It was late in the afternoon when her tent flap shook. She lay in bed with Markden's arms around her. She was enjoying the feel of his warm skin against her back when the flap shook again. "What is it?" she said hoping not to wake him.
"I need to speak with Markden." It was a male voice, and she couldn't put a face to the voice at the moment.
"In a moment." She reached behind her hip and rubbed her hand down his hip and thigh.
"Markden," she said rubbing his leg harder. He took in a deep breath and stirred. "Markden." She gripped his thigh.
"What is it," he breathed against her ear.
"They want you outside." She slid her hand behind her back and pushed him away from her.
He groaned, got out of the bed, tucked the furs against her, and gathered his clothing. He dressed quickly and went out the tent flap. She sighed, he would be back and bring her the news he was getting now. She needed to be dressed for this, but the bed was warm, and it might wait.
"Jennaseea," he said, and now she knew it wouldn't wait.
She sat up in the bed wrapping the furs around her shoulders. "Come in Markden."
He marched up to the bed. "Your little pet has been busy." He started to pace at the foot of her bed. "One of the scouts saw him enter a village and then several riders left in all directions." He walked over to the table and looked at the map. "I can see from here. He must have sent them to every village within our reach." He turned his eyes toward her. "What do you want to do now?" His face was etched with anger.
"It's too late to kill him." She stepped out of the bed and picked up her linen dress. "I need my leathers, go see if they're dry." She sat on the bed, barely noticing Markden leave the tent or the glare he shot at her. He wasn't gone long and came back with her leathers bundled in his arms.
"You're not going to be able to find him now." Markden handed her the skins and she started to put them on.
"We need to be ready." She dressed quickly, preparing for war, it was always war, and she knew it. She went to the table. The drawing was still there, and she set it gently aside and pulled the map toward her. "Get me something to eat." She looked at the map and heard him leave. It wouldn't take him, but a moment and she needed to see what they could do. Where would he have gone, after he warned the village, and was he one of the riders, or was he still in the villages? She was deep in thought when Markden interrupted her.
"Jennaseea." He called from the other side of the tent flap.
"Come in Markden." She called. Why did she not put the chains back on Rockashen?
He brought her a bowl, a root dish with meat slices, and a heavy cream gravy. She took the bowl from him and began to eat. Markden looked over her shoulder at the map. "This is the village he went to. It might be best to start there." His finger floated over the ink on the map.
"That's the one we planned on hitting next anyway." She leaned forward and looked over the map. "Should we go ahead with the plan or try to hit one of these other two? We can flank the village that way and close in on it later." The surprise would be gone now no matter what they did, and where a small group could easily be overpowered, large ones would be a different story.
"They might expect it." Markden sighed and sat down at the table. "Maybe we should just hit the village that is next, they may expect us to change our tactics."
Her eyes drifted to the drawing of her. Why did she not chain him back up? "Tell the camp we are moving. We need to anyway now that they know where we are."
"Yes, Princess." Markden left her alone in her thought.
Whatever was done, was done, and it was too late now to change. She picked up the drawing and looked at it. Rockashen saw her differently, he feared her, but he saw a softness that was often missed by most others.
It took most of the day to pack up the camp and get it ready to move. They collected a few horses on the raid and she would be riding her own. They waited until nightfall to begin the move. Through the night Jennaseea road and listened to the sounds around them. For such a large attack party they moved quietly through the woods. The village might not be that far away, but just under 600 men did slow you down.
Scouts went out and came back to report what was ahead of them. She rode quietly with Markden at her side. The men followed, fanned out or slightly ahead of her. They would be warned of an attack.
The sky was still pitch dark, Jennaseea watched another scout return to Markden. "There is a clearing ahead and it's big." The scout stated and looked between Markden and Jennaseea.