Now without a reflection...

Well, it's been an eventful week since I last posted. List of events as they happened: Oldest brother announces that they are moving, my parents buy a brand new truck (to pull the trailer they bought a year ago without anything to pull it with :P), older brother got job interview at my work place, I went to Yellowstone with Amanda and Lindsey, where we had so much fun and ended the day with watching a wolf eat a bison carcass, returned to rainy Idaho Falls, older brother got job at work place, and then I suddenly realized... I'll tell you that last part at the end of the post. (Just because I'm maddening that way)

Review from last week: Terk doesn't know where the prince is, Martin escapes from Pinewood (when we learn he's terrified of heights), it is discovered that the prince's face has been magically changed, and Martin loses his reflection. Poor, poor character. What's he to do without it?
*********
Suit was not happy about the news about how little Terk knew about the prince. But his anger about that could not compare with learning Terk had seen his face.

“Sir,” Martin tried to explain, but the old man silenced him with a sharp jab of his hand.

“I was too prideful,” he growled, still pacing around his office as Martin was forced to stand at attention. “I thought you could handle the Mad General. I’m just… I can’t send you out to work against Terk. I’ve been training you for it for weeks! All that work, worthless!” He huffed as he finally sat down. Taking deep and slow breaths, he was able to reign in his temper.

“I’m not blaming you,” the Spy Master said, letting out a final sigh. “It’s been a very trying few months.” Martin couldn’t argue on that point. “All we can do now is move on. You are dismissed.”

Martin bowed and left the office as fast as he could without looking too eager to get away. Once he was sure no one could hear him, he let out a sigh of his own. That surprisingly went better than he thought it would. Perhaps that was because he did manage to get the folder about the prince that had cooled Suit’s temper. Moving along, he went to the cafeteria, hoping for a chance to eat before anyone else could give him an ear full. Mr. Ander, Luke’s father, had given him an ultimatum earlier that morning, followed closely by the Spy Master.

“Now all I need is the queen to tell me off.” He had been expecting Queen Abigail and Sona to summon him and grill him about his mission. They were probably too excited about the file to give him any heed. That was just fine with him. Anything to prolong meeting with the queen and the pretty researcher was alright in his books.

“Martin!” Sona called, waving her hand as she spotted him coming down the hall. He resisted the urge to sigh again.

“So much for lunch.”

“Yes?” he asked, walking over to her. He peered into the large research room she was leaning out of.

“Do you have a minute?” she asked, smiling. For some reason, the smile was distracting.

“I was sort of hoping…” he started to say when she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room.

“I have lunch here,” she said with a dismissive wave of her other hand. “We have a lot to talk about. That folder! Martin, I can’t thank you enough for finding it for us.”

“A good thanks would be to leave me alone.” But he said nothing as he sat down at the table where she had lunch set out. He was surprised to see the amount she had.

“You planning on eating all this?” he asked as she sat down next to him.

“No.” She grinned. “People have been coming in and out all day. Best to keep everyone happy and fed right?”

He paused then nodded in agreement. Picking out a roll, he tore it open and began to butter it. “Since I’m one of those in and out people, what can I do for you? I mean, you did pull me in here for a reason right?”

She snorted softly. “You always see true intentions. Yes, I want to talk about what happened at Fort Pinewood.”

“It’s all in my report,” he pointed out.

“I know. But I want to hear it from your mouth.” Martin paused again. She wanted to hear it from him? Suspicious, and somewhat glad she wanted to talk to him rather than read, he told her nearly everything. His capture, his escape, finding the folder. She absorbed his words eagerly.

“Then Thomas and Luke helped you escape,” she mused. She glanced to the other table covered with books and notes. “There was no more information about the prince?”

“Nope.” He sighed; it was not exactly a lie, his strange dreams were not found at the fort. “And I didn’t have time to go looking for anything else.”

She smiled at him. “At least you got out alive. And with the folder. I don’t think any of us would want more than that.” Martin stared at her. What did that mean?

“So,” he said, clearing his throat. “Found anything useful in that file I so graciously got for you?”

She sighed. Standing up, Sona went over to the table and picked up the papers. “Although this tells us that Terk did kidnap our prince, it doesn’t tell us why.”

Martin snorted. He had time to look through the file before they reached the Tree. Luke had insisted that he had; his friend said he should at least know more about himself. Martin thought his friend was getting too excited about it all.

“But it does give us some clues,” Sona went on to say. “Like the fact the prince’s face was changed. He’ll be harder to locate now!”

“If Terk had his hand in something,” Queen Abigail said, sweeping into the room. “Then we must expect it to become more difficult.” Martin jumped to his feet and bowed. Sona likewise curtsied. The queen nodded her head to acknowledge them.

“Your Majesty,” Sona said quickly, a small blush coming to her cheeks. “Martin and I were just discussing your son.”

“So I heard,” Abigail replied with a small smile. Her eyes twinkled as she switched her gaze from the pretty researcher to him. He wished he could squirm under that gaze. “Tell me, Martin, what do you think of this?” There was no need to ask what ‘this’ she was referring to.

“Honestly?” he asked her. After she gave him a nod of acceptance, he went on. “I don’t like it.”

“Don’t like it?” The queen frowned. “Why don’t you?”

“I’ll admit,” he said, rubbing his chin. “When I first got on that list of yours, I was fairly confident that you had the wrong man. This…” He floundered; he did not want to admit this to himself, little alone others! “This changes everything. I’m faced with the dilemma that I might actually be your son.”

“And is there a problem with that?” the queen wanted to know. Under her stern eyes, he had to plow on.

