get our own four-poster bed, with thick blankets and smooth fluffy mattresses and pillows. From a tall window, we get a view of the plains that stretch behind the city. A brown tapestry emblazoned with the bear and the sword crossing its neck hangs on the wall between our beds. In the dressers, various shirts and pants are stocked. I still have to ask for some to get a size large enough.
That night is the best I sleep for a very long time.
The next morning I and all the others eat breakfast with the Jarl at the unnecessarily long table in the front hall. Then the gate bangs open and a messenger runs in.
“My Jarl!” he says, taking a knee in front of Jarl Kjunn.
“Rise,” says the Jarl. “What tidings do you bear?”
“I bring a message from Jarl Hralfar,” he says. “From Fragruss.”
Fragruss? I think.
He holds out a letter, the wax seal stamped with the insignia of Gilgal from the ring on Hralfar’s finger. Kjunn takes it and breaks the seal unhurriedly. As he reads, his eyes narrow and his reading almost becomes frantic.
“What?” I ask.
He finishes the letter and says, “It’s for you.”
Flight
I take the letter warily and glance into the Jarl’s emerald eyes before beginning to read.
Captain Armstrong,
Your presence is needed immediately in Fragruss. You must waste no time in your journey. There is no option; you must come now. Titus Swordbreaker, the son of Lucius Swordbreaker, has sent a letter that you must read and answer to within a week from the time I have sent this message. If he does not get a reply or an audience from you within that time, he will attack with all the force that Tygnar can muster. Speed your flight here or there will be much blood shed needlessly.
He has requested that you come against him to battle the same way that you came against Lucius’s champion. Make haste and get here in time to reply. He sits on our doorstep, waiting. Come, and come quickly.
Jarl Hralfar
The others read over my shoulder.
I look at the messenger and ask urgently, “How long were you travelling?! From the time you got this letter to the moment you walked in that door, how long was it?”
“This is the third day,” he replies quickly, raising his hands like I was pointing a sword at him. “I would have been here yesterday, but I was slowed by a troop of bandits that tried to raid me. My horse outran them.”
“Three,” I repeat under my breath. “That only leaves us with four days to get to Fragruss.”
“Four days?” James questions. “Four days?! How the dingflies are we going to get to Fragruss in four days?!”
“Why?” asks Aela, concerned. She takes the letter and reads it quickly. “Not good,” she mutters.
“That’ll take us thirteen days just to get there!” James panics. “Eleven or twelve if we’re moving fast!”
“Horses,” I reply.
“Oh,” he mutters, looking down. “Right, that’s faster.”
“I can spare a few horses for you,” Kjunn says when I look for his approval. “You know where the stables are?”
“Yes,” I nod.
“Simply tell the stable master I sent you and that it’s urgent. He will allow you to take the six you will need. I am assuming you are all going?”
Nobody says anything otherwise.
“Make haste,” Kjunn says softly. “Be strong, as you need to be. I pray to Khaoth that it will all play out for the better.” Then he looks to me. “I fear that they may try to attack you again. Always keep up a careful guard. Be ready.”
We pack with food from his stores that he has generously offered us. We leave within the hour that we received the letter, almost running down the steps from Stormguard into the city. The stable sits next to the barracks on the left of the enormous staircase. As Kjunn promised, the stable master is cooperative and allows us six horses.
The gate opens to let us leave.
Then we are on the road once more.
Aela leads us strongly from atop her chestnut, though there’s not much leading to be done on a road such as this. There is constantly a nag in the back of my mind. Four days. Four days. Four days…
I expect an attack similar to the one that plagued us on the road to Kera. None comes.
The plains pass quickly, but not nearly as quickly as I would like. Always the mountains rise to our right, and the forest stretches to the left in the distance.
We make camp