Eventually, we were allowed a break. Everyone did their best to refresh themselves and change. It was a bit too te to avoid any rashes or blisters, but at least we felt livelier after. Mom was able to successfully convince the lieutenant that worked under Lucil to open up their food for us so that we could eat fully. Of course, Mom didn’t see the look and nod that Lucil had given the man over her head, so she had come back to me happy and desiring praise. I naturally did the appropriate lip service, and by that, I meant kissing her until just before she managed to her tongue in my mouth.

  After that, Mom prepared a meal for everyone, who after a long night and an even longer morning, was happy to sit back and eat something cooked. I was a bit surprised to find Lucil sit down with our group and eat with us. Her men had created their own camp, and a third camp was made of the queen’s men. This camp was awkward since they insisted on still creating a perimeter around us. This guy truly intended to drag us all of the way to Dongeng without any chances.

  We sat in silence for a bit, eating the meat and vegetable stew that mom had prepared. Every time that Lucil took a bite, she closed her eyes as if she was savoring the taste. After a moment, a thought came to me.

  “Does… the queen cook?”

  Mother, who was filling a 2nd bowl of stew for her daughter-in-w, stopped in mid-pour. Although it was already quiet, I felt for a moment like no one would even whisper. Other than the soldiers who were talking quietly amongst themselves, everyone else was waiting for an answer. Lucil stopped sipping the soup, putting it down in front of her before she finally looked up at me.

  “No.” She stated with an expressionless gaze. “Mother has no cooking talent whatsoever.”

  My mother stiffened for a moment, although it wasn’t clear if she was happy with this news, or upset. I didn’t know how to feel either.

  “I thought they were copies,” I replied slowly.

  “How can that be?” Lucil frowned. “Mother created her. She is not anything like Mother. Mother put into her the skills she felt were necessary to be a dutiful mother to you. That didn’t necessarily come from her at all. So, you should understand that if you’re expecting a woman like this homunculus from Mother, you won’t see it. It isn’t just her feelings for you that are different. Her entire personality has been warped… ahem… is different from this woman. They aren’t even recognizable as the same woman.”

  As she said that st part, her eyes distinctly didn’t meet mine. I could tell that there was a lie in there. When she had first seen Mother coming into the common room, her reaction had been sudden and violent. If these women were so different as to be unrecognizable, then I didn’t believe that would be the case. However, I once again got the sense that prodding further would only anger her. We still had a long day of travel ahead of us along the barren pins just south of the desert. While it wasn’t as bad as walking directly through the desert, this wasn’t exactly easy travel.

  I took Baba’s passive advice and leaned back and closed my eyes for some sleep while I had the chance. I only id down for a minute when I felt someone lying down next to me. I opened one eye to see Saria snuggling under my arm, her hand on my chest and her head on my shoulder. When she saw me watching her, her cheeks turned rosy.

  “Don’t get the wrong idea! It’s more comfortable to use you as a pillow than to sleep on the hard grown.” She snapped, and as I continued to look at her, she grew shyer. “We’re married now, so this is only expected.”

  I felt someone else flop on the other side of me. I turned to see Mother lying there.

  “I’m his mother, this is only expected.” Mom said without an ounce of shame.

  “Th-that’s not expected at all!” Saria cried back.

  “Hmph… you’re using him as a pillow, but where is his pillow? That’s why my son can enjoy these soft things.” She smushed her impressive chest together, causing Saria to go cross-eyed for a second.

  “I-if he needs a pillow, then I will be his pillow!” Saria decred.

  “Oh, hoh…” Mother looked down on her chest mockingly. “Did you wish to give my son a neck injury?”

  “You…!”

  “Pfft.”

  The two girls turned in surprise as a wheezing ugh came out. They were likely to berate whoever was ughing at them and drag them into the fight. However, the source appeared to be Lucil, whose expression was as cold and guarded as usual. Her head was down, her face hidden to the point it was difficult to believe the source came from her. Did she find their antics amusing? It was hard to get a read on her. Whatever mask she chose to wear, it was on tightly. It only made me feel more appreciative toward Olivia and Lucy who were so easy to read.

  “It’s time! We’re moving!” the Queen’s guard leader’s voice snapped out sharply.

  I hadn’t gotten much rest, but neither had anyone else. At least we were properly dressed and fed now. Our long trek continued. Lucil had returned to her pce in front of us, keeping her back facing me coldly. The other girls seemed to have finally come out of their funk and were a bit more animated. Baba had woken up and started walking alongside the rest of us; however, that only sted a while before her shorter legs gave out.

  She managed to make such a huff that one of the soldiers had to give up their horse. Even as a prisoner, excuse me, an escort, the Grand Magus was still someone it was difficult to tell what to do. As her true identity leaked to the queen’s escort, the men grew restless, shooting her veiled looks of shock and awe. It reduced the looks aimed at my Mother, and Baba took such looks in stride.

