Lord Kewin had been Lady Maara's childhood friend and great confidante. As cousins of the same age, they had grown up attacked to the hip, barely doing anything apart. As they grew, life caught up with them. Lady Maara had her princessy duties, so she kept further away from her friends, and eventually, she had to travel for education and training.
Despite that, their friendship remained and did not wither. They may have grown distant, but they never neglected their affection and ties, as all good cousins do.
Since her return, Lady Maara soon found out that Lord Kewin was also dealing with obligations. He was the son of a duke, and he would be duke in the future too, he had a role to play in the family.
On the day she left to look for mercenaries, she had spent some time with her cousin. She'd been shocked to see how much he had changed from the scared schoolboy he had been to the strong man in front of her. He now radiated of confidence, a born leader.
He had let her on a secret, he would be joining the scouts. While this was a dangerous job, he was willing to take it. As a son of a duke, he didn't need to join the fight, but as a son of a duke, he had to consider this. Soon he would be in charge, and if he didn't have the respect of the men, how could he effectively lead?
As one burdened with leadership, Lady Maara had understood that logic. All she could do was wish her cousin all the best of luck, as did he. Coming back home, she learned he had been taken as a prisoner. Intelligence reported that it was the same prison that held Lady Ellen and the other adventurers.
Once the princess finished reciting all this to Barda, she earnestly pleaded with him to recall if he saw anyone like him there. As a member of royalty, he was bound to have stood out in some way, and that was what she was counting on.
Thinking back, Barda did recall noticing a group of warriors acting differently. They had been trying desperately to protect someone in their ranks, another warrior. Unfortunately, some of them were among those that fell.
Fleeing had been mostly dependent on luck than skill for the captives. The difference between those who managed to run away and those that didn't was inches. A missed arrow could end one who wasn't even targeted. Barda had been up to his limit trying to keep Lady Ellen and the others safe, adding people he didn't know to the list of protectees just wouldn't do.
Barda didn't tell her that, but he did tell her how difficult it was to escape. Lady Maara was undaunted, she went to all the escapees, looking for a sign of her cousin. After walking around through every tent, almost to a point of giving up.
Running into Barda, she went on a rant about how worried she was. As a princess, she had had to maintain her regality and royalty, so she couldn't let worry leak through her face. If she wanted to show worry it had to be controlled, otherwise, it could run wild. Finally finding a familiar face she could off-load to, she didn't hold back.
Seeing the worry and the speedy rant, Barda let her keep going. With his processing power, he could listen to her and still maintain subroutines active without missing a thing. As she talked, he could vaguely remember thinking that the person in the middle of all these warriors must be special, to have such excellent men willing to give their life for him.
After she had let off all she had to say, Barda held her in a warm embrace, comforting her. For Barda, it was a simple movement. By now, he and Lady Maara were well beyond formalities in terms of being acquainted with each other.
How could he know that his actions had stoked flames that had been burning to a fury? The princess felt like she was in cloud nine while still where she was. It was as though in his arms held a different dimension, one where she was safe and free from all her worries and cares. She lost herself in his embrace and clung to him like a baby in a cradle.
"I think I know where he is, and if he is who I think he is, then he should be just fine," Barda's words seemed to hold some sort of hypnosis over Lady Maara, and she was caught in a trance.
"However, I do have a present for you," Barda said as he untangled himself from her arms, feeling kinda awkward. He wasn't some inexperienced shmuck who didn't have a clue what was happening, he could read the emotions in Lady Maara's heart. He didn't know how to react though, the consequences were not so well known in this world. Also, he didn't want to lead her on, but she was such a good source. What to do?
"What is it?" Lady Maara asked with expectation, only to be disappointed by what Barda was holding in his hands. Whatever it was she was expecting, it wasn't that. However, when she opened it, she was stunned to see what it was, for a moment, she couldn't understand how he had gotten his hands on such an important piece of document.
While in the camp, Barda had been looking for a sweet spot to scout from, and he had had to wander quite a while to get the right perch to keep his people clear. In one of his subroutines he had kept running, he got a notification that caught his eye:
[Important document discovered.]
***
Commander Dana was furious. She was spewing venom in the office, so pissed off at her subordinates.
"You knew he was coming, you knew when he was coming, and you still let him escape?" She roared once more. The subordinates couldn't maintain eye-contact with her, afraid of aggravating her anger even more.
She couldn't understand how he had slipped through her fingers so easily. Since that fateful attack in the village, the commander had not had a peaceful night. She would dream of those deadly arrows. The archer was a constant visitor in her nightmares, making her spook even more.
She knew one thing, this archer was a force-multiplier. He was a formidable enemy to face and even more so in an army. He could manipulate the battle by his shots, playing it like a musical instrument.
She couldn't have him when the war began, so she had laid an elaborate trap for him. She had learned from the spies that he was a member of the Dark Flames Adventurer Team, so she had had her people keep an eye out for the Dark Flames members. When a team popped up, especially one of the elites, it was too perfect.
That was when she had released one of her captives in hopes of drawing him out. He was a ranger, and he was the one most likely to be sent, along with a few others. The trap had been set, only they underestimated the prey.
For starters, they didn't expect him to come out late at night. All logic said that, if you're going to track someone in the forest unless you had hounds, you do it in bright daylight. Too bad Barda was half-a-hound himself.
That was not enough to circumvent the defenses of course. Come to think of it, you're probably thinking Barda's entry was too easy. You should know, it's not that it was too easy, but rather it was Barda who was too overpowered.
The kind of security that could keep him off had not yet been invented. With his capability, he could seal his entire body, ensuring that his body odor does not leak out for the dogs to track. His movements were so precise and calculated that he could come and go as he pleased. No exaggeration, with machinic precision, he couldn't snap a twig unless he wanted to.
Barda had snuck in, freed the captives and gone as though he was not there. How could Commander Dana not be ticked off? The spies had been put in place in anticipation of a posse being formed once the woman was properly interviewed. Teams were waiting to chase them once they ventured deeper into the forest.
After she was done with her subordinates, she went back to her office and sank in her chair. Her fear of the man had only heightened. He seemed like a phantom that came out of nowhere to devour her. Before him, all her power and prestige seemed to crumble. Nothing she threw at him stuck, she never could get a hold of him.
There was hope though, a chance that he would be put down for real. She reached out to the shelf instinctively hoping to find the scroll she always kept there.
Shock upon shock! It was not there!