Chapter 18

"Ok, left or right?" Alroy asked as they came to a fork in the road.
Cayle looked from left to right and back again, trying to think. He pulled out the map and studied it.
"OK, so, according to this, she has been heading east, so, left." He said.
Alroy nodded.
Behind him, Cayle heard Cadman and Finn's wagon start again. He held out his hand to the right and motioned for them to come up beside his and Alroys.
"We go left, and then we'll stop for lunch." He said. Cadman, who was driving, nodded and went ahead.
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The guard led her through the door into a hall and through another door, and another, until they came to a maze of twists and turns of halls that made Deanna wondering who designed it.
Finally, he led her into what appeared to be a throne room, with two chairs sitting up on a podium with one of them occupied by a man who looked like he hadn't done a lot of smiling in his day.
He got to his feet, and as he did so, all the soldiers, servants and everyone else in the room, aside from Deanna, dropped to their knees in a show of respect.
"Marianna of the Shore, welcome to my home." The man said. Deanna, who had been looking at everyone in the room, suddenly looked back at him.
"Who?" She asked.
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They had finished lunch a short time later, finishing off the last of their smoked beef.
"OK," Cayle said as he pulled out the map and spread it out of the ground. "I say we keep going another 3 miles, and then we rest for the night, or until we reach another town."
Alroy thought a moment. "Wouldn't it be wiser to go around any more towns unless our supplies were getting low? After all, wouldn't the woman you were chasing have lookouts in the villages? Anyone can be bought."
Cayle thought a moment. "No, she wouldn't do that." He said, thinking back on his brief meeting with her.
"And how can you be sure?" Alroy challenged.
"I just know, OK?" Cayle said defensively. "It would be out of character."
"But it would explain how she keeps eluding you." Alroy pointed out. "I'm going to go refill the water skins."
He picked them up and walked away in search of a nearby stream, leaving Cayle, mid-comeback, with his thoughts.
When Alroy returned some time later, he made a point to avoid Cayle as much as possible.
"He's done this before." Cayle muttered as he saw Alroy join Finn in the other wagon as Cayle climbed into the other.
Cadman climbed onto the wagon and took the reins and directed the horses back to the road.