  “Hmmm. Hedgeman’s Pass through the nds of the Naga? How interesting…”

  I walked next to Baba and immediately questioned her. I had to goals in asking. The first was that I wanted to confirm Mother’s knowledge. Lucil’s words had disturbed me more than I cared to admit. She cimed that Mother was created by the queen from scratch, rather than that she was a copy. However, why would Mother know details about the homend of the Queen if that was true? It seemed to be more likely that Lucil lied about it.

  However, why did she have an issue with Mother being a copy? I didn’t dwell on this question too long, because then I had to ask myself why I was bothered if she wasn’t. Once confirming that mother’s reports were accurate, I focused instead on the knowledge I’d need for survival.

  “Is there any way to increase our chances of survival? Do they have a reverence for you or magic in general?”

  “I had a few dragon friends back in the day.” She spoke flippantly. “All dead now. As for the drakes and wyvern, I don’t think they’d be interested in having a chat.”

  “I see…” I scratched my chin. “Couldn’t we fill the pass with mist or something, obscuring their vision of us?”

  “I could… but wyrmkind have a sense for magic. They’d be able to detect us for the magic we used. They’d be wary of us since they wouldn’t know our number nor our combat ability, but is it worth the cost of telling them exactly where we are. That, I can’t say.”

  “So, it’s like that then.” I sighed.

  I had been hoping to use magic to make this journey easier, but any application of magic strong enough to keep the drakes from noticing us would lead them right to us. I was still considering it. It might be necessary as st chance protection. Mom had said that if a Drake was on us, we were mostly dead. At that point, we might as well obscure its vision and do our best.

  “Can you prepare the spells anyway?” I asked.

  She rolled her eyes, turning to me. “I already have. I’m not so easy to catch unprepared.”

  “I’m gd,” I responded, deciding it wasn’t a good time to point out that there was a leaf stuck in her hair from when she had been sleeping earlier.

  As the sun began to set, the temperature dropped sharply. The girls were starting to shiver by the time the leader put up his hand and informed us to set up camp.

  In this area, there was very little wood to start a fire, and it was past dark by the time we got one lit to create some warmth. The queen’s guards seemed to have no intention of sharing supplies with us, even though they had captured us and were now forcing us to march without a chance to restock. Lucil’s group wasn’t better off. They had been pnning on returning to the outpost with us, so they hadn’t pnned for a long journey. Even though they had heavy bnkets and other things just in case push came to shove and they had to camp out in the desert, it wasn’t clear how long we would st.

  Meanwhile, the queen’s guards were extremely well equipped. They had a wagon, and we able to get a fire going and food cooking. The smell of food and smoke drifted over to us with the sound of ughter. They had enough men that they still kept a guard wrapped around us. We were as snug as a baby in an ice crib.

  We were trying our best to get a fire started and a meal going. The water was damp from the previous night's torrential downpours. We had managed to get the noon meal cooking by ying out some kindle in the baking sun, but this couldn’t be replicated in the dark. It seemed like Lucil’s guards were having just as much trouble as us. I wasn’t the only person who had noticed the disparity there. Lucil was arguing roughly with the queen’s guard leader in hushed whispers. It didn’t appear to go well, and I watched as she stormed back in a huff. I decided it was a good time to approach her once again.

  “We’re going to need to work together,” I whispered to her.

  “You should worry about your own.” She snapped back, her face flushing with anger.

  “That’s what I’m doing.” I responded, “Look, I don’t understand the hierarchy of faeries, but it’s clear that the queen’s guard doesn’t put your men on the same level as themselves.”

  I had spoken those words just loudly enough that it reached the words of some of her men, and I could see them nodding in agreement over my assessment. Lucil fshed them a look, and their heads froze before she crossed her arms and gred back at me.

  “What of it? She demanded.

  “I’m going to assume you’re still invested in me not being taken into Benatang?”

  She looked down. “Some things… are unavoidable.”

  “Well, as it turns out, I also do not wish to be anyone’s prisoner. Our goals of not being marched into Benatang under this guy’s command align. So, how about we agree and help each other out?”

  She turned her eyes toward me just a bit. “Agreement? What kind of agreement?”

  “A truce. Your men share their supplies, their horses, and their protection, and we move together as a single unit. If the time presents itself, we escape from the bastard general’s control.”

  “He is a bastard…” She ground her teeth, but then she snapped a suspicious look my way. “What do we get out of it?”

  “We don’t try to escape on our own, or leave you behind to fend on your own.”

  “You say that like you have an escape pnned,” Lucil demanded.

