?Prelate Pallow.? Narul greeted him with the barest of formalities. It was as much civility as he would muster for the man he knew would bring the axe down on the queen?s throat if he was given the chance. ?Your message was marked as urgent.?

Pallow grinned around a mouthful of meat and he waved the fork of silver about. ?Yes, yes. But you did not have to hurry. Did you hurry? Tsk. Tsk. Why, I would never consider you a servant of the Order to come with such haste as I would a commoner, High Lord Narul.? Sef Pallow wiped at the corner of his mouth with a cloth of silk and dropped it on the plank next to the soap.

?I was in the area already, Prelate. It was no bother or haste.? Narul lied. He had rode with enough drive with reins against his horse that he had nearly killed it to get there. The wording of the Prelate?s letter had spurred worry for the well-being of his queen and nothing would have kept him too far from the heart of Moreth. ?You wrote of the queen..? He prodded the older man with only a brief glance towards one of the door, then back again.

?Ahh, yes. That.? Pallow waved his ringed hand and leaned his fat bellied self back in the tub into a lean. His arms draped to the edges of the tub to either side of him. ?You see. I grow more and more concerned, my High Lord. The queen has been ill lately. At first? well, we thought it was something to do with a poisonings. One can never be to certain of such things, you know. No matter how faithful the cooks and servants or the pallets of one?s tasters. But it has been a month and our dear, beloved queen does not seem herself.?

The high lord of that region watched the man in the tub before him. No outward sign revealed his rage against him except for the slight tightening of his jaw at the hinge of it. Quietly, he waited for the man to continue.

?She has been babbling on about conspirators, my honorable High Lord. Our gracious queen has been?unsteady in many things.? Pallow leaned forward and put a thick fingered hand to the draped plank next to his plate. ?She has been seen wandering the halls at night in fits of madness. And even,? Pallow made a show of looking about, as if to make sure none overheard him. He glanced back towards the armored man before him and continued. ?Some have her maids have confided in me, most worriedly, that she had taken up sleeping with her personal guard!?

To keep the scowl from his face was an effort on Narul?s part. ?I see. And what would you have me do about this, Prelate Pallow?? His words were chosen carefully, lest he be thought too eager to rush to his queen?s side or fall too deep into the clutches of such a man. He saw Sef Pallow grin just before a very worried mask was put in place.

?Why, my High Lord Narul, I need your help! Our queen needs your help!? He implored Narul with far too much emotion in his voice. ?If she is in bed with her personal guard, if she has been affected so severely by poison .. or even something or someone else. .. then she needs help. She needs someone she can trust near her. Someone that can stand objectively. If .. if she needs to be removed from her throne, let it not be me that makes that call but one of the High Lords so that it can be fairly said she was not removed by force of the Order, but out of need to protect the lands!?

It should have met Narul?s ears as an imploring speech of a man who was worried for his queen and realm. But it did not. Narul knew that Pallow meant to take the throne for himself. The man of the holy Order of Irses meant to rule all of Suilan beneath his ringed fist.

It was over a hundred mile stones from Moreth from the foot of Garvyn?s Pyke where the home of the prelate stood. To have ridden the entire way would have meant the collapse and death of all of their horses.

The idea of stopping grated against Narul, but he had no choice when he called for him and his men to stop for the night. Each of them had been with Narul and been with a blade at his side long enough in their lives to know how to set up camp without a word from him.

The day had been rough for them all. Each man had had to leave their wives, children, and others of their families to join him. The letter had been poignant enough to push Artur Narul into movement and tap each of the four men to go with him.

His packs were untied from his horse and dropped next to a fallen log within a stride from the fire that Aric was building up. Then his bed roll and leather bunting for it were unrolled from the back of the saddle to drop next to the packs. Narul sat to the log and dug about in one of the packs to pull out the food and wine skin that Ilisrai had packed for him that morning. The wine skin was old and he?d carried it for years, but the wine she?d filled it with was good. He eyed the cloth-wrapped bundles of food and suspect they were meat, cheese, dry bread, and salt from last night?s dinner.

But after looking at them, he didn?t touch the food and drink yet. He looked to Aric and watched him put the stones around the pit he?d dug out. While the red headed man put wood in the center, Artur broke the silence.

?He is lieing.?

Aric brought his head up after the first strike of stones in the attempt of lighting the wood. ?Prelate Pallow??

?Yes.? Narul shoved his hand against the bedroll with its leather bunting beneath it and shoved it open. He watched it unroll but didn?t move yet to put any work to straightening it out.

?You expected something else from him?? Aric shook his head and struck the stones a few more times until a spark was produced. He leaned in to blew a careful breath on the kindling until the fire crackled to life, then sat back on his haunches. ?What did he say??

?He said that he worries about our beloved queen. I think he has had her poisoned and waits like a hungry wolf for his time to pounce.?

?Worried? Him?? The red headed man scoffed and stood, tossing the stones down fireside. ?That man is worried about no one but himself. None!?

The morning break without event and the men gathered up the supplies and bed rolls. When all was tied to the horses and the men were mounted the started off in the direction of Moreth again.

Braden and Usoth talked among themselves, with Braden doing all the talking and the other giving an occasional nod or grunt that he?d heard his friend. Aric rode in thought and Ren, who had said nothing since he had doused the fire, moved his horse from being the farthest from where Narul rode, to riding beside him.

?Are you worried about her, my Lord??

?Hmm? Oh.? He cleared his throat and nodded. Mutely he wondered how long they had ridden already without noticing the passage of that time entirely. He shifted in the saddle and glanced ahead. ?Yes, I am worried about her, Ren. She is our queen.?

Ren glanced sidelong at him then on the road ahead. None of them moved at a lope, but they didn?t dare to push the horses at a dead run either. ?If I could fly us there, I would, my Lord.?

A frown pinched his brow as he looked back at Ren, then smiled at him as he understood the younger man?s want to get them all to their queen with haste. ?I know, Ren. We will get there soon enough. I fear what we will find though.?

?Do you think she has been harmed??

?Yes. Maybe not outwardly or physically.? Narul tapped his own, right temple. ?But here? Who is to say yet? I will know when I see her for myself. We go in blind and ignorant of what has been done to her already. We may not be any better off once we get there.?

?And your brother??

?Marsan should have received my letter by now. But it will take him at least a month to get here. He?s on the West Island. By ship, two weeks and then at least two more once he?s back on land ? if the weather holds good. Five weeks in all, if it does not.?

Ren looked to the others, then back to Narul. ?My Lord, have you considered that it is a trap??

?I have. Prelate Pallow knows that I am loyal to our queen as most men are not. They say they would give their life to protect her. But I would certainly do so.? He barely saw it in his peripheral, of Ren nodding his head with that same certainty. ?He also wants an excuse to take the Suilan Lian throne.? Though he could have said more in regard of the queen, he did not. What he said, instead, was with conviction. ?I will not allow that to happen.?