I hurried up and met Dolores who almost left without me. She really meant what she said in her letter as it was exactly six hours from the time at which I received it.
"I'm here." I said to her as she smiled complacently.
"Naya. I knew you'd come." She said.
"No, you didn't. You were just about to leave... without me" I responded.
"I knew you were coming, so I got ready for us to leave." She said. "You've grown into a fierce sweet lady, and you look a lot like your mother." She said. She complimented me before her gaze landed on the ring on my finger. The onyx ring. "She gave that to you?" Dolores said with an unusual calmness in her voice.
"It was my mother's, an heirloom. Mara has kept it safe for me for years now." I responded, gently caressing the ring with my palm.
"I see. When did she give this to you?" She asked.
"Just now. Why?" I responded.
"Nothing. I've just not been able to detect it, but that is because it has not been in your possession."
"You can detect it? How? What else can you do?" I asked.
"Easy Naya. You'll get to find out soon enough, for now, we have a mission to accomplish and we need a plan. And please, take off the ring but keep it in your possession. Let it stay hidden. Stefan must not find out who you are no one has to." She said.
"Okay." I said and took off the ring before I proceeded to ask my question "does this mean this ring only belonged to my mother?"
"You said it yourself. It's an heirloom. Now get in the boat, we have to leave now." Dolores ordered me.
Without any further complaints or questions, I got into the boat and dropped my little brown linen bag as Dolores started to row it. I sat down to observe Dolores.
"Don't you think it's rude to stare?" She asked me.
"Sorry. I was just wondering what happened, why I didn't grow up with you, where you've long been?" I responded.
Dolores didn't give me a response. She probably thought my questions weren't ready to get a response or maybe she just didn't want to answer.
"Dolores, can I ask you a question?" I said to her and she nodded.
"Mhm." She mumbled.
"What was my mother like? Mara never spoke of her." I said to her.
"Well, we'll have to leave it be then. This is no time for cheap sentiments. This is a time for action." She responded without looking at me.
"Something tells me you weren't exactly close before she died." I said.
"Can you row a boat?" Dolores sharply asked me, trying to change the topic as I expected she would.
"Yes. I grew up in Damitro and the only way to travel in and out of there is through a canal, so everyone there can row a boat." I responded excitedly.
"Mara did a nice job in raising you." She said.
"Yes, she did." I responded. "Why did you ask? Do you want me to help you?" I asked.
"Maybe later. Not now." She responded.
"Okay. Where are we headed now?"
"Torra. It's a kingdom in the golden empire ruled by King Olaf." Dolores said.
"What are we going to do there?"
"I thought it was pretty obvious. We are going there to make King Olaf an ally. Now we can't face Stefan without a troop or we'll fall. He has a million armies combined from his kingdom, Naile, and our Kingdom, Devon."
"He has our soldiers at his command?"
"Yes. Stefan has dominated the golden empire which was made up of seven kingdoms but currently, six kingdoms, Devon, Naile, Torra, Avalor, Troy, and Zago, and Stefan has all the kings of these kingdoms pledging their fealty to him."
"So how do we get them to become our ally?"
"We'll make them an offer. Once we get Devon back, we'll restore the magic of the golden empire. I'm sure every king wants the magic of their kingdom back but there are too scared to stand against Stefan but if we take the first step, they'll follow suit."
"What if they betray us?"
"We'll worry about that when the fight is over. Our first stop is Torra. King Olaf may be hard to break so we don't have to approach him, he never really liked your mother. We'll sneak around his kingdom and form allies with his people secretly."
"That I think, is a bad idea." I retorted.
"Do you have a better plan?" Dolores asked.
"Do you have no army or henchmen? You seem to me like a fighter and like you run a world of your own." I said observing her closely but she did not even respond to that. Her face did not even give anyway for suspicions. "Well, maybe I thought so highly of you." I added in an attempt to get her to speak and she did, not just what I wanted to hear.
"Once we get to the shore, we'll rest the night and continue our journey tomorrow. It's getting late." Dolores said.
"You know if we have to work together then you have to open up to me. I can't trust you if you just won't tell me anything, Dolores. I'm not a fool."
"Then jump the river and go back to Damitro."
I scoffed "right. You know you're a pain in the neck and you put on this tough act just to pretend you don't need me when in fact, you can't do this without me." I said.
"Neither can you. You may be strong Naya but you have never faced an army, all your life you've been in Damitro and you're just a typical girl."
"Typical girl. Well, you spent seventeen years of your life searching for this typical girl." I said and just then our boat got to the shore.
"I'm going a different way, maybe we should do this separately and see who wins." I said angrily getting off the boat with my bag in my hand.
"You're going to regret this Naya." She shouted after me.
"You too." I responded as I made my way into the forest.
I went into the forest and got myself a very cozy corner where I put on a fire and sat close to it wrapping myself up in a cloak. I did separate from Dolores and I made sure she lost track of me that night.
I wanted to finally lay my head to rest when an arrow came flying toward me, landing on a tree just a few centimeters away from my forehead.
"An intruder. Kill her." A fierce man said to his minion. They both looked like hooligans and had boulders. They also looked thirsty for blood.
I quickly rose to my feet and looked around for a weapon and that was when I realized I had no sword. I was left alone to defend myself from men who had the biggest and deadliest weapon I'd ever seen.