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Illan takes his seat and while he begins filling his plate, he replies, “Yes I did, everyone’s accounted for.” He glances around the table and when he doesn’t see Miko, asks, “Is he still sleeping?

James nods his head. “He was up pretty late last night.”

Just then, they hear the sound of a horse racing down the lane toward the house. “Jiron!” he exclaims as he comes to his feet and practically runs through the front room to the door. He hurries outside as Jiron brings his horse to a stop.

Dismounting, Jiron comes over to him and says, “I found them.”

“Where?” Illan asks from the doorway before James can get the words out.

“They spent the night in Osgrin and headed out this morning,” he tells them. “It didn’t seem that they were in all that much of a hurry, though. When I saw they were taking the road to Trendle, I came back as fast as I could.”

“How many were there?”

James motions him to come inside as he answers. “Twenty one. The party that left Osgrin had eighteen men at arms as well as two wagons. Couldn’t tell what was in the wagons, but one was being driven by a single man, the other had a man and a woman.”

“A woman?” Illan asks as they return to the kitchen where they all take their seats at the table.

“Yeah,” Jiron replies as he begins helping himself to the food. “She didn’t have the look of a fighter.”

“Maybe a mage?” James asks.

Shrugging, Jiron says, “Maybe.”

“I want you and young Devin here to go back and find them,” Illan tells Jiron. “If anything develops that we need to know about, send Devin back.”

Devin gets an excited look in his eye when he hears that he’ll be going with Jiron on a ‘mission’.

Turning to James, Illan continues, “I think we should stand everyone down seeing as how an attack is not imminent.”

“You know best,” he says.

The rest of the meal goes fairly quickly, Jiron hurries and eats so he can return to find them. As soon as Devin is done, Illan has him go out to the stable and get two horses saddled and ready for when Jiron is finished eating.

After Devin’s left, James says to Jiron, “You be careful.”

“I will,” he assures him. “They’ve probably not come too far along by now, the wagons are going to slow them down. They’re most likely going to reach Trendle sometime before nightfall.” Scooping up the last of the food from his plate, he stands up and makes to leave.

“Good luck,” Illan says to him.

“Thanks,” he replies and then goes outside to where Devin sits on his horse waiting for him. Once mounted, they quickly ride down the lane to the road where they break into a gallop as they head toward the advancing party.

Chapter Eleven

_________________________

They caught up with the men and wagons an hour past Trendle. Jiron and Devin continued at a gallop past the mercenaries. When they were far enough beyond them that they were no longer visible, they turned around and followed them at a discreet distance, keeping them just within visual range.

“What are we going to do?” Devin asks.

“Follow them and see what they plan to do,” he replies. “When we know, I’ll have you ride back and alert the others as to what’s going on.”

Devin nods his head, excited at the prospect of being the one to bring back word.

The group continues traveling at a steady pace, reaching Trendle several hours past noon. Without pausing they make their way through town and continue on past, crossing over the river Kelewan. At a clearing a mile past the river they pull off the road and appear to be settling in for the night.

“Don’t you think it’s too early for travelers to stop for the night?” asks Devin.

Glancing at him, Jiron nods and says, “Yes, unless you’ve reached your destination.” He looks at the group settling into the clearing, his unease growing. Once Jiron has determined that they definitely plan to camp there, he sends Devin back to The Ranch with word. Leaving his horse a good ways away, he moves closer and finds a concealed spot from which to keep an eye on them.

The clearing they’re in is one in which Delia has used on occasion with