Vara looked up in surprise when lord Riccardo Prias rode through the now restored gate of Boncini. "My lord," she said, "to what do we owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit? Allow me to congratulate you with the birth of your son."

Riccardo smiled as he and his escort dismounted. "My thanks, my lady. I feel very fortunate."

"I hope your wife and son are both in good health?"

He nodded. "They are. Thank you for your concern."

"Please come inside," Vara invited, "I'll have food prepared. Iason is in the stables. I will send for him."

Riccardo inclined his head and followed her inside. He motioned one of his men to flank him. Both took the seat Vara offered them.

"Please tell me what I can do for you," Vara said.

Ricardo had a serious look on his face. "Perhaps we should wait for lord Iason," he said solemnly, "Then we won't need to share the story twice."

Vara's face fell into concern. "Is all well?" she asked, "has Genvi been attacked? Has something happened?"

"Genvi is well," Riccardo assured her, "this concerns the matter you urged me to look into."

Vara sighed and lowered herself on a recliner. "You found the traitor?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Riccardo said. He rose when Iason entered the room. The two greeted each other like brothers.

"Be welcome, my lord," Iason said.

"Lord Prias has news regarding the traitor," Vara said anxiously.

Carefully, Iason seated himself next to his wife. His face was grim. "What did you find out?"

Riccardo motioned towards the soldier and the man handed him a small scroll. "I rode out with a hunting party yesterday," he said, "when we saw a messenger bird passing overhead. Normally we wouldn't think anything of it, as it came from the direction of the border. It might well be a report from our troops."

"What made you reconsider?" Iason asked.

Riccardo nodded in understanding. "One of my scouts rode with us. He recognized the bird as being native to Balor." He looked at Vara seriously. "We took it down." He handed her the piece of paper. "This was attached."

Vara took it reluctantly, afraid of what it might say.

'Offer accepted. Send the horses'

Her blood ran cold. "Where?" she managed to get out. "Where did you shoot the bird?" The message was written in broken dialect, but the words were clear. Someone had formed an alliance with Balor.

"At the edge of our lands," Riccardo said grimly, "where it touches Vertalis."

Iason sighed and pressed Vara's hand. "So it is as we feared. Still... we can't be sure of the end destination of that message."

Riccardo nodded seriously. "Yes, we considered that, but did not want to take the risk of losing sight of the bird. We decided to intercept the message instead."

"I most likely would have done the same," Iason assured him, "the message could have held the identity of the traitor. If this message had reached its destination, there is no telling what might have happened."

"We need to inform the king," Vara said, "he can investigate."

Riccardo nodded. "We would be happy to ride onto Auros and relay any message you wish to pass on."

Vara nodded in thought. "Give me some time to sort out my thoughts. Please be our guest until then. I will have a message ready tonight."

Riccardo inclined his head. "I will leave Astos with you," he said as he gestured towards the man sitting next to him. "He will carry your message to the king. And he will bring back any reply that may follow."

"Thank you," Iason spoke, "we are most grateful. And thank you for providing men to replace those that have fallen at the fortification."

"Don't mention it," Riccardo replied kindly. His expression was grim. "We, too, wish to see this traitor brought to justice. Anything we can do to aid, even if it is only a small matter, we will do." He stood up. "I should return home, see if there is anything else I might discover."

Vara and Iason stood up as well to say their goodbyes and see Riccardo off. Riccardo's scout, Astos, stayed behind. Vara smiled at the man kindly. "You are welcome to walk around the estate freely and eat something," she said, "I will try to be quick with my message so you can be on your way." She left the room and headed for the study. She wondered what to add to the intercepted message. She couldn't point fingers, thought the territory the bird had flown in was an indication on where to look to. She wasn't sure where Cyrus was at the moment. He was visiting the estates along the border, but she did not know his current whereabouts. Sending a message directly to the king was the best option, but she had to be sure to keep the wording vague in case it would fall into the wrong hands.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Why couldn't there just be something concrete? She knew lord Prias had done the right thing in intercepting the message, but it would have been so nice if they had known who the message had ben meant for.

With another sigh, Vara seated herself behind the mahogany desk and drew a sheet of paper towards her. At least they had a lead now, firm proof of treason.

Catching this traitor was only a matter of time.

...

Mikos kept stealing glances over his shoulder to make sure no one was following him. In a basket on his saddle was one of the messenger birds that had been provided by the king. Now he needed to be far enough away for the bird not to be spotted.

He had left early morning and had exchanged his fancy clothes for simpler garb a few miles from home. He wanted to make the chance of being recognized by someone as small as possible.

His horse was one of the smaller animals that had been confiscated in the attack on Boncini. His head was covered with a large scarf that would not only protect him against the desert heat, but would also hide his features.

Mikos slowed his horse to a walk and took a deep breath. It was now or never.

He stopped and dismounted. Carefully he took the bird from the basket and removed the cap on its head that was meant to keep the animal calm. It flapped its wings, eager to fly out.

Mikos tutted at the bird to ease it and attached the message he had prepared to a small tube on the bird's leg. Once he was finished, he let it fly and watched as it soared over the vast sands in the direction of Tirzé.

The Salvire heir let out a nervous breath. That was all he could do for now. Now he had to wait.

He wondered if his father would suspect anything and how things would unfold. Would the king take immediate action? Had they found the nomad girl yet? Had she accepted to marry him?

