"Don't forget your promise after going to the palace. You have to wait for me," said Lev.
"I should be the one telling you that. I heard that foreign women are really beautiful, don't fall for someone else and forget me," Abiri teased him.
Abiri's family had prepared to move to Yuj with the Emperor. Diweis and many other people accompanied them to the city gate. Before leaving, Conall made Waylen Orson the Chief Commander of Nokor. With the Emperor's permission, Rya, the woman troop and half of Conall's troops were allowed to follow the Arlos and become the royal guards.
Lev was also leaving Nokor to go to Khaamsha from where he will go to the neighbouring kingdom. At the city gate, Lev and Abiri were saying their goodbyes. Both of them were reluctant to go. Hernan and Conall too said their goodbyes in the meantime. Abiri had already bid her farewells to Hernan and Serene. Serene gave some more food to Aziza. Everyone was sad but kept their cool except for Adeer.
"I don't want to go. I like living here," he cried. Conall tried to comfort him but to no use.
"All my friends are here," he complained. There were a group of kids who always played with Adeer. All of them were crying.
"How nice it is to be a kid, you can laugh and cry whenever you want," Abiri thought.
Serene held him in her arms. She gave him his favourite candy to calm him down.
"You are going to a bigger place. You will have a lot of new friends there. It is the Capital city so there will be a lot of new things to see too," she said.
"But you won't be there, Lady Dewei," he said with tears.
For Adeer, Serene was a mother-like figure. Serene always looked after the three kids. Since Adeer was too young when their mother passed away, she was like a mother to him. Serene had to hold back her tears when she heard him say that. She gave him a hug.
"You can still come and see me," she said smiling, "Maybe when your sister and Lev get married, you can come with her and stay with us for a while."
"Really?" he said, "Can I come see you? Abiri, when are you marrying Lev?" he asked Abiri.
Everyone chuckled.
"We haven't even left and you are already planning your return trip?" asked Abiri, smiling.
Adeer smiled. He finally stopped crying.
"You should keep smiling," Lev said as he smiled. Abiri looked at him.
"Now that you are going to the palace and not the battlefield, you should smile more often. You look pretty when smiling," he said.
"You became a smooth-talker when we are about to part ways," Abiri said, "When we were together; you hesitated to even give me a bracelet. You still haven't given it to me."
Lev was surprised, "You knew about it."
"I saw you taking it out back then, but I was worried about the city so I had to interrupt. Later I thought you will give it to me after everything is resolved, but look at you. You still didn't give it. Where is it?" she asked.
Lev took the bracelet and put it on her wrist. It was purple-blue in colour and had a beautiful Neelakurunji carving. Neelakurunji was a blue flower which bloomed once every 12 years and was only available in Luse of the North-East. Abiri had never seen this flower but had read about it in a book. She had mentioned to Lev that she would love to visit the forest in the North-east during the flower's bloom.
"I carved it myself to give it to you," he said, "Now you can see the flower anytime you want."
"It's beautiful. I love it," she was moved, "Do you know even what this flower means?"
"It symbolizes yearning, love and happiness" he said.
They looked at each other silently. They didn't need any more words. She suddenly regretted not agreeing to go with him.
Conall reminded that they had to leave now.
"I will wait for you," she said slowly and turned around in time to prevent him from looking at her moist eyes.
Everyone got on their horses and set off. Lev and Abiri never looked back. Because both of them knew that once they turn back, they would never leave.
The Emperor's entourage had many attendants and the Royal Guards. The Emperor's carriage was followed by his attendants. Behind them were the Arlos on their horses. Adeer rode with Aziza, Abiri and Conall in turns. Behind them were Rya and the troop. Rya's troop guarded the luggage and other necessities. The Royal Guards and Conall's troop surrounded the Entourage to ensure their safety.
Being form a military family, the Arlos never rode carriages or palanquins. They always rode horses. The Kingdom of Saha was a liberal empire, which did not discriminate against women. Men and women were both allowed to study anything from politics to martial arts. Anyone with the knowledge and talent could become an official or start a business without any gender bias. Women officials or women military officials were not unheard of either. But they were rare. Most women studied just to get better marriage prospects. So, the Royal Guards, had seen women riding horses for fun, but they never saw them traveling long-distances on horses. Nor did they see a whole troop of women in armours before.
While staying in Nokor, the Royal Guards did hear rumours about the 'Little Chief' and her all-women troop's prowess. After the city was saved, many rumours about Abiri's fierce battle and witty strategy spread across like wildfire. There were some truths and some lies in those rumours. So the guards were really intrigued by the Arlos but at the same time were also sceptical.
The entourage moved along uneventfully. After a whole day of traveling, they were halfway to Yuj. The entourage was passing through a clearing when the front guard stopped them. The royal guards immediately surrounded the king's carriage with their weapons. Abiri's troop immediately surrounded the Arlos. Aziza held her whip alertly. Even Adeer, who was riding with Aziza, took his small crossbow out. Conall's troop surrounded the entourage.
