Ash glanced at Eledhe, at the Phantom, then back. "Well..." he said hesitantly.

Vital information, he had. Information he was willing to share was quite another matter. Still, he didn't want to be on Eledhe's list of enemies- not that he wanted to be on her list of friends, if she even had such a thing. He also didn't want to give away anything very important. Maybe he could find some happy medium.

"Well, we were looking for the Heartshard or whatever it's called, but got interrupted by the elves. Not sure what they want." Shrugging casually, he added, "You'd have to ask the Phantom."

He strongly suspected that that last sentence hadn't been a wise thing to say, but maybe it would cut the conversation short. The mercenary made him nervous.

"They are different," agreed Silvryn at length. How did one describe them? She had hardly met enough individuals to have an accurate perception of the race as a whole. "Though I have only encountered a handful, and conversed with only three. They...we-"

"If my lady will pardon the interruption, elves are not so different from humans," Tomith interjected, coming up silently behind them and thus saving Silvryn from having to expound. "We are much like you, only - How would you say it? - superior."

"Oh, that's all, is it?" Kjan muttered under his breath. "Not so different at all, then."

"You misunderstand me," the elf said evenly. Bloody elvish hearing. "Do not mistake me for another Raen - he does not represent the whole of the elven race. I say that we are superior only as a fact. Do you deny that I could best any of you in combat or agility with relative ease?" Neither man contested the statement, and so Tomith continued. "The majority of elves are, in addition, much older than the average human, and so more experienced. This, combined with our physical advantage, can make us...."

"Arrogant?"

"Proud," Tomith corrected. "But not all of us consider the differences between races to be indicative of worth. Where elves possess certain skills, men possess others. Lord Adaniar would see humans and elves living together in harmony once more, as codependent races. We are not so vastly different as to merit separation."

"And Lord Raen would see humans destroyed completely," Silvryn observed quietly.

Tomith merely nodded.

The Phantom nodded contemplatively, as though they'd just been discussing what the state of weather might be over the next mountaintop, and not the possible slaughter of their entire race - he was a human, elvish traces or no. "This Raen fellow," he said at length, with a glance at Silvryn and a longer one at Tomith. "I take it he is less than concerned with a petty rebel who calls himself Phantom Grey?"

By way of explanation, he continued - "if he is dismissive of the human race in general, I hardly think he will spare more than a passing glance in our direction. It could be an advantage. After all -"

"With respect to milady," interrupted Tomith, expression as hard to read as ever, "Lord Raen needs the heir to the throne if he is to have any hope of uniting the elvish peoples in submission to him. He will come after you, milady." He directed this briefly at Silvryn, then turned to the Phantom. "I do not imagine he will be lenient regarding those with which her finds her."

"Meaning," said the Phantom, with a passable pretension at being blithely carefree, "that we may well have a company of murderous elves on our trail this very moment. A lovely thought. Can you suggest precautionary measures against that eventuality?

"Horses," said Tomith. "Even then you may be hard pressed, but in all honesty, Phantom Grey, I will be surprised if they have not caught us by tomorrow midday if we continue on foot."


A corner of Eledhe's mouth twisted down in displeasure. "Yes, I'll just saunter right up and inquire as to that," she muttered to no one in particular. "Thank you ever so much for your help."

This last was quite obviously bitingly sarcastic, but she fell back in dissatisfaction, probably much to the relief of what had been present company the moment before.

_________________

"Alright," Kjan was saying as they neared the thriving community of Errandale. "Ash, you know how this works by now, and I should hope that the two of you possess enough common sense to figure it out on your own, but for the sake of redundancy: don't do anything stupid, don't say anything stupid, don't even think anything stupid. And do not, under any circumstances, so much as mention anything that might possibly be contrued as remotely relating to the Phantom. We're already being tracked by murderous, bloodthirsty elves, and I'd rather not add a few dozen angry soldiers to the mix. Got it? Good."

Tomith's cheery revelation earlier that day had granted especial haste to the party's movements, and so they had nearly reached the town by late afternoon. However, it had been determined by general consensus that, given their recent luck with towns, a camp would be set up some distance from the border while Kjan and anyone who wouldn't leave too much of an impression (Ash, Jate, and Dante) went in to acquire horses.

He always got the fun jobs.

