The Lion's Gambit (Book One) Fully Released

Chapter XVIII - Visions and Plans

Lucinda heard the soft sound of hooves against a dirt path as she swayed with the gentle movements. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the brown mane of a horse moving down a pathway surrounded by trees. The sunlight split through the gaps in the leaves above and hit her face. Closing her right eye to the sunlight, she looked down, seeing she was wearing her black leather breastplate and clothes from before the town of Ruwan. She felt a tight squeeze across her stomach and looked down to find a tan arm, bandaged from elbow to shoulder, holding her on the horse.

Lucinda flinched as she heard the screech of a hawk flying by, and she watched as Arro perched himself on a tree further down the path. As she looked around the area, seeing the surrounding forest more, she heard a familiar voice say, "Good. The sleeping princess is awake now. You have been out for quite some time."

"It's good to see you too, Traveler," Lucinda said as she turned her head slightly to see Sonya, who smiled at her. "What happened to you? And did you dress me?"

Sonya removed her arm from Lucinda's stomach and stretched it out wide, flexing her fingers and wincing in slight pain. She then stroked the horse's side. Sonya avoided eye contact as she told her, "It's just a slight wound from our wolf handler. And yes, because I would not let the healer dress you, and you're welcome. That was a nasty fall you took. Had to clean some blood off you as well, but it was not yours."

"Blood?" asked Lucinda, squeezing the bridge of her nose. She saw Kota's ring wrapped around her wrist. "That's right, I fell out of a window after I fought two of his men... Where are Grace and Kota? Akar was in Ruwan—"

Interrupting Lucinda, Sonya spoke. "Yes, Akar and his men were there in the town. We had a run-in with your older brother as well. He is a piece of work. Fought Kota and me with his calling. Earth is a nasty element to contend with."

As light shone down through the green leaves above her, Lucinda shook her head. "Draven is not my brother, and Akar is not my father. He rescued me from a blizzard when I was younger, and he raised me, but they will never be my family. Did he capture Kota?"

She nodded. "Kota lasted longer than me, I think. I was thrown into a stall and blacked out. When I came to, my ax was in a piece of rubble near me. Those two were nowhere to be found. I can only guess what happened next."

"You are lucky to be alive if you went against Draven. He is ruthless and always goes for the kill," said Lucinda as she looked down to the ground, thinking about her past.

Sonya said nothing in response as the sound of a small creek and the rustling of the leaves above surrounded them. Lucinda closed her eyes and heard Arro above them, flapping his wings as he flew further ahead, staying close to the two of them.

After a few moments of silence, Sonya spoke up. "Well, do you have any idea where Grace is? The healer said you two were together with Kota."

Sonya could see the color fade from Lucinda before she turned her face away from her. Keeping her focus on the ground below her, Lucinda said, "Akar has her. He brought her into the room in front of me. I took her weapon and killed the other two men in the room before Akar pushed me out of the window."

"Son of a..." Sonya fumed in anger and felt herself heat up before she took a breath. "Well, I know where they are, so—"

"You know where they are? Why are we waiting? We need to rescue the two of them," interrupted Lucinda as she almost flung herself off the horse while turning, her face coming to within a few inches of Sonya's.

Sonya winced in pain as she pushed Lucinda to face forward with her right arm. "Right now, we are heading to a farm to meet up with Alexis and Lukas again before we do anything else. We ran into the farmer, Mel, who helped you and Kota out, and so he helped us out as well."