The Warrior Prince

Heritage Part 14

It was well after dark as Lothar and his men reached Drem's castle. They were about to enter the outer wall when they heard soldiers from two directions approaching. Quietly and keeping still they waited.

"Get the dragons ready Drem wants to move in the moment it's confirmed that Lothar's bride is confirmed to be Valora's daughter," they heard a soldier state.

Lothar was more than a little surprised by the soldier's words. He'd heard tales of Valora and had seen her one time when he was very young. If Valeria was in fact her daughter it would explain a few things. Still how could the woman possibly be the daughter of a warrior princess? Talivar would never allow...suddenly the heir remembered rumors long ago that the heir to Talivar had disappeared during the night. There were rumors that the woman feared ruling and others that she'd left with a man she'd been forbidden to be with. No one knew what had ever become of Queen Havira's eldest daughter.

"They will take her to Talivar," he heard a guard say.

"Unless they go to Benola. Or Zandell."

"They won't go to Zandell. Zandell and Talivar hate each other," another replied. "Maybe Benola."

"The king says Talivar," the first soldier reiterated. "We go and wait. If she is Valora's daughter a very big celebration will begin and Sarita will be cast out if not killed. We leave in thirty minutes."

Lothar waited and then the group carefully withdrew from the castle and into the shadows of the night.

"What do you want to do?" Gideon asked his brother. "Talivar will never agree if she is Valora's daughter. Your father might not even agree."

"He won't change his mind," Garrick said firmly. "Talivar however will oppose it. We have to get there first and stop them."

"They didn't go to Talivar," Lothar said calmly. The men as well as his brother looked at him questioningly. "Valeria doesn't handle things like we do."

"Benola," Garrick said knowingly. "Your bride will want evidence she can accept not what they determine. Benola?" Lothar nodded and getting on his horse they changed their course of action and headed for Benola.

*****

It was a few hours before sunrise when Valeria and the female warriors reached her families land in Benola. Carefully they scanned the area and finding no soldiers or anyone else waiting, they carefully made their way toward the house. Valeria was surprised to find the estate seemed untouched. They went to the barn and after Kiona opened it they slipped the horses inside so no one would see.

"Alright, we're here," Denasha said getting down from her horse. "Now what?"

"I need to find my mother's trunk, a diary, something," Valeria replied. She led the group from the barn to the house and after finding the door unlocked they entered the home.

"Where do we start?" Runia asked.

"I'm going to start in my mother's room. She may have hidden the trunk in one of the closets," Valeria told them. There is also a cellar and an attic that can be searched."

"What's an attic?" Kiona asked having never heard of one before.

"I'll show you," Adira stated and began leading her upstairs.

The woman searched the house but found no trunk. The sun had risen and they had searched every inch of the house but found nothing. All of them were frustrated especially Valeria.