Melle and Erron had not gotten more than a few hours down the road towards Nase when their carriage was intercepted by an official messenger of the King.

Nobody was more surprised than Melle, who was quite certain that nobody in the capitol should have known they were coming, much less that they were here. Surely, it had been several days--maybe a week--but spies often take that much time to report in, and then the King would have to make decisions and set things into motion after that.

But Erron assured her quietly as the messenger approached that this messenger was for them. So they pulled to a stop and waited.

The messenger, a slim young woman, pulled up as soon as she saw the Order’s seal and the vest worn by the two. In spite of what Rin had said, they were both on the driver’s bench, with neither feeling comfortable being driven around by the other.

“You are the honored representatives of the Yunian Order?” The messenger’s voice was clear and loud, enough that she could have been heard perfectly if her horse, and their carriage, had been all in motion, possibly even on a windy day.

“Yes,” said Melle, neither as clearly nor as loudly, but more than enough to be heard in the relative quiet of the main road. “We are two of the seven people currently here to represent the Order.”

“My Lord bids you welcome and would like to assure you that much is being done to address the issue which has brought you to this country. This after-noon or tomorrow, the King’s Own will arrive at the estate in question, and perform their own investigation.”

Melle and Erron exchanged a look. Erron, not trusting his own voice not to carry, offered a pulse of mind magic to Melle which conveyed She would guess today, before dark. Melle, trying not to look suspicious, accepted the thought but put it out of mind. Most people didn’t know what a mage looked like when they were receiving information magically, but those who did know could pick it out from any distance.

Instead she nodded to the messenger, trying to keep her voice clear. “The Order has this very day arrived and should be meeting with the Lord Egrethore even now. If we had known the King’s Own would be investigating, we might have delayed…” Melle had to admit she felt a bit overwhelmed. It seemed certain that the King investigating at the same time was bound to complicate everything even more than things already were. “We had intended to go to Nase and meet with the King. If you would, please deliver your message to our companions at the Egrethore estate. They should be in a marked carriage.”

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“Of course, Lady.” The messenger offered a shallow bow and kicked her horse, charging off to the west without further hesitation.

“Sharp kid,” offered Erron as the carriage started moving again. “She did catch us, I think, but she doesn’t care. She ought to be one of the King’s Own, if she’s not a noble daughter herself. Sharp,” he repeated. “She’ll do well.”

“Any indication how they know?”

Erron shook his head. “Wouldn’t have come up in her thoughts. Whoever we meet with will know, but even then, if we don’t ask the right questions, the answer will stay buried. I appreciate that Master Marion thinks highly of my abilities, but the King will know before we get there that I’m a mind mage, and no hiding that. Even if he didn’t, there’s no way I can get any thought from them that they aren’t willing to surface on their own. S’not legal, not in the Order nor out of it, and for good reason.”

“Very well.” Melle studied the road ahead, and extended just a trace of wind magic to try to keep track of the messenger with her senses, but the winds did not carry her senses in the right direction, and from what she could tell, the woman was already well on her way gone. But, importantly, she also didn’t sense anyone else’s senses near, at least, not close enough to easily overhear. “I don’t like this, not at all.”

Erron took a moment to turn his body a half turn towards her, as though turning his head was a pain; he studied her for a long moment, before scooting around to face forward again. “No,” he said. “You’re not wrong, lady. There’s nothing to the messenger that says it, but I believe there is a bad stink to this country, and not just at the estate. We are like as not to get caught up in something awful.”

“If we get into trouble, going straight to the king… the others will have an even worse time of it.”

“Different dangers. There is a reason why dear Master Marion assigned a mind mage to meet with the king.” Erron paused, raising his eyebrows at the road ahead, knowing that Melle could see out of the corner of her eye. “I don’t mean, either, that I’ll learn something. No, there is one other use I can be… without breaking the Order’s laws.”

Melle had been following his logic long before he got to the end, and couldn’t help but feel a chill spreading through her. She just nodded, hoping that he would, at least, offer a guarantee that she was safe from the king’s aides.

But when she traded glances with Erron, knowing that he could almost certainly have read her thoughts, the strained look in his eyes made the cold feeling cover her whole body, and she shuddered.