The lean, dark featured lad read the missive once more and considered the fabric it came wrapped in. Clearly a part of his father's tunic, it meant that the man had been captured by the enemy.
An officer stood in the door of the smithy Dan had run, until recently, in the absence of his father, Leon. The man in uniform spoke simply and briefly,
"An armaments worker as talented as your father is too valuable to lose, a fact the enemy knows, hence their willingness to ransom him for a specific amount of gold."
"You will pay the ransom, of course?" asked Dan.
"Certainly. But the enemy will not trust one of our soldiers to deliver the ransom. As you can see, they demand a civilian of age but one who has never seen a battle." The man in the uniform's eyes froze on Dan.
"I WOULD have been a soldier," replied the stripling youth hotly, "I'm more than old enough, but YOUR generals decided that I was too valuable to my father as his assistant to be permitted to enlist. Now, where am I? The Kantans have cut my supplies of coal so I can't even make nails or shoe horses let alone turn out or repair armor for your soldiers, AND you dunderheads allowed them to capture my father! If it was not a certainty that they would kill him if they didn't get their ransom I 'd tell you, idiots, to pound sand!"
"Calm down son, there is no reason to be rude."
"Perhaps not," returned Dan, "but there IS every reason to be angry! "What was he doing so deep in enemy territory in the first place? He's a support officer, not an advance man!"
The tall soldier in the vestibule replied, "We had reason to believe that we could hold the Kantan smithy we had captured from attack. Your father was doing his job, creating weapons and repairing armor when the smithy was retaken."
Dan stared at the officer, his anger not diminished an iota.
"Son, I can't offer anything other than my apologies. The Kantans have promised to keep him alive for thirty days and have issued this safe passage document. With just about every able-bodied man needed for military or farm work, there IS no one else to run this errand. It is either you, son or nobody and your father dies. It's a chance to serve your country son, to be a hero."
"Spare me the patriotic malarkey, of course, I'll go. Just as soon as I figure out what to do with my sister."
"I'm coming with you, of course!" stated a lilting female voice.
Both men turned to spy a tall, beautiful, slim blonde, blue-eyed woman force her way into the doorway.
"Absolutely OUT of the question!" replied Dan.
"Why not? I'm older than you. Technically, with Dad gone, I am the head of household and I have final say on whether you go or not. Anyway, you are not leaving me in this house by my lonesome."
"In the first place,", returned Dan, "I would have found a nice place for you to stay. In the second place, Amber, there is NO WAY on earth that you could pass as a Kantan female. They are all dark-haired, short, and have deep brown eyes. I could possibly pass as one of them myself, but you, even veiled would be easy to spot a mile away. You know how the Kantans feel about women who leave their homes without their husbands or fathers. I'm not old enough to pass as your father, and I damn sure ain't gonna pose as your husband and even though we ARE brother and sister, we look nothing alike. You can help me best by simply staying home. If they find out you are single, the Kantans would throw you in one of their awful jails in a heartbeat and then I've got two ransoms to worry about."
The pretty girl planted her feet firmly on the ground and replied, "Before Mama died, she made me promise to look after you and always keep you safe. You may be bigger and stronger than me, Mister, but you are still my baby brother. In the second place, Kantan rules against single females do NOT apply to slave girls."
"Now I know you are crazy, Amber!"
Amber was no about to take no for an answer. She turned to the soldier in the doorway and stated.
"Officer, I KNOW my rights. As eldest, I have final say on whether my brother accepts this mission or not, is that correct?"
The soldier stopped short for a moment before answering, "Yes Ma'am, that IS the law, BUT..."
"Then it is decided. I am going along!"
Dan looked imploringly at the officer who shrugged his shoulders in response. "Kid, I know nothing about women, I'm a soldier, not a miracle worker. Here is your pass. I'll leave the two you to work this out. Whatever you do, be at the frontier in three days." With that, the man turned smartly on his heels and marched off.
As soon as the door closed, Dan asked, "Are you out of your mind, Sis?"
"No, I am not, Mister too big for his britches, who knows what dangers I'll have to protect you from while we rescue Dad." returned Amber smartly.
"You protect me? That's a laugh!" answered Dan hotly.
Despite much argument, Dan could not dissuade his sister from accompanying him. Three days later, after Dan had exhausted his arguments, the brother and sister were near a border station on the frontier.
