The Hathway Kingdom (Book 2)

Twenty-Seven.

~Twenty-Seven. ~

Iovianus looked over at Larissa as they stopped long enough to allow their horses a rest and to have a drink. Where his brother had been hiding was a long ride on horses away from her palace and, unfortunately for them both, they had not been given the fastest of horses. He knew that she had been furious at learning this and had nearly caused an explosion of lightning within the stables that would have sent every horse running in every direction. They had left, however, leaving the stablemaster near tears and the horses close to stampeding.

Larissa scowled as she stared up at the sky. She hated how it was responding to her and she had to figure out a way to keep that from happening in the future. Taking in a deep breath as she stroked the neck of her horse, both to soothe it and to calm herself, Larissa closed her eyes as she did this. She heard a rumble overhead before she opened her eyes and found that the sky had lightened slightly. The corner of her lips twitched slightly before she looked over at Iovianus, who had been watching her carefully.

"We need to get going," she said, and he nodded his head before they both mounted their horses again and set off.

Iovianus had them dismount and tie their horses up where they would be able to graze and drink from a nearby stream before they moved through the thick forest that surrounded the small mountains that housed the cave where his brother was, doing their best to remain hidden amongst the vegetation. Larissa was amazed that they had managed to, given her red hair and her flashing eyes. As they ducked for cover behind some trees, Larissa saw a pair of guards come out of the cave's mouth. Narrowing her eyes on the pair of guards, Larissa went to get up and go after them before she was stopped by a single hand on her arm by Iovianus. She shot him a glare that said he had better remove his hand, but the shake of his head made the glare disappear to be replaced with curiosity.

"We need to wait until dark. From what I found out, none of the men that are being paid by my brother know any magic. So, finding our way through the home he has created for himself here will be easier in the dark as they won't be expecting it," he whispered to her, and she scowled at him.

"Dark is still several hours away, Iovianus. Akira can't wait that long..." Larissa said before she fell silent as Iovianus sighed.

"She will have to. And after everything that I have heard about Lady Akira from...Well, from everyone, is that even though she is still so young, she is still very smart. She will be able to last until we can get her out of there, Larissa," Iovianus said to her and Larissa bit down on her lip as she looked back towards the cave's entrance.

"She will be fine, Larissa," he said again, and Larissa nodded her head begrudgingly before settling down to wait for night.

The hours went by far too slowly for Larissa's liking. Even with the cleaning of her sword, which she had brought with her as she knew she would be needing it, using a cloth that she kept in a small pouch at her waist and the need to find a way to untie her emotions from being revealed by the sky, Larissa was still fidgety and nervous. She needed to get Akira out from Isidore's grasp as soon as she could because he was dangerous, and she knew he was doing this to get back at her for everything she had done to him. Not that any of her actions had been unjustified. Anyone who had learnt about their situation knew that she had been protecting herself, her family, and her kingdom. No one could find fault in her actions, not even Isidore and Iovianus' father, so why anyone had been willing to help such a horrible man, was beyond her.

She looked up from her sword as she felt Iovianus move beside her and she glanced at him carefully, stashing the cloth back in its pouch. She raised a brow at him as she saw his eyes turn to her before she watched him raise a finger to his lips and she nodded her head. Moving so that she was on her feet in a squatting position, Larissa redrew her sword from its sheath, having put it in there to stand up before she closed her eyes. Reaching out with her energy as they were on the border of the two kingdoms, Larissa shivered as it seemed to accept her, and she found what she needed.