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large stack of papers called him. Knowing
that putting off the work would only make it that much worse come
morning, Thad shambled over to the desk and sat down.
    Three new missives awaited him, two
from lesser nobles and one from the local blacksmith guild. Opening
the one from the blacksmiths, Thad was pleased to find that his
late talk with them had garnered some results. They would keep the
prices the same under the condition that the queen reduced their
taxes by a small margin. In the end, it would still mean less money
coming into the queendom, though not by much.
    Talk if I remember
correctly—you walked in there and threatened to have them all
clasped in iron and tried for treason during wartime. They had to
either agree or face the headsman.
    The other two missives were along the
same lines. Thad had quickly grown tired of all the arguing and
political meandering. Thad had quickly decided to use the authority
the queen had given him and started threatening force. Luckily,
none of them had called his bluff yet because if push came to
shove, Thad wasn’t sure if the queen would back up his
threats.
    After signing a few documents and
preparing his own missives to be taken out the next day, Thad was
finally able to crawl into his bed. The covers were soft, warm, and
inviting, almost like a balm for his tired soul. Closing his eyes,
Thad quickly drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER III
    “Thad, are you awake yet?” Thad heard
Tuck’s voice say loudly.
    Opening his eyes, Thad sat up and
looked at the window. “The sun isn’t even up yet, Tuck.”
    “You told me to contact you as soon as
I reached Southpass and met with General Foreman.”
    “Yes, I did say that, but I thought
common sense would dictate that you do so at a rational hour,” Thad
replied sleepily. “Well, I’m awake. What did Trent have to
say?”
    “Not much more than we have already
heard. Abla had gone through its own civil war, and things have
started to settle down. A few merchants have started to come
through the pass again, and a few of the soldiers have heard them
use the name Eloen.”
    Thad rubbed his head. He had hoped that
Eloen was still alive, but he never would have guessed that she
would take over the rival kingdom while he was gone. He knew there
was a chance that it was another woman called Eloen, but he highly
doubted it. “Tuck, I want you to ride through Southpass and try to
gain an audience with the queen. If she is who I think she is, then
we might find more aid or at least be able to remove some of the
soldiers still manning Southpass.”
    “You don’t give an elf a break, do you?
Very well, but when I return, I expect a large banquet in my
honor.”
    “Done,” Thad replied,
laughing.
    Knowing that it would be useless to try
and return to sleep, Thad grudgingly shimmied out of the
covers.
    The cold air hit Thad like a punch,
causing a shiver to run up his spine. Thad quickly pulled on his
tunic and leather armor and britches, the cold metal clasps
stinging as they touched his skin. Thad was thankful winter was
coming as it kept the Rane army at bay, at least for a short time,
but he could have done without the cold.
    After he was dressed, Thad headed to
the kitchens, where he found the bakers already hard at work. Very
little was prepared, but Thad was able to grab a couple of loaves
of fresh bread and some leftover meat from the night before. After
he had his belly full, Thad walked down to his tower to grab a few
things.
    The tower was empty and felt lonely.
Normally, by the time Thad had a chance to arrive, Roger and Marcus
were already at work. After picking up a bag of the rings, Thad
headed for the stables.
    “Thaddeus. Going back out again, I
see,” the old stable master said when he saw Thad. “Want me to get
your Lady saddled?” he asked with a bit of a smirk.
    After Thad had returned, Maria still
tended to give Thad a hard time where women were concerned. Though
the queen was too proper to voice her displeasure