Presently, they came within view of the town's entrance. People had formed a queue long the road for some distance and were moving rather slowly. That could mean only one thing: guards.

Kjan swore profusely under his breath. "I should've known." He hastily pulled out a small pouch of coins and tossed it to Ash. "Right. You get to do the talking, then. We're just traders, looking for some more unique commodities to offer in Y'rydha. That's all the money we have, if they ask. And if they want a bribe, give it to them. I have more if we need it."

Ash caught the pouch, looking startled. "I'll do the talking?" He didn't have time to object, though, as the next moment they were in the queue. Conversation was rendered futile by a family with a large number of quarreling children directly ahead.

The line crept forward until the group stood just outside the gate. "Best put your hoods up." Ash said in a low voice. It wouldn't do any good to get this far, just to be recognized. The family filed past the guards, the father giving names and his business in the town.

"Names?" A guard asked, giving the group a perfunctory glance as they stepped up to the gate.

"Tavin Breen, Hadar Bell, Saro Archer, Glen Brown." Ash reeled off a list of names, gesturing vaguely at the men behind him.

"Your business here?"

"We're traders."

"Traders, eh?" The guard gave the group a longer look. "What are you trading- your clothes?"

"We're going to buy some commodities here, then trade them in Y'rydha." Ash explained, giving the coin pouch a quick shake. <i>Why does he have to be so bloody curious?</i>

"What sort of commodities?"

"Ah..." Ash floundered for a second, then returned, "Commodities! You know, jewelry, wood carvings, wines- anything special we think our customers will like."

Giving the men one last glance, the guard nodded and motioned them through the gate. <i>That went pretty well, actually.</i> Ash thought, stepping back to let Kjan lead the way. <i>At least you didn't say anything too stupid.</i>

Having found a suitable clearing in the thick trees about the town - far enough away that they were in no immediate danger of discovery, and close enough that those inside would be able to find them without much trouble - the foursome who were not buying horses were, to put it bluntly, sitting around avoiding one another's eyes. Or, more correctly, Eledhe was glaring at whoever was closest, the Phantom was glaring back when he had occasion to, Tomith was being elvishly aloof, and Silvryn was wisely not getting between the Phantom and Eledhe.

This continued for a length of time that only served to make the Phantom's mood progressively darker, and Eledhe's mood exponentially so. There wasn't occasion for a fire, as they certainly didn't plan to stay the night, therefore the Phantom had nothing to do.

However, there were better ways to do nothing.

"I'm going for a walk," he announced abruptly, and slightly belligerently, and got up. There was a brief moment where he paused, and then, with a glance at the uncommunicative Tomith and the glowering Eledhe, offered Silvryn a hand up. "Like to come?"

_________________

"That went well," Kjan commented lightly, at least halfway making an effort to not sound surprised. "Now, if I were selling horses, where would I...."

Unfortunately, Kjan never got to find out where he would do anything, as at that very moment he (and anyone else walking on the road) was forced to jump to the side in order to avoid being run over by an approaching carriage. One walker a short distance in front of Kjan shouted an obscenity at the driver - intelligently, before the carriage had even reached them. Nonetheless, it was probably mere coincidence when the vehicle veered just enough to splash through a rather large puddle right as it passed the offender. And Kjan.

Wiping the water, dirt, and he-didn't-care-to-know-what-else away from his face with his sleeve, Kjan considered for half a moment, then motioned for the others to hurry up. They followed the carriage as well as they could, until at last it came to a stop outside a house in the town's more well-to-do section. Several well-dressed individuals exited and went straight into the house, leaving a servant to deal with the horses. The man unhitched each of the four in turn, leading them over to a small sheltered area and tying them up alongside four other horses of similar breeding. Then he went inside, leaving the animals entirely unwatched.

Kjan smirked. That was close enough to a sign for him.

"Gentlemen," he said, turning to face the others. "Do any of you recall the Phantom saying anything about stealing from the absurdly rich?"

-----------------

Silvryn seemed to consider for a moment, then accepted the proffered hand. Anything was preferable to merely sitting there with two individuals who seemed content to do nothing more than silently glare at one another and another who could have passed for a stone wall at the present, for all the emotion he was displaying. The latter also started to protest when Silvryn followed after the Phantom, but eventually consented (after repeated assurance from Silvryn) to remain there with Eledhe.