Mikos sighed. He had done what he had set out to do, but he didn't feel like returning home yet. Moments of peace like this were rare and far in between. He wanted to relish every second of it.
Looking out over the desert, he decided there was no harm in prolonging his ride. He could test the speed and agility of the small Balor horse. They were broader than the lean warm-blooded and hot-tempered kind Tirèze was known for. Those were built for their speed and could withstand the hot desert.

Balor horses were mountain bred, with sturdy legs and muscle. That by no means meant they were slow though.

He patted the horse on the neck. "Let's see what you are made of. You're eager to run, aren't you, boy?"

The horse gave a snort as if understanding his rider's words. It didn't need much encouragement. When Mikos gave it rein, the animal sped off across the sands.

Mikos laughed loudly. It wasn't often he could enjoy himself like this. He steered towards a small wadi, so he could let the horse drink and have a meal himself before returning home. If he stayed out too long, his father might decide to send out a patrol to find him. If they found him in these clothes, he'd be in trouble.

He sighed as he looked up at the sky. It would be nice not to have so many duties and obligations. The nomad life might not be so bad.

Once he was in charge of Salvire, he decided, he would do things differently. He'd make sure there was more to concern himself with than warfare.

But that was still far off.

With a sigh, Mikos prepared himself to return home.

...

Cicero Horas smirked at his little shadow. The servant girl had made sure to be in the vicinity wherever he went. Normally he might have feigned ignorance, unless he was really bored, but he knew this one had different intentions. He could have been insulted, but chose to be amused instead. "Is prince Cyrus that afraid I might slip from under his attention?" The prince had left earlier that morning to question the soldiers at the front, but he had made it clear he wanted to speak with the young heir as well. Since he couldn't divide himself, he must have sent this little spy to keep an eye on Cicero.

Not that he minded.

Chloe stepped into view and curtsied lightly. "It seems you have found me out, my lord."

"Hmm," Cicero mused, "you didn't try very hard to conceal yourself." He smiled at her charmingly.

Chloe shrugged. "The result is the same, my lord, should it prevent you from escaping. Whether you noticed or not matters little."

Cicero let out a laugh. "I suppose that's true. But fear not. I have no desire in allying with barbarians. There's nothing Balor could offer the House Horas that we don't already have."

"Even money?" Chloe questioned. It was no secret that the Horas fortune was dwindling, nor that Cicero was the main reason for that.

Cicero smiled wryly. "Heh, money. Money is overestimated. One day it's there, the other it's gone. I doubt Balor has money to share. They pillage and plunder, but don't have any insight nor the sense to invest. They are a primitive lot, not educated like us. No, little one, there's nothing to be obtained there."

"Land then?" Chloe suggested.

He shook his head. "Balor does not give away land. They want more of ours. Neither my father nor I are interested in becoming a provincial ruler of a primitive land. We already hold a noble title. We have our own estate to rule." He tilted his head and pursed his lips. "Women, I can get here in Zeir too. And I'd need a wife of noble blood to pass on my heritage. Balor does not offer that. Protection we have from our own army and king Marcos. Perhaps Balor knows how to gamble. But if there's nothing to gain, it's a wasted effort. So no, little one, the house of Auros should not look for their traitor here."

"Then where should he look?" Chloe asked. Cyrus had asked the same of the man's father last night and she wondered how the young man would answer.

Cicero shrugged. "Truthfully? It could be anyone with knowledge of the inner workings of the palace. Someone with access to secret information. That would not only include the lords, but also their manservants, their army commanders, messengers." He glanced at Chloe amused. "Even house servants, such as yourself."

Chloe sighed. He was right. It could be anyone. Or many ones. Still... "What lies beyond the gates of Vertalis?" she asked, remembering the mysterious rider from lord Vertus' home. "When one rides to the east?"

Cicero quirked an eyebrow. He seemed surprised at her question. "East, you say? Only the border shared with Balor. Huh. Now there's a thought. Decimus Vertus was discarded as a suitor, was he not?" The young man smiled amused. "Now, Decimus I can envision a Balor high lord. Same disregard for anything female."

How well she knew. She sighed.

Cicero smiled at her. "Do not fret, little one. I promise I will speak with prince Cyrus once he returns. Why not keep me company until then? That way you can tell him you've done your duty keeping an eye on me. Do you know how to play lantruculi?"

"A little," Chloe said, "but I have nothing got bargain with."

Cicero laughed amused. "Very well. Then how about this time we just play to pass the time?"

Chloe gave a hesitant nod and followed him into the study. A little reluctant, she sat down at the table. She wasn't used to sitting with nobility. At Boncini things might be different, but at the rest of the noble houses that certainly wasn't the case. She was still merely a servant girl.

Determined not to let herself get distracted, Chloe seated herself facing the door. That way she could at least keep an eye on the staff that would come and go, and see if any of them would signal something to Cicero. She only trusted the man to some degree. He might well be trying to occupy her while having someone else send out a message. Chloe sighed. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

Cicero sat down across from her and layed out the game board. "Did you know that the way one plays lantruculi says a lot about a person?"

"I'm sure it does," Chloe said. It made sense. An arrogant person was more likely to play on the offense, while a timid person would pay attention to their defense. People like Vara knew how to deceive their opponent and catch them off guard.

Cicero smirked amused. "Then I can't wait to find out more about you."

A/N I promise Cicero does not have bad intentions :P
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