The Prince, the Thief & the Artifact

Chapter 11: Scout

The intruders' mounts were found tethered in the woods outside town. Their belongings held no hint as to their identities. But some items of clothing in their saddlebags were distinctive to the north. Which corroborated Ida's suggestion. They were either from the Snowridge kingdom or they had ties there.

After a visit to the local Bluesnow post, Leon and his company left at dawn the next day. The sky was clear, and the weather held a touch of warmth as winter ceded to spring.

"How much time would it take to reach the capital?" Summer asked, she had switched horses and was riding behind Felix this morning. Al was leading, Ida took the rear. Leon and Felix's horses trotted side by side.

"It depends," Ida replied. "You could make it in a few days if you ride hard. But it's usually a couple of weeks. The journey ahead is mostly on flat lands, and the weather is holding quite well. If there's no issue, we'll be in the capital in a week or less."

"Will we go through other towns like Midcreek?"

"Only if we make a detour. Which I don't assume we will," Ida said.

Al chuckled. "And you just jinxed it. We'll probably end up reaching the capital in a month."

Ida muttered a curse under her breath. Summer laughed. "Rotten Summer is with you, so Al is probably right."

"Do you actually believe it?" Al glanced back at her.

She sighed. "Truthfully? I try not to. But it's difficult to keep faith in myself with what's happening."

"What's happening?" Leon asked. She looked at him, her eyes dancing in the sunlight.

"So far we've been attacked by bandits, and maybe assassins. That doesn't exactly inspire good luck."

Leon looked ahead. "You give yourself too much credit. It would've happened with or without you."

"Have you been attacked or robbed on your journey to my lovely town?"

"No."

"Ha! See. My presence must have a magnanimous effect on this trip."

Her voice was light, but Leon couldn't help but wonder if she really wasn't affected by it. It was a silly thought. Of course she was. Her entire life was ruined based on her supposed bad luck reputation. She'd been shunned, avoided and left out to starve even as a child. Of course there would be a small part of her that believed she was bad luck.

Leon's eyes scanned the horizon. The trees were growing thicker in this stretch of land. He didn't make the same mistake twice. This time he was on guard and his senses were sharp.

His instinct, born out of being in countless battles and looking into deaths' eyes more times than he should, made him stop his mount.

"Hold," he said out loud.

Al, Ida and Felix stopped their horses in silence. Slowly, he surveyed the trees around them. Birds twittered, small critters scurried, a soft breeze whistled through the leaves. It all sounded and looked normal.

Leon urged his ride a few paces forward. He rode past Al and kept going. Everything looked in order, but he wouldn't discount his gut feeling again.

He trotted back to his company.

"What is it?" Al asked, his eyes continuously scanning the surroundings.

"I don't know. It could be nothing," Leon said.

He led his horse out of the dirt path and into the trees until they were well hidden from any traveler's sight. The others followed. Leon jumped down his horse and retrieved a map from his saddlebag. He stretched the map on the ground and knelt by it. His four companions surrounded him.