The Gathering of Masters: The Bond Once Severed Book 1

16. The Vale

Part of Natalia's head wrap came loose and flapped in the wind before she tucked it back in with an experienced hand while examining the landscape around her with open curiosity.

Natalia traveled further north than she knew existed. Several days ago, they had separated from the driver and merchant carriage. Once they were underway in this smaller, more efficient covered wagon, the Master revealed their destination was the Obodor Mountains. Raja had seemed relieved that they were not traveling to the Tribal Lands. Perhaps he was not yet ready to explain her presence to his people.

The population thinned as they traveled further from the center of the Kingdom, and the land became more rugged. The flat arable area transitioned to rolling hills, the fields shifted into forests, and the mountains that once seemed so far away were now looming just ahead.

All the wonders Lukas' parents described on their return from abroad now came to life before her. As a child, she dreamt of traveling through the continent. Lukas had been frustrated that his parents had left him so much, and Natalia understood. But her heart soared every time she heard they were going, so she could experience their travels when they returned.

That joy seemed even more selfish the time they didn't come back. Lukas left her to petition the foreign monarch for their release. And once he had returned, he had destroyed everything.

Natalia absently placed a hand on her belly. The movement attracted Raja's attention.

"Your thoughts grow dark," Raja concluded as he held the reins loosely in his hands. Paulo, who sat on her other side, lifted his head in interest at Raja's words.

"It is nothing, a fleeting memory. A wistful thought of what might have been." Natalia smiled at Raja's arched brow. Her poetic words had not fooled him. "I remembered my past before everything changed."

"Memories can be a dark hole," Paulo responded before Raja could.

"Yes," Natalia answered. "At first, I remembered happy things, but they always drift to the end." No one spoke, allowing Natalia to settle into the silence and decide what more to share.

"You know," she started softly to no one in particular, knowing that both were listening, "the last words Lukas and I said to each other were in anger." Raja turned to Natalia in surprise.

"He was leaving us weeks before his child was born to a place from which his parents had not returned. His parents had been the most experienced of diplomats and travelers. He was so arrogant in his powers. Lukas thought he could persuade the young Queen to release them."

"But, when he arrived, his parents were already dead," Raja told her softly. Natalia's heart fell at this unexpected news, but she remained silent. "They had been a lure, but the Queen never intended to let him or his people go free. "

"All of it, she planned it all; we were so naive," Natalia agreed.

"Many underestimated the young Queen. Her mother had been powerful but not as calculating," Paulo explained, then pointed towards a well-trampled area on the side of the road. "We will camp here tonight; we start our climb tomorrow."

Raja nodded. Natalia retreated into her thoughts. She had not thought of those last words for years, burying the memory to focus on the better moments. This repression of specific memories had helped her survive, but now, she could no longer hide from them.

=======================

They started early, just as the sky brightened with the pre-dawn light. The Oborgor Mountains could be treacherous in the dark, and Paulo was anxious to finish their journey today. One of the spies who pursued them had enough Earth magic to enter the mountain range, and he was gaining ground daily. They would catch up with them within hours if he didn't reach the portal before then.