Story Update
Here is your update! Yep, two posts in one day. At least I spaced them out. Enjoy! And I'm sorry, but you will have to wait to see what happens to Nik.

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“What did she say?” Pallas Landon said as the guard he sent to question the jailor walked into the room. The king was sitting besides his large desk in his private study. He put a paperweight down on the map at his right. He slid it forward to unroll the map and keep it open.

The large man coughed once to clear his throat. “She has escaped, my lord. And she killed the jailor.”

There was a brief pause and a silence that was only interrupted when the soldier shifted his weight from his right leg to his left. The king reached up to rub at his temples with the fingers of his right hand. “She escaped?” he asked as he lowered his hand.

“Yes, sir. I don’t know how and I don’t know where she went – the guards at the top of the stairs saw nothing. She just disappeared.”

Pallas slammed his fist down on the table hard enough to make the paperweights and ink bottles rattle as they resettled. The muscles along his jaw line tightened as he spoke. “Find her. She can’t just have turned into smoke and wafted away.”

“Of course, sir. The guards are already searching for her. But, my lord?”

“Yes?”

“What if she could turn into a shadow? You said she looked like your daughter.”

“Find her. Now.”

With a curt nod, the soldier turned to leave the room. He stopped when his king called out to him.

“Please, take care of Gerard as well. He was a good man who did his job well. It may not mean much, but make sure his wife is given a bag of silver for her loss when you inform her. If she wishes to speak with me…” the king let the sentence trail off.

The guard nodded and gave a bow before leaving. He closed the door behind him after stepping through. The king continued to stare at the door for several heartbeats after the footsteps faded away into silence. Eventually, he collapsed into his padded chair and raised his hand back up to his temples. He looked down at the map through the gaps in between his fingers. How could it come to this? How could he let his daughter slip away? He needed to get her back, no matter the cost.

With that thought, Pallas leaned forward and dropped his hand back to the desk. He pulled the candle closer to the map and stared at the countries depicted on it. His finger traced the route from the capital city of Curand to the border with Gredalia. He tapped the map a few times with his finger, just south of the Gredalian capital. Within a matter of days of summoning the army, he could have an invading force marching into Gredalia. It would require pulling troops away from the northern border, but it didn’t matter; nothing mattered but retrieving Macella.

A knock interrupted the king’s thoughts. “Enter!” he called.

The door swung open and one of the king’s generals stood in the hallway. He walked in, stopping in front of the desk and giving a short bow to the king. The general spoke when he finished his salute.

“You sent for me, sir?”

“I did. How quickly can we assemble the army?”

“The reserves could be assembled in a matter of hours. Is there an emergency?”

“We need more than the reserves. I want a full invasion force.”

“For what purpose?”

“Gredalia.”

The officer rocked back onto his heels. He had to swallow before he found his voice. “We have a truce with Gredalia. We were barely able to maintain the peace after we attacked their small party.”

“Need I remind you that the party you are talking about was trespassing on our lands? They invaded first and what we did was an act of defense, not a declaration of war.”

“I know that, my lord. But if we were to send a full invasion force into Gredalia, that would be an inexcusable act of war and would negate any remnants of a treaty that we have left.”

“They have my daughter.” The king looked up and stared hard at his general. The weight of his stare made him shift his weight from one foot to another. He offered no further argument and looked at the map spread out on the desk. He tapped the map near the capital as he spoke.

“We could assemble the reserves in a matter of hours. It would only give us a force a few hundred strong, and would leave our capital vulnerable. The closest force that we have to draw from is our army in the north. With a messenger pigeon they could be on the move in a day. Within a week, they could be at the Gredalian border.”

“Do it,” the king said as he grabbed some papers from his desk. He also pulled out an inkwell and quill from a separate drawer. He dipped the pen into the ink and began to scrawl out the orders while still standing.

His general coughed, making the king stop his scrawl. “There is one problem, my lord.”

There was a pause while the king waited for his military advisor to continue. “If we remove our troops from the northern border, we will be exposed to an attack from Nacene.”

“That is a chance we will have to take. They have my daughter.” He said the last three words slowly, accentuating each word. “Have our spies reported anything? Any massing of troops?”

“No, sir.”

“Then we can remove our troops.”

“I would advise against it, sir. Our spies have reported an almost complete lack of activity. The situation is too quiet and makes me suspicious of their motives.”

“You are suggesting that we leave our troops camped on our northern border, instead of rescuing my daughter, because Nacene is not doing anything?” The sarcasm in his tone made the general reach up and rub the back of his neck. He took a breath before speaking again.

“You hire me for my military advice, and I would recommend against this course of action. I think that this may be an opportunity for Nacene, and may possibly be one they are ready for. Do you have any proof that your daughter is in Gredalia?”

Pallas’s raised eyebrow silenced any more questioning along those lines. The general held up his hand and shrugged in resignation. “I would advise you to leave at least half of the troops along the border. That may be enough to deter Nacene – any less and you might as well turn over our border to them right now.”

The king paused for a moment and closed his eyes and relaxed his shoulders. “You’re right, of course. But, they have my daughter. It is worth the threat of war and my entire kingdom to get her back.”

“Might I suggest an alternative?”

“Please.”

“Send a small force under a diplomatic flag to investigate the claims that they have your daughter. Meanwhile, send a carrier pigeon to the armies in the north and have a portion of the army return here to the capital. You will lose at most a couple of days if you decide to march on Gredalia.”

The king nodded. “Your advice is sound. I will order half of the army to the north to return. But who can we send?”

“I would suggest Velash, for this is his area of expertise. Unfortunately, he is unavailable. “

“We need someone we can trust who the Gredalians will trust as well.”

The two men stared at each other as they each ran through the roster of valid agents. Pallas nodded as an idea crossed his mind. “Lord Silverspear – send a messenger to his estate.”
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