Haimi and a few women who wore the bronze uniform of Abiri's troop stood with bloodied swords in front of the entourage. The head of the Royal Guard and the king's personal bodyguard, Akhed Whir addressed the Arlos.
"What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to start a rebellion," he asked fiercely but before he could order his men to surround Arlos, the emperor stopped him.
Abiri looked at the women in front of her. As soon as she made eye contact they bowed and knelt down.
"They are indeed from my troop," Abiri said, "I sent them ahead to scout for ambush."
"Second Lady Arlo, we have scouts of our own, we don't need you to act by yourself," he said displeased.
"Sir Whir! Please don't misunderstand. It's just that, everyone knows that sending scouts ahead is a protocol of Royal Guards. So the attackers might not show themselves if they are not sure. I sent my scouts to follow yours to confuse the attackers and catch them off-guard," she explained patiently.
"But-"
"Akhed, I already permitted her to send the scouts. Second Lady Arlo is really meticulous," the emperor cut him off, "Besides, Conall Arlo is already the heir, why will he rebel?"
Akhed fell silent and Abiri asked Haimi to explain the situation.
"Little Chief, there was an ambush set up ahead. They revealed themselves as soon as the royal scouts left," she said. She hesitated before continuing, "Apologies Little Chief, we couldn't catch them alive. We caught one but he killed himself before we could ask him anything. But we found this." She gave Abiri a piece of paper.
"What is it?" Akhed asked.
"You did well! The next group will take over now, you can rest up," Abiri told her while ignoring him.
Abiri saw the torn paper. It only had the words, "-o Kill -", written on it. The paper before and after the words was torn. She gave the paper to Conall. He in turn tried to give it to the emperor but Akhed stopped him and took the paper. He quickly glanced and passed it to the emperor.
"He is responsible for the emperor's safety so naturally he is cautious about everything," Abiri thought, "But why does he look so anxious? His expression was also a bit weird. Am I overthinking?"
She said, "Well, Sir Whir? What do we do now?"
"How dare they attempt to attack the Emperor! Guards! Get the assassin's bodies. Once we reach Yuj I'll investigate this personally!" he ordered.
They went ahead and found a resting spot for the night. The emperor and the entourage set up camp there. As everyone rested, Aziza noticed Abiri staring at the piece of paper, deep in thought.
"What are you thinking Abiri?" she asked as she sat beside her.
"I am not sure Aziza," she said, "I feel like I am missing something but I don't know what."
"Then stop thinking about it," Aziza said as she took the paper from Abiri, "you should rest -"
Before she could complete her sentence, Adeer pounced on her.
"Aziza! Abiri! What are you talking about without me," he said as he snatched the paper from Aziza.
Before the Arlo sisters could say something Adeer stopped in his tracks and asked, "Who does Sir Whir want to kill?"
"What are you saying?" Abiri asked.
"This paper," he showed it, "Sir Whir writes like this. You see the big loop in the 'K'? That's how he writes."
Aziza immediately held him, "Are you absolutely sure he wrote it? How would you know?"
"Sir Whir likes to write. I saw him write down instructions for all the servants when they came to our house," he said.
Abiri and Aziza looked at each other.
"You take him back to the tent, I'll confirm this and if it is true I will have to consult father," Abiri said.
Aziza nodded and they both walked back to the camp. Abiri asked Rya to look for an instruction note from Sir Whir and confirmed what Adeer told her.
"We cannot tell the King," Conall told Abiri.
Abiri and Conall were in Conall's tent. Abiri told him her latest discovery.
"But we have to alert the King!" she protested, "He's one of the few people who can get close to the king; the more we delay the more dangerous it will get!"
"A piece of paper with similar writing is just not enough evidence to accuse the head of Royal Guards with treason," Conall told Abir.
Abiri thought for a moment and then said, "Fine! I'll look for evidence but-"
"I will get our men to tighten security for the king. You don't worry about it and leave it be. I'll take care of it," Conall cut her off.
"Father! Why are you trying to stop-"
"Because this is not a battlefield! Evidence? Protect? Sir Whir is one of the most trusted guards of His Majesty. If what you said is true, he had many chances to attack the king back in the palace or at our house. Why would he wait till now? And it is much more dangerous for you to get involved. They even dared to infiltrate the King's personal guards. Who knows how many are there out there, we cannot act recklessly," he said.
Abiri fell silent as she thought to herself, "Father is right. We can't act on it now. May be we can use this information to bring out other traitors."
"Abiri, don't act out now. Let's keep an eye on him for now," Conall told her.
The next few days went uneventful. Although she kept a close eye on Sir Whir, there was nothing suspicious. They carried on the way to the capital without any further incidents.