章 498: The Renat Report
"They are late. Something has gone wrong." Mairwen peeked out of the shrubbery for at least the hundredth time. Her heart felt like it might burst.
Although she used to be very calm and good at waiting, lately the need to be in the middle of the action and know exactly what is going on had taken precedence over her patient nature. The world was at stake...again...and this time it felt like it was her fault.
"Stay calm, Your Highness." Eira whispered patiently. She had spoken those words countless times over the past couple hours. "It is not even evening yet. The sun will not set any faster or slower just because you will it to be. Relax. Put your mind on…anything else. What good does worrying do, really?"
It was the most words that Mairwen had ever heard the stoic soldier say at one time. Yet, Eira wasn't really scolding the princess as it seemed.
The soldier was also nervous. The speech had been for herself as much as Mairwen. To honor the soldier, the princess went quiet for a while.
Mairwen tried to think of her favorite flowers and how they smelled. The blue-eyed woman made a list of all the people to which she owed letters when she got home. When that finally was completed, the princess silently played her favorite song in her head.
The last distraction proved to be a mistake. It was the first song that the princess and Renat had danced to at their wedding.
All the anxiety came flooding back. Mairwen began to fidget once more. "It is late. They should have been back by now. If I could just take a look around, then perhaps…"
"You promised you would stay put." Eira placed her hand on her sword. She hated going against her mistress, but the safety of the princess was her job first and foremost, even when Mairwen didn't like it.
"Then you go and look. Please Eira! The sun is almost completely gone. Someone must go after them!" Mairwen's pleading was cut off by a low chuckle.
"We aren't even late, and your wife is ready to send out the our entire military. I told you Mair would try to convince Eira to chase after us. You owe me three gold coins!"
"I made no such bet," the lanky wolf protested.
Alaron started to argue, but an arm burst through the brush and yanked him into the hideout and the waiting hug of his sister. His hood fell from his head, revealing the look of shock on his face.
"You made it!" Mairwen was too glad that the men were safe to worry about their teasing. When Renat was able to force his way into the snug hideaway, he also received a welcoming embrace.
Once they were situated, the princess flooded them with questions. "Are you alright? Did you run into any trouble? What happened while you were gone?"
"We are fine. No more than usual and if you would calm down we will tell you!" Alaron arched his brow at his sister.
Realizing her error, Mairwen settled up against her husband—ignoring his extra pungent odor—and prepared to hear their news.
"You first, brother?" Alaron offered.
The brown wolf nodded. "Alaron and I found that the trench leads to great cauldrons of water which are being filled by the pipe. The pots are constantly being boiled to increase the potency of the water."
Mairwen nodded. It was the same procedure that she and Dania had completed at the university in Valiant.
"After watching for a bit, we decided to split up to cover more ground. I took to the perimeter. The camp is far larger than I could have guessed. They seem to have added even more people to their group after splitting with Livie."
Renat closed his eyes, trying to picture what he was trying to describe.
"There are some structures made of wood, including one that is quite large. But the outskirts where I stayed were full of tents. Most were empty. The few occupied ones had sleepers in them."
"They must be the night watch…" Eira muttered.
A grunt of assent rumbled in Renat's chest. "That was my thought also. I doubt Taran would tolerate laziness right under his nose. He once said his father was a hard man. I do think under all that charisma, he inherited that trait."
"He is very charming, which was always alarming. Because if his charms don't work, brute force is his next logical step to get what he likes." Mairwen bit at her words bitterly. She remembered Dania's wild face when the female scientist had refused him.
But Taran hadn't stopped at her refusal. He had forcibly abducted Dania and held her sister captive.
Renat gently hugged his wife. He could hear and feel her heart racing.
"I kept going and found just how vast the area they cleared really is. Further along, there were many creatures cutting down trees with axes that were somehow muffled. I didn't hear the cracking swings until I was nearly on top of them. In fact, one of the heads came loose of its handle and flung at me. It nearly took off my head." Renat subconsciously touched his neck.
"What did you do?" Mairwen's voice was full of concern.
"Ducked, of course! Then I growled at them and gave a creative curse or two about their mother. I must have been convincing enough or they were too worried about their work to be bothered by me. For they half-heartedly apologized and went back to work. At the rate they are going, they will fell this entire area in a few months time." Renat scowled.
Alaron did not like the ancient trees being used in such a way. They might not be magical but they were being wasted, perverting the world with a disease that would end the world as we know it. "Do they need the wood for the fires or to make room for more troops?"
"Both." Renat answered without hesitation. "As you know, I went beyond our allotted hour. I hit a bit of a hiccup on the far side of camp. I was stalking silently through the forest along the rim of the camp when a voice called out to me from deeper in the woods. Many voices actually.
I tried to ignore them. But they were adamant that they wanted my attention. I was forced to stop and speak to them. There were probably twenty of them."
"Humans or creatures?" Eira asked.
"Humans, they were still human. I tried not to act as confused as I felt. Especially when they said they wanted to speak to the master of the camp. I asked them sternly what business they had here, and they told me that they were here to join the cause. I pretended to know what 'cause' they meant and tried to point them in the direction of the camp.
But they insisted I escort them. What was I to do? It felt like if I refused them, then I would be acting suspicious. So I marched them into camp and called out to another wolf like I knew them. Introduced the newest recruits and told the wolf that they wanted to see the boss but I was supposed to be on patrol. To my relief, the she-wolf nodded and took over the small company."
"So Taran is getting even more reinforcements? He is still recruiting!" Mairwen could hardly believe her ears.
"Word must be spreading." Alaron pinched his nose. He was familiar with how underground information spread in the Valiant Empire.
He and Cafer had used those very channels when plotting against Aurora to gain support. Taran was also well connected.
It would be easy for the handsome nobleman to tap into the seedier side of things and get word about his cause out without alerting the authorities. Although Alaron had helped to shut down many of those questionable establishments, new ones would always crop up wherever there was a void.
"It would seem so," Renat felt like he needed to wrap things up, but he still had information to give. "The rest of my journey, though long, was uneventful except for a final discovery."
The rest of the group was suddenly very interested. What could be more interesting than knowing that Taran was continuing to gather troops?
"When I made it back to the northern side, I found another, much deeper trench. Deep enough to swim in and no pipes to be seen. It appears they have made themselves a pond with direct access to the lake. Perhaps to give themselves a better water source?" Renat had been mulling this anomaly over in his mind.
"The abominations have no taste for the lake water…something I think you will discover soon enough, Renat." Alaron spoke so matter-of-fairly that no one doubted him. The Guardian's face darkened as his eyes flashed. "I saw them. They weren't using the pond to drink. They were preparing for an attack."
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