"I'll only be a second," stated Amber as she vanished behind a bush. Dan's amazement was total a short time later. The prim and proper and modestly attired young woman who stepped behind the foliage was replaced by an alluring lithe woman with fine legs, an impressive bust, and stunning figure, clad in the scantiest of rags.
Dan had never seen so much of his sister exposed at one time before. Never, in all of his short life, had it dawned on him that his older sister could be so breathtakingly beautiful. For the first time, it occurred to Dan that having his sister along as a distraction might not be such a bad thing. It was a three or four-day hike to reach the internment camp where his father was being housed. During that time, many dangers could rear their heads. If word got around how much gold was carefully sewn into Dan's tunic, his life would be worthless. With eyes and thoughts drawn to his sister, however, Dan became that much more invisible and that much safer. Of course, Amber's beauty might cause other sorts of problems ...
"Stop drooling you creepy little pervert and help me with this collar." deadpanned Amber.
As Dan closed the lock on his sister's slave collar he took a moment to revel in his new authority.
"Remember, "Slave" I'm in charge and get to make ALL of the decisions. Your job is to look pretty and act as a distraction and to keep an eye on the trail behind us to make sure we are not being followed."
Amber stuck out her tongue at her brother before stating, OK, "Master."
"Where are your clothes?" asked Dan.
"I left them behind that bush."
"Well go get them, slave."
A moment later, Amber handed Dan the bundle of her cast-off clothing. Dan promptly tossed the garments into their campfire.
"What are you doing, Danny?" shrieked Amber.
"How would it look if it was discovered I was traveling with concealing clothes for my slave? People would instantly suspect we were up to something. The clothes would get just as ruined if I buried them and, also if I did that, someone might find them and trace them back to us. Don't worry, I'm sure dad will buy you new clothes when we return home."
Amber replied to these words with, "For an annoying little brother, you CAN be intelligent from time to time."
"For an annoying older sister, you sure are annoying."
"Drop dead, Danny"
"If we're not careful," stated Dan, "I certainly will and you would find yourself a slave for real!"
The soberness and import with which Dan uttered that sentence had a profound impact on Amber. For seemingly the first time, despite her brother's many admonitions over the past few days, of this possibility, Amber began to see this adventure as something much more dangerous than a lark with a spot of menace. As she took up her position, three paces behind her brother, at the end of the leash fastened to her collar, Amber realized that already she was not the same woman she had been just a few days ago at her old familiar home and smithy. She wondered how much more she would change by the time she returned to this spot.
A few miles down the trail, Dan and Amber arrived at the border station of Kantan. Because of the war, the guards eyed Dan's pass closely. Both he and Amber were frisked several times by huge guards with bitter frowns on their faces and very bad attitudes. Amber's frisking always took longer than Dan's and was pointless in any case since nearly all of her flesh was exposed. Dan was quizzed about how long he had owned his slave and if he was cognizant of all the rules and regulations regarding slave ownership in Kantan. Amber was quizzed on her Master's likes and dislikes and on his treatment of her. After grilling them both for several hours the disguised brother and sister slipped over the border and found the road which would take them to their father's prison camp.
In short order, the forested hills of the border were replaced with rolling hills of tall grass. The road, while quite dusty, was easy to follow. The brother and sister, however, had a very limited knowledge of what lay ahead of them geographically and culturally. Dan's country and Kantan had never been friendly but had avoided actual war until now. As far as Dan was concerned, the average resident of Kantan was an ignorant goat herder absurdly protective and controlling of the women in his life. As far the average Kantan was concerned, Dan's country was full of sanctimonious mountain inbreeds who had no idea how to control their sluttish women. The amazing thing was not that the two countries had gone to war, but that they had maintained the peace for so long.
After many long miles, the grasses shrank in stature until they were not more than ankle high. A settlement appeared by the trail. Dan recognized a tavern among the buildings, both Dan and Amber were quite thirsty and tired. Both were also quite dusty from the road. This seemed as good a place as any to spend the night. Dan led Amber to the front gate of the little community.
"Halt!"
A pair of guards leveled a crossbow at the siblings.
"What have we here?" Asked one of the guards trying to be intimidating yet he was almost the same age as, and appeared even more youthful, than Dan.
Dan presented his pass and exchanged the nature of his errand. Dan was frisked and the main guard stated, "You are welcome to stay in our village after you have your property assessed." As he stated the last sentence his eyes hungrily devoured Amber's exposed charms.
