“Tired of me?” asked Rupert. “Little help you were.” Glaring at the man before him, Rupert took a step toward him. “I thought you and the rest were going to take care of them when they got here.”
Smack!
Daniel’s hand slapped him hard across the face. “You don’t ever question me again!” he stated. “Now that the shepherd’s back, you are no longer of use to me.”
Blood welled from the corner of Rupert’s mouth as he looked at Daniel in a new light. No longer as one who could be counted upon, but rather one of whom he should be wary.
“Sir,” his man Tox said from back in the hallway.
“Are they being followed?” Daniel asked.
“Yes,” replied Tox. “Two men are trailing them. Once they know where they’re headed, one will return to let us know.”
“Excellent,” he said. Yes indeed, he thought to himself, things are coming along nicely.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Before they saw starlight reflecting from the surface of the river, a figure emerged from the darkness. It was Paul, the leader of Raestin’s guards. “Did everything go well?” he asked.
Riyan nodded. “Couldn’t have gone better,” he replied.
Paul noticed Freya peering at him over Riyan’s shoulder. He gave her a grin before returning his attention back to Riyan. “They’re waiting by the river,” he said, pointing in the general direction.
“Thank you,” replied Riyan. As Paul melted back into the darkness, Riyan and the others continued toward the river.
Their families, along with Raestin were waiting at the ford. They had worried that their families may have been waylaid or been visited by some other form of misfortune while en route to the river.
“Mother!” Riyan called as he and the others approached.
“Riyan?” she asked. “Thank goodness.” She, Chad’s parents, Eryl, and Raestin came forward to greet them. Moving next to Riyan’s horse, Kaitlyn gazed up to Freya and smiled. “I’m so very glad he found you.”
“If it wasn’t for Riyan…” she replied, leaving the thought unsaid.
Bart emerged from out of the trees behind them. “We can’t stay here long,” he said.
“What does he mean?” Kaitlyn asked her son.
Riyan gave them a quick rundown of what transpired back at the Magistrate’s manor. When she heard of the deaths of Rupert’s cronies, she gasped. With fear filled eyes, she looked to her son. “Oh Riyan,” she said. She knew their deaths would bring even more troubles their way.
“It couldn’t be helped mother,” he replied. Turning to Raestin, he asked, “Can you and your guards take my mother and the Kelons somewhere safe?”
“But,” his mother interjected before Raestin had a chance to reply, “you’re coming with us, aren’t you?” When he didn’t immediately answer, she said, “You have Freya now. There is no reason for continuing with this…quest.”
Riyan nodded. “Yes, I do mother. We have come too far not to see it through the rest of the way.” She reached up her hand and he took it. “The Horde has been hidden for centuries, and I mean to see it opened.”
Raestin came up behind Kaitlyn and laid his hand on her shoulder. “This is something he has to do,” he said. Then to Riyan, “Take my guards.”
“No,” Riyan replied with a shake of his head. “You keep them. Keep my mother safe.” Indicating the men who had traveled with him through so many adventures, he said, “We can handle ourselves.”
Their gazes met for a moment before Raestin nodded. “As you wish.” Stepping closer to Riyan’s horse, Raestin held his hand up to Freya. “Where he’s going is much too dangerous for you my dear.”
Riyan felt her grip around his chest tighten. “You must,” he told her. “I’ll come for you.”
“I don’t want to lose you again,” Freya insisted.
Turning in the saddle, he looked at her and gave her a reassuring grin. “You won’t,” he replied. “This is but a moment’s parting. I’ll meet you at…” Realizing he didn’t know where Raestin was taking them, he looked questioningly to the trader.
“Terix,” he supplied.
“…Terix,” Riyan finished. “And with the fortune contained within the Horde, we won’t have to worry about anything ever again.”
”Riyan,” Chyfe said. “We must leave.”
Riyan nodded. Taking hold of where her hands held onto him, he loosened her grip and placed one of her hands into Raestin’s. “Take care of her and my mother,” he said.
As he helped Freya to the ground, Raestin replied, “As if they were my own family.”
“Thank you,” Riyan said with great feeling.
His mother came forward. Leaning down to accept her kiss goodbye, he could see tears in her eyes once again. “I’ll see you in Terix mother,” he said. “I love you.”
“I love you too Riyan,” she said.
Then from not so far away where Chad was saying his own goodbyes, Eryl’s voice penetrated the night. “I want to go too!”
“Now Eryl,” his father said. “You are too young.”
“You’re always saying I’m too young,” he declared. Standing with a most determined look for one so young, he stared at his father. “The Horde is going to be opened and I’m not going to miss it!”
“Keep your voice down,” Bart said with growing impatience.
Casting him an annoyed look, Eryl returned his gaze to his father and said with much lessened volume, “You’re going to have to tie me up to keep me from going.”
Father and son stood their ground, neither giving in. Then his father said, “As you wish.”
“Yes!” he exclaimed. His jubilation was short lived however as his father took hold of him and threw him face first to the ground. Then with a knee in his son’s back and twisting his arm behind him, Ferrun looked around and asked, “Anyone have a rope?” Struggle as he may, Eryl could not break his father’s grip.
“Let me go!” he cried again, this time with a great deal of volume. “You can’t…mumph.” His cries were silenced as Bart shoved a cloth into his mouth. Turning to Eryl’s father, he said, “He’s not going to like you too much for doing this.”
“A father does things for his children not to make them happy,” he explained as he took a piece of rope handed to him by Chad. “But for their own good, whether they realize it or not.” Using the rope, he bound his son’s hands and with another, his feet. “I’d rather him live to hate me, than die.”
Once Eryl’s hands and feet were secured, his father picked him up and laid him before the saddle of a nearby horse. Then he mounted and laid a hand on his son’s back while he waited for the others to make ready.
Paul and the rest of the guards had returned by this time and were mounting. “Take the ford and ride fast once on the other side,” Bart told Chad’s father.
“We will,” he replied. “You boys be careful now.” He turned and cast a meaningful glance to his older son.
“Yes father,” Chad assured him. “We’ll get a new mill when I return.”
“Just return,” his father told him.
Chad nodded.
Glancing to those who were going with him, Chad’s father said, “Let’s go.” Lying before him across the horse, Eryl struggled in vain to escape his bonds. Sighing, Ferrun kept a secure grip on his youngest son as he nudged his horse into motion and led the others to the ford.
“Take care mother,” Riyan said to her.
“You too,” she replied. “Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”
“We won’t,” he assured her. Then as Chad’s father led the others away, Riyan glanced to Bart. “Now, let’s find the Horde.”
“Yeah,” agreed Seth as he came up beside them. “Before those Kevik gooed come after us.”
“How far is it?” asked Soth.
“A day,” he replied. “Maybe more since we’ll need to take a roundabout path to get there.”
“Are you sure we can find it?” asked Chad.
Riyan nodded. “Oh yes,” he replied. In his mind, he could recall every tree, every hill, and every landmark of the area wherein the Horde was hidden. Moving out, he took the lead with Bart next to him. Soon, the ford of the river disappeared in the trees behind them as they began the last leg of their quest. With his mother and Freya in good hands and on their way to safety, he was once again able to entertain visions of the treasures untold that awaited.