  “Anything can happen.” I shrugged. “However, when something does happen, which side do you want to be on?”

  “I’m not on your side!” She snapped.

  “I’m not asking you to be on my side. I’m asking you to not be against me.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  Rather than answer, I responded with something else. “You know, you may feel that Mother and the queen are nothing alike, but I do see one simirity between them.”

  “What’s that?” she frowned.

  “They both seem to be focused on me at the expense of you.”

  Her frown broke and a myriad of expressions crossed her face rapidly. She shook for a moment and then gred at me.

  “Once we escape them… promise me. You promise me you’ll march back across the desert and leave here.” She spoke in a slow and deliberate voice.

  “With Olivia.”

  Her eyes closed, and for a second, I didn’t know what she was thinking. When she opened them again, she appeared calm.

  “If we get through the pass, and can shake off the queen’s guard, then I will go into the pace myself and bring Olivia with me.”

  “With… you?”

  “I will come with you as well… back… back to Pria.”

  My eyebrows raised. “Seriously? You’ll come?”

  “I said what I said!” she turned her back to me and gred at the men. “Combine your resources with theirs and get a fire started. I’m cold!”

  The men gnced at each other and immediately stood up. The two groups began to merge. Adding their collected wood with what we were able to come up with enough dry parts that Baba started the fire with a flick of her finger. Mother took over the cooking almost instantly. To my surprise, Saria jumped in as well. She had previously treated my mother like a nuisance, but ever since we shared our first night as man and wife, the two women had suddenly become somewhat competitive, just like when they fought over sleeping next to me.

  “You must remove the skin like this.” Mother said sweetly.

  “I know how to do it!” Saria argued.

  “If you did, I wouldn’t be correcting you…” Mom responded with a giggle. “Are you sure you’re ready to take on the responsibility of my sweetie’s bride?”

  “I am his bride!” Saria shot her a look.

  “C-can I help?”

  Once again, the two women’s argument was interrupted. Lucil had a timid appearance, but she had approached the two other women and asked to help cook. By the surprised looks on the guards who were rolling dice to determine who got to eat first and who took the watch, this was not something she had ever asked to do before.

  “Sure, sweetie, come. We’ll cook David a proper meal.” Mother put out an arm.

  Lucil froze for a moment but then stepped forward without saying anything, allowing Mother to wrap an arm around her. She slowly lifted her sleeves and started working at washing vegetables. She seemed extremely stiff and out of pce between the other two women, but she did anything they asked her to do to the point that the food was cooking.

  I normally didn’t pay much attention to their shenanigans, but my eyes were locked on Lucil. She was distinctly not looking at me, but I was once again flustered by her actions. Not just her sudden desire to cook, but her decision earlier too. It had been my desire from the start to take Olivia and her back to Pria. I had quickly realized that was impossible, and I wasn’t seeing any way to break through her icy exterior to get my way. Yet, she had seemingly changed her mind. I hadn’t done anything differently. We didn’t share any romantic events or had a chance to grow closer to each other. I just couldn’t understand what was going through her mind.

  The three women had managed to create a better meal than the guards were used to eating. They ate enthusiastically, and it was all gone as quickly as it started. By my guess, we only had another day of food. This journey, on the other hand, was going to take three days. The queen, and by extension her guards, were putting us in a rough spot. Based on what I had heard, it wasn’t surprising to me that the queen didn’t care whether I lived or died, but seeing it py out gave me a complicated feeling.

  “Aeryn will be sleeping with me tonight.” I decred.

  I didn’t want Mother fighting with Saria again. Aeryn’s pillows were perfectly comfortable. She was also a better cook than either Mother or Saria, but I wouldn’t admit that out loud. I liked living. I didn’t expect to get angry looks from everyone, including Aeryn. Excuse me for trying to maintain the peace. Admittedly, I had only made this announcement after I had gained the privacy of a tent. From the outside, I presumed it probably looked like I had picked her for some intimate time.

  Even though Lucil looked regretful that she had given me a tent, Mom looked tearful like I was having an affair, and Saria looked like she was going to make me pay the following day, I still grabbed Aeryn and pulled her into the tent before tying the door shut with a string. Aeryn was giving me a dark look too, but thankfully, I was used to Aeryn's scornful looks and they ran off me like water.

  “Since you no longer care about appearances, shall I be on all fours like a dog?” Aeryn asked.

  “You’ve been getting off easy tely. Saria’s been servicing my bed, and Mother’s been cooking.” I responded. “How about you do all of the work?”

  I had the noblest of intentions. I was just looking to use Aeryn as a buffer to keep mom and Saria in check, but something about Aeryn’s lip couldn’t be resisted. When she talked back, I couldn’t help but make her pay for it. In this case, she paid with her body for the rest of the night.

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