"We are to remain within shouting distance," she murmured wryly upon rejoining the Phantom. They walked without speaking for some time before Silvryn broke the silence with a quiet sigh. Off the Phantom's look, she expounded briefly. "We have gotten ourselves into quite the situation, haven't we? With Raen, that is. I...would be lying if I said that I knew exactly how to proceed from here."

The Phantom responded with a wry smile, as if at some inner quip he found amusing. He expounded. "This mere human is likewise at a loss." There was a brief pause while he considered. "My intentions, on becoming Phantom Grey, never swelled to include an ambitious Elven lord, not did I ever plan for them to spread beyond Kytana's borders. It looks as though both may happen."

A quick glance, and he added hastily, "I would not change the decision. The Regent will fold like parchment before any onslaught Raen chooses to put into action, and if someone must be in the way..."

The words made it all sound so very futile, and the Phantom stopped talking, trailing into silence. For some time the only noise was their steps in the bracken, interspersed by sounds of wildlife. The wind was faint, rustling what dry leaves were loose on the forest floor. The Phantom cleared his throat, after a moment. "Raen. He seems quite...determined...not to be, ah, thwarted." He didn't quite know how to say not to fail at regaining you. The thought made him quite sure, Elves or no, that if they tried anything he could give as good as he got. The next words were as uncooperative a bundle as he'd ever tried to get out. "I'll...well...if those Elves ever do catch up," he said, awkwardly, "they'll find it a bloody sight harder to do than they'd thought, if I've any say in the matter."

Which was to say, over his dead body would Silvryn end up in Raen's clutches again, but it failed to quite come out. He coughed, realizing there'd been a slight expletive there. "Er...a good sight harder, that is."

_________________

Silvryn could not help but smile slightly as the Phantom persisted in stumbling through whatever it was that he was trying to say. He never quite succeeded in getting it out, either, but she understood the underlying sentiment and was...what? She was what? Glad to have such a determined leader fighting on her side? Touched that he still would, given that she technically was no longer his ruler? Neither seemed right. The Phantom would have fought for justice regardless, and as he had just said, this was no longer about Kytana alone. No, he had every reason to be fighting on the same side as she.

So why did it please her so to hear him say as much?

At a loss for a more suitable response, she nerely waved a hand dismissively at his minor slip. "Thank you," she said at length, inclining her head slightly before turning her attention back to the woods around them.

Thus began the third period of extended silence since they had begun their walk. It continued for some time, until Silvryn suddenly asked, "Do you imagine that they will be long? I do not wish to stay in any one place for too long."

Well, that he could easily understand. When one had a band of very possibly murderous warrior elves dogging one's steps, it wasn't exactly within the bounds of reason to park oneself in a campsite and smoke a contemplative pipe for a while. The Phantom gave a half-shrug, noting as he did so that the sun was slowly sinking toward the horizon and would very soon be blotted out by the mountains, which were still very near. "Buying horses isn't a complicated transaction."

It occurred to him, however, that that probably wasn't what the foursome had ended up doing. "On further contemplation, however," he added, "I very much doubt all eight mounts will prove to have been fairly exchanged for the correct amount of money."

Putting on an air of the aggrieved leader who finds out his followers have been up to something naughty, he spread his hands in a gesture of faux helplessness. "Really, they're incorrigible. I'm at a loss as to what to do with them. They get it from Kjan."

_________________

"Reassuring," Silvryn commented dryly, though not without a trace of amusement. Kjan made things...interesting, if nothing else. For all his strange methods, his results were unquestionable, and the Phantom was certainly fond enough of him. Indeed, she suspected that many of Kjan's methods were learned from the Phantom himself, given what she knew of their backgrounds. She was, therefore, less than convinced by the Phantom's attempts at appearing the innocent third party.

"But I am certain that you made it perfectly clear to him that legitimate purchasing of the horses was his only option, did you not?"

"Now that you mention it, I do seem to recall that the Phantom never told us exactly how we were to obtain our horses," Jate commented with a wry grin. Having joined the group, he seemed to throw himself whole-heartedly into the rebel business.

