Ties of Blood by D.W. Jackson

had spent the night next to him. At first it was simply a simply worry over the person who had saved her troops but she couldn’t deny that when he woke flustered and stuttering that she didn’t find it endearing. He had been wanted by the queen so she had helped him escape before the queen's army could capture him. It was only a stalled effort though later he was captured and imprisoned by the queen.
    Eloen had petitioned the queen to free him but many of the other members of the peerage were afraid of his power and what it could mean if he joined the movement to remove the women from power. After nearly a half a year Thad had finally been freed after being branded as a slave of the princess. That was something that Eloen didn’t like at all. The princess was nothing more than a stuck up brat as far as she was concerned and barely left the palace. She knew nothing of the real world and did not deserve the attention Thad gave her. She had to admit to herself that she was more than a little jealous of the princess. When Thad chose to accompany them to the fort to help in the defense of Farlan Eloen had needled him about his relationship with the princess but the more time she spent with the young mage the more he came to mean to her. Now he was on his way to a dungeon and all she could do was follow behind hoping for a chance to save him.
    When Darryl and Ballard finally caught up with her they didn’t say anything. She looked around to their faces and saw that each of them were battling with their own thoughts. Thanks to the insights from their previous conversation she knew a little more of what was going through Darryl’s mind. As for Ballard it could be any number of things. Though he was protective of her he was probably trying to decide whether he would accompany her back home if the time came or to follow Darryl and try to rescue Thad. Eloen laughed to herself that would be just like him.
    As much as she wanted to continue as the sun dropped below the horizon she knew that even if she could sleep in the saddle the horses needed to rest. The area around them had grown rockier and small mountains lined the area making them go through a series of passes and limiting where they could rest. The moon was almost full in the night sky before they finally found a place to rest. It wasn’t very large and there was no fresh grass for the horses so she was forced to use her limited stores from her pack.
    As she laid down her pack and arranged a place to sleep she thought about talking to Darryl more about the blood ties but she knew in truth she had no energy left to stay awake. Promising herself that she would find the time to talk to him on the ride in the morning Eloen laid down and quickly feel asleep sure that someone would wake her when it was her turn for the watch.
    Her dreams didn’t comfort her as she found herself watching Thad as he lay strapped to a table. She tried to run to him but her legs wouldn’t move. When she tried to call his name her mouth opened but no sound came out. Eloen watched as a tall man with a bald head held a serpent shaped dagger. The noise that ripped out of Thad’s voice as his heart was cut from his chest tore through her like a whip striping flesh with each strike. Thad pleaded for her help but there was nothing she could do but watch in horror as he was killed in front of her over and over.
     

CHAPTER IX
    The days passed by with idle chatter. She tried to bring up any topic but Thad. Her dreams continued each night making her fear to sleep. Ballard had expressed concern over her ragged appearance but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him what had really been troubling her. He was the closest thing to a brother she had and she knew that he would only worry needlessly if he knew what plagued her dreams. As much of a mountain of a man he still had a soft heart.
    It was only a few more days until they reached Treforge and they still hadn’t seen a hint of Thad. With each passing day