company?"

"If they are in our company...sometimes. He declined invites though and pitched a tent in the shade of the mesquites. Didn't see much of him to be honest before he buggered off. Definitely a bit odd."

Aspenall raised a brow from where he was leaning against his saddlebags by the fire, "You thinking what I am thinking Princess?"

"That we may have had a watcher out for us?" Rena mused, nodding.

"I will be extra diligent in the air tomorrow as we enter the hills," Dante stated with a yawn.

"So you have people who are after you?" Lloyd asked..

"Dante's brother is trying to kill him...Kalaw also killed my Master. I will not go into this further, but that is the quest we are upon...to seek and kill him first."

"Ahh...I dislike revenge missions, they often cloud the hearts and minds of those who pursue them..." Lloyd took another swig from his tankard wisely. "There are no campsites with water on the road for twenty two leagues South of here. There are many places where ambushes have happened before then, and many places after it. We fennecs do not tolerate bandits on the desert road itself though, unless they have already reached the neutral well territories...so I do not know of any current numbers."

"Would bandits scout for possible targets?" Dante asked, placing a single talon across Rena's thigh as she tensed at the fennec's words.

"Not that we know of, and the chap who here seemed to well-dressed and mounted for a scruff-butt bandit. He may have genuinely been a sole traveller, but as you suspect, it could be he was a scout. Would this Kalaw employ people to kill you...it is not exactly conventional for a dragon to do that from what I hear?"

Dante chuckled, "Says the fennec who is using one for a backrest at the moment..."

Lloyd laughed, "Fair play..."

"We could use your clan's knowledge of the hill road, and strength if you are interested..." Rena hinted, relaxing again if a little uncomfortable as the words had rung a little too close to the truth.

Lloyd's head turned to face her, "And why would I risk my clan's health for a stranger? We are not mercenaries for hire you know?"

Rena nodded and reached into a saddlebag she had prepared earlier when Dante had reported in that the last well was tenanted by the foxes, "Oh I don't know," she replied nonchalantly, withdrawing her paw, but keeping it hidden, "Would a desert rose do?"

Lloyd laughed quietly, "I can pick those for my mate when they are in season myself...I know where to look..."

Rena giggled girlishly in response, getting a raised brow from the fox, "Now why would I want to offer you one of those? I am after all already mated...This however is the type of rose I was thinking to offer..." she tossed a cloth wrapped bundle over to the fennec who caught it reflexively.

Lloyd carefully unwrapped the fist sized package, his eyes widening as the firelight was picked up the facets and reflected from the stone he now held exposed in his paws. "You tease me Princess..." he breathed, dropping the cloth and holding the rose diamond up higher to allow more of the fractal faces to glow, almost ruby red when the flicking flames dipped and swayed in the light night breeze.

"I do not..." Rena replied seriously, "Call it payment for your hospitality, your information, and your arms at our side until we reach the farmlands again...If you choose to accept my offer of course."

"B...But..."

Rena stretched languidly, yawning as she did it, "Sleep on it...speak with your clan...You may let me know at false dawn your decision. I for one need my rest as we have a long day ahead if the next camp is that far."

The fennec closed his mouth, weighing up the worth he now held in his paw as Dante shifted from under him, making him sit up as Rena drained her tankard of the last of the wine... "I must..." he muttered, standing and heading towards his mate and the rest of the clan.

"Was that wise?" Aspenall asked. "And maybe a little excessive?"

Rena shrugged, unrolling her sleeping pads next to Dante's flank, "Maybe...maybe not. I got the impression from Abioye that the Ravenhearts maybe the last friendly faces we see for a while...and as an ambush is likely ahead, the twenty or twenty five extra paw sets may help us cut our own losses if Dante doesn't rout them out. The air here is hot, so there will be no betraying breath for him to spot."

"They could just up and vanish on us with the diamond...they are night hunters you know..."

"That is a risk that I am willing to take...They could never show their faces again in Houli if they did that...and besides...I like Lloyd. I do not like many people...but somehow he makes me feel comfortable, as do you Captain."

The otter shook his head, "I wish you would consult me at times beforehand...They are not disciplined troops."

Rena nodded, "Who said they would be under your command anyhow? If they come with us, they come as independent scouts and trackers." She stated, knowing full well that the conversation was being monitored by the fennecs. "They know the hills and road, we do not. What Dante cannot see from the sky, they may spot from the ground. They may choose not to come, and if that is the case, we have lost nothing and we will leave as the sky blushes like a virgin..."

"On your head be it then Princess," Aspenall declared, turning for his own bedrolls as Dante unfurled his wing to give Rena her privacy.

"On our heads be it Aspenall," she replied as her voice was muffled, "Though I think we will all retain them if my hunch is right over this..."