Finding the Wisest

Chapter Twenty One

Maya, Kieran and Ash came back from their little walk.
Will had to go back to his "parents".
They were fish farmers and they were the sweetest people Maya had ever met. They kept beaming as Will introduced the three of them.
She was happy that Will had grown up with such nice people and she felt bad that out of the three of them who got separated, it was Nebbia who had gone through the most suffering. Not that she wanted to suffer or anything but yeah she felt bad....

It had always been her and her mother, it felt weird now knowing that she had a whole family now including Nebbia and Will.
It was a whole new thing to think about.
She understood Nebbia's anger and she would talk to her about it..as soon as she found her but  upon return to the little community, they realized that Nebbia was no where to be found.

She wasn't in the hut Old Kita had assigned for she and Maya and no one had seen 'an angry girl with black hair and a cloak.'

As they stood there, thinking about what to do concerning Nebbia's sudden disappearance Kieran noticed a piece of paper falling leisurely, being carried to and fro by the wind. " What's that?" he voiced out.
Ash moved his hand quickly to where his belt was, as if he was going to pull out a sword or something.

"Relax bro.. It's just a piece of paper" Maya replied. He seemed to relax after giving a brief nod.
She didn't laugh but she wanted to, Ash was like a bodyguard, or one of those tough guys in school who wore shades and things. In the few minutes that Maya had known him, she could tell that the guy could never relax. Ever.

Nebbia would have been the emo girl or maybe the one who always wanted to be alone...through no fault of hers actually. Maya wondered how Nebbia would have turned out if she hadn't been kept so long in a cell. It got her thinking about herself too. How would she have been if she had been raised in this land as a princess instead of in Arizona? Would she still be a silly daydreamer?
Will on the other hand looked like he would be the perfect little boy, sporty, smart and all that.
Maya caught the paper, smiling to herself.. But her blood run cold when she read the words on the paper

hello little Maya, I have your mother.
Signed, Queen Faye

                           X

Less than an hour later they had their new plan in place. They would go back to the FEDGE lands that day, room with Sozee again. The next day they would ride all the way to the tell tale lands and then stay there for a day and then attempt to attack Queen Faye the day after that.
Fingers crossed that nothing messed this up.

Nebbia was still nowhere to be found so it would have to be Ash, Kieran and Maya.
Ash had decided to go with them because he had once been a guard for the queen.
He knew a thing or two about combat and they all agreed that this would come in handy. They didn't know exactly what the Queen had up her sleeves. After thanking Old Kita for her help they left the drop zones, grim faced.

In about an hour of speed walking( Maya had no choice but to keep up with the two young men), they had reached the FEDGE lands again.
As they walked through the lands, Maya smiled remembering Sozee's enthusiasm and annoyance.
It was like she could even hear her now.

"MAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

She was on the ground before she knew it.
"Oh how I've missed you!" she screeched into her ear.
This was definitely going to make her deaf.
She whispered "You brought handsome Kieran back, and another handsome boy as well. I definitely owe you for this."

"You ladies okay there?" Kieran looked like he wanted to laugh. Of course he would think this was funny.
Ash had looked alert at first, thinking Sozee was attacking Maya but after nothing happened he relaxed. Bodyguard of the year award had to go to Ash. Definitely.