And, after all, he did have experience with horses. Approaching them softly and rubbing their noses, Jate murmured quietly to them while quickly untying the knots. Quickly until the last horse seemed to be firmly staked to the ground. It seemed absolutely unwilling to move. Jate started tugging gently on the rope, then pulled harder and harder as the horse proved more and more resistant. Ash proved helpful, slapping the horse's rearend. With a loud snort, the bay skidded to the side and then finally followed.

"Now that we've got them, I think we'd better get going," he observed. He could only hope that no one would notice them taking fine horses. And how were they to get past the guard?

_________________
going on a journey through my old claims

Kjan merely watched in astonishment as Jate worked to quickly release all eight horses. Who'd have thought? Their reluctant little noble brat was turning out to be quite the rebel, it would seem. He would have been rather stirred, if he'd had the time. "Knew I brought you for a reason," he muttered, moving to take the reins of the two horses who looked least likely to remove any needed appendages. He tied the reins together (so as to avoid being split in two if the horses suddenly disagreed on direction), glanced around to make sure that no one was watching, then led the way down the street.

"Rather irresponsible of them, leaving their horses just sitting around like that," he commented once they were a reasonable distance down the street. "It borders on neglect. It's probably for the best that we took them when we did - goodness knows what sort of ideas criminals in these parts would have gotten." He paused briefly, seeming to consider. "We'll leave through the west gate," he declared at length. "Guards might be a bit suspicious if we left so quickly with eight fine stallions and our purses no lighter for it."

"I'll do the talking." Ash volunteered as they approached the edge of the city. The west gate was considerably quieter than the main entrance, with only a couple of farmers trickling through. Hopefully they would be on their way without too many questions.

The guard stopped the group as they reached the gate. "Names? Business?"

Ash gave a list of names, different from the ones he had used earlier. "We're traders." he added, trying to stop one of the more ill-tempered horses from nibbling at his shoulder.

"Horse traders?"

"Yes." A note of exasperation crept into Ash's voice. It wouldn't be pretty if that noble realized his team was missing before they were out of the city.

"Horse doesn't seem to like you very much." the guard said, sounding impressed with his own powers of observation.

"That's just because he hasn't gotten to know me yet." Receiving a nip from the horse, Ash turned and slapped it on the nose. It tossed its head and whinnied in protest. "Can we go now?"

"You know..." the guard spat contemplatively. "Those almost look like that matched team that Lord Velund was driving earli-"

"Yes, well. Very interesting, but we need to be going." Tugging at the horses' reins, Ash started past the gate with the rest of the group. "We want to get some miles in before nightfall." Before the guard could protest, Ash tossed him a coin. "You've been very kind, thank you." Only after they were safely away from the city did Ash start breathing easily again.

The Phantom coughed. "My instructions were something resembling those, yes," he responded, looking vaguely guilty. "I'll be quite upset to find they've pilfered some farmer's plowhorses, but there really are far too many nobles poking their noses into things, so if perhaps he was able to...relieve...a few lords of their transportation, I might be slightly more lenient."

There was a pause in which he could sense the raised eyebrow, even if he couldn't see it. "Nobles have very nice horses," he said defensively. "I'm sure you'll sympathize when you haven't had your hand bitten off."

The sun had now dipped just behind the nearest mountain peaks, and, slightly grateful for the change of subject, the Phantom indicated it with a gesture. "Right, we should get back - the moment they return, we'll need to ride hard."

_________________

Silvryn merely nodded and followed the Phantom back to their temporary camp, where Eledhe seemed to have contented herself with glaring at Tomith in lieu of the Phantom. They had waited there for a little over ten minutes when there was finally the sound of muffled hoofbeats amid the trees. Moments later, Kjan and the others came into sight.

Kjan tossed their sack of money to the Phantom, then held up his free hand defensively. "They're just borrowed," he said hastily, before the Phantom could object. "Kind of. Not really. But we did save them from a terrible life filled with unnatural cruelty and neglect and...." He trailed off. The Phantom wasn't buying it. "Right. Velund was in town, as well as Tyralt and a few of the other minor lords who hold land west of here. Given that they're all acquaintances of my father, I felt it my duty to pay them a brief visit."

He shrugged casually and began untying his two horses, then offered the reins of one to the nearest available person. "Besides, it's not like they'll be missed. Velund has more horses than he does mistresses, and that's saying something."