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Tova's Choice
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Tova's Four Kingdoms Leaving
TOVALeila and Garth looked at me earnestly. I sat down heavily. I hadn’t thought of that option.All of my memories have always been centered about the prophesy and my destiny. I barely remember my life before the prophesy was uttered and I was taken from my family. I have never had a say in my future, only used as a pawn to be moved around a board at the whim of Erik or his mother. I was groomed to be a wife and a child bearer, secondary was my supporting role as High Queen. I had been treated unkindly by many in Erik’s household and, by his own admittance, he encouraged that. He, too, was angry over his lack of control of his future but he was a man and the High King. He had ways to rebel.I could leave. I could see if I could find my parents, perhaps, and try to rebuild a relationship with them if they were still alive. I could take my bag of gold and purchase some land and a home and live on my own schedule and for myself. But if I left, I would be leaving Erik to his
Tova's Four Kingdoms First Day
TOVAWe splashed through the river for many miles. The moon was full, and I was grateful for the light but the sleipnirs were surefooted animals and did fine in the water. My traveling companions were exhausted, and we rode in silence, it being broken by the noise of the hooves clacking on the rocks where the water ran low. We left the river a few times to traverse around rapids and deeper areas but always came back. It was the only way I knew to avoid the trackers.Daybreak broke slowly and as soon as I could see, I led the way out of the river in a particularly rocky area, hoping to not leave trackable hoofprints. My goal now was to put some distance between us and the river and we needed to ride hard. I led the way into the forest at a canter. I pointed us back to the east, backtracking, but angling north. I let the lead rope to Troi slack a little bit so that she could comfortably follow Bo and he started climbing the rocky hill. I closed my eyes, thinking about the map
Tova's Four Kingdoms Leaky Barn
ERIKAt some point in my delirious state Loki forced more of the sleeping potion down my throat and I slept hard. When I awoke I was on a barn floor, chained and shacked to a stake that had been driven deep into the ground. I was laying on bales of hay and I could feel it moving underneath me. Ug. Mice.I painfully pushed myself into a sitting position, noting that my ribs felt bruised. I was guessing they threw me over a horse to get me here and that they were none too gentle. My face also felt bruised and swollen and I thought I may have a tooth loose on one side. I gingerly touched my face, my shackles and chains jingling. One of my eyes was swollen shut. They had beat my face so that I was unrecognizable in case they were happened upon but another person. I had to give them credit. That was smart.I leaned back against another haybale, supporting my back and looked around while fighting the dizziness and nausea that came with my movements. There were holes in the roof
Tova's Four Kingdoms Tracking Erik
TOVALeila woke us up before dawn. She looked a lot better after a night’s rest and I felt better. Garth got up and walked to the river to piss, stretching his back.She packed up the camp and I retrieved the animals. They seemed none the worse for our hard day of traveling and seemed anxious to ride again. I saddled them and, with a grimace, Leila lifted herself into Troi’s saddle. Garth looked at her and then clambered up behind her, to her surprise.“Care to share where you are leading us?” Leila asked, no malice in her voice.“Following the river and heading west,” I said. “I think that there’s a pretty good chance west is the direction Erik was taken. If we can get close enough, Troi can track him. Slepnirs are loyal to a fault and will track their masters. She is Erik’s through and through.”Leila patted her neck. “She’s a good girl,” she cooed. She continued to stroke Troi’s neck but spoke to me. “We put in a hard day of travel and now we’re backtracking. Do you th
Tova's Four Kingdoms Found
TOVAWe waited, hearing Brut shout at both the King and Loki, and we could hear Loki shouting back. I strained my ears, hoping to hear Erik’s voice, but could not. My heart was pounding erratically in my chest. I wanted to rush in to make sure he was okay, but I knew that it wasn’t the time. Garth spent his time looking back at the forest where Leila had disappeared, watching me, and then looking at the barn where the shouting was taking place. I could sense that he was torn. I was, too. Brut finally came out of the barn and he mounted his horse, trotting back the way he had come. Garth and I dropped to the forest floor and watched as he hurried down the trail, a mere ten feet from us, not even looking in our direction. I wasn’t sure where Leila was waiting for him, but I knew she would do her best to take care of him. I just had to trust. We waited while the sky above us got progressively darker and the thunder roared above us. We could hear nothing coming from the trail
Tova's Four Kingdoms Faint
ERIKTova launched herself into my arms and I held them wide to catch her. I grunted, wincing against the pain of my broken ribs and she pulled back, once again in control. She gave me a look of sympathy but said nothing to me, instead throwing her head back and yelling.“Garth!” I knew that Brut had said that she had left with the healer and a warrior. I was still surprised when the healer came in, bowing deeply before approaching. “May I see, your majesty?” he asked.I nodded, relaxing. Tova backed away, one eye on the door to the barn and the other watching Garth. Bo dropped to his knees and leaned into me. I absently patted his neck.Garth came forward and used his thumb to pry open the eye that was swollen shut. To my relief, I could see from it, albeit it was blurry. He clicked his tongue and then proceeded to run his hands over my body, asking mundane questions.“Does this hurt? How about this? Breathe deep for me. Cough.” I obeyed as best I could, though the cough
Tova's Four Kingdoms Fever
TOVAErik’s head lolled against my chest, and I had to fight the panic down. I looked over at Garth.“He will be okay,” he said. “Let’s get him settled before he wakes up. It will be easier for him.”I nodded, and Troi took off, led by Leila. We followed.Thank goodness Bo was such a gentle and tame animal when he wanted to be. I concentrated on holding Erik and keeping him comfortable, and Bo followed Troi. When we started climbing the rocks, I gripped with my knees tighter and held Erik a little closer.I had to duck to get into the cave but I saw that Leila had piled up our supplies against the far wall and had started a fire. The temperature of the cave was pleasantly warm, considering we had a cold spring storm raging outside. Garth and Leila silently came to Bo’s side and I slid Erik into their arms. Garth hurried him over to a pile of rushes and lay him gently on it.I left Erik to Garth’s ministrations, taking the pot from my saddlebags and turned to head into the sto
Tova's Four Kingdoms Rescue
ERIKI tried to convince Garth that I was ready to travel that day, but he insisted that we hold for a few days. He used the excuse that I needed to recover, but I knew that he just wanted a few days with Leila without any other distractions. My suspicions were confirmed when they kept sneaking off together.Tova proved to be quite the huntress. She took Leila’s bow and came back with a doe that she efficiently skinned and quartered. I looked at her with amazement, blood up to her elbows as she arranged spits of steaks around the fire.“Where on earth did you learn to do that?” I asked. “Birgir,” she answered. “He wanted me to learn how to take care of myself and how to survive if I had to. This is the biggest animal I’ve ever cleaned but it’s not much different than a smaller one. It just takes longer.”I could smell the meat roasting. “I need to thank Birgir for making sure you got a good education. That smells amazing.”She smiled shyly. “Thanks,” she murmured.The smell
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