“In many ways, yes. You should understand, I’ve worked hard to get to where I am. Now suddenly I might not be able to do the job I was trained to do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sona asked, frowning at him. “You’re the current Alex, the best field spy Aeterna has right now. Why shouldn’t you go on with your job?”

“Oh,” Abigail said softly, her eyes softening as she watched him. “You mean that order this morning that Suit put out. All princes are to be kept under watch and protected if needed.”

“My job is dangerous,” he pointed out. “That order affectively has taken me out of action.”

Sona snorted. “Suit can’t possibly mean to take you out of the service.”

“I’m on that list. And that order applies to all those names. If I remember correctly, I’m on top of that list.”

“That is a problem,” the queen mused. Martin nearly breathed out a sigh of relief as she finally took her intense eyes from him. “I will have to talk to Suit about this matter. Sona, do you have any more need of Martin’s services?”

The young woman blushed. “No.” Martin gave her a confusing look; her voice almost sounded higher than normal. The color in her cheeks deepened.

“Very well.” Queen Abigail turned to him. “You are dismissed.” He bowed and opened the door. “Oh, and Martin?”

“Yes?”

The queen smiled at him; he was surprised by how warm it was. “Thank you. You’ve done your country a great service.”

He bowed again and left. Frowning, he made his way to the weapons field for a long, much needed, workout. “A great service?” He was holding things from them. “No, Your Majesty, I’m not.

“I’m lying.”
***********
Martin laid down his pencil and rubbed his forehead, looking down at his paperwork. As Suit had suggested, he was creating personas to use. Though disguises were his specialty, he was having problems with these. He had no idea how long he would have to live without his reflection, so any persona he used had to be simple enough to put on without it. Fake scars, warts, or other such features were now beyond his capability.

“I’m just going to have to use other disguises,” he concluded. Wigs he could put on just fine, glasses were easy, a change of clothes could change a character, and accents could throw someone off. “Besides,” he thought bitterly, “I can fade into any crowd.” Perhaps that is what the pirates had in mind when they changed his face.

“Wait,” Martin muttered, shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, “I don’t know that.” He still needed more proof. Sighing, he picked his pencil back up and kept creating personas.

Someone stood in the doorway. Martin suppressed another sigh. There was no need to look up to see who it was.

“I heard you got back,” Princess Sara said. Martin finally looked up. Sometime while he was gone the princess had taken to wearing the Standards, a simple skirt and cotton blouse, although her hair was still in the current fashion of long bangs covering one of her eyes.

“And what else have you heard?” he asked as she entered the room and sat at his table.

“Your face looks better,” she noted, propping her elbows on the table and placing her chin on top of her hands. She stared at him for a moment, assessing his healing black eye and split lip. “Why is Terk a high general in the Venter army when he’s a known mad man?”

Martin shrugged. “It’s because he’s the Venter King’s cousin. He’s a powerful duke with land and old money. And besides that, the Mad General is brilliant. He just has trouble keeping his temper.”

Sara snorted softly. Casually reaching across the table, she picked up one of the personas he was working. “What are you doing anyway?”

“Just coming up with new characters,” he replied, sighing as he looked over the paperwork. “It’s standard for spies to have ready characters.” He took the paper. “Now, my question. What are you doing here?”

The princess scrunched her face. “I can only take so much of the library.” Martin tried to suppress his laugh, but couldn’t. “What?” she asked, frowning. “It’s not exciting.”

“But you’re supposed to be helping there,” he pointed out.

“I know,” she waved off. “I just needed a break.”

“And you came to annoy me instead?”

Sara laughed. “If you’re my brother, I have thirteen years of teasing to catch up on.” Martin snorted and began writing again. The princess watched for a minute before the silence bugged her.

“What character are you creating now?”

“Well,” he said, picking the paper up and looked at it. “One of my main personas.”

“And what’s he like?”

Martin dropped the paper and met the princess’s questioning look. “Why do you want to know?” She just shrugged. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair. “His name is David Taylor. The average Aeternan farmer. Has a secret desire to see the world, but he feels he has an obligation to his family and stays where he is at.”

“Does he look like you?” the princess asked.

He smiled weakly. “A bit. Oh, he has red hair and glasses, but other than that, we could be twins.”

“Red hair?” She frowned. “What about when you grow a beard?”

“I don’t plan growing one,” he snorted softly. “What’s with all the questions?”

It was Sara’s turn to shrug. “I’m going to know all my possible brothers. You, Dinny, and Matt are the only ones accessible to me right now. And to tell you the truth, you’re a lot more interesting than them.”

Martin groaned, rubbing his head again. “Really?”

She sat up and gave him a happy nod. “Yes, you are.”

“Does that mean you’re going to bug me all the time now?”

The princess laughed. “No! Just until there are more ‘brothers’ for me to talk to!”

Martin sighed, slumping down in his chair. There’s another complication in his life.
**********
“Hey,” General Sanders said, waving at him, “are you listening to me?”

Fred Chief jolted back to the present. He was at one of the Aeternan camps in the command tent. He sat at the conference table across from the general in charge of the camp. “Sorry,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “But I arrived late last night and you wanted to talk to me first thing this morning.”

The Aeternan general sighed, sinking down. “I’m sorry, but I really need to talk to you.”

“So your letter said,” Fred grumbled. “What’s this about? I have my Ghosts to get back to.” The Ghost General suspected that Terk had gotten word of the prince; the Venter attacks have been more fierce than usual.

“Suit’s pulled my spy.”

It took a moment for the statement to register. Fred sat forward. “What do you mean? Suit pulled your spy?”

“Just that,” Sanders explained. “I got a letter about three weeks back from our Spy Master. He didn’t explain why, just told me to send him back to the Tree. Chief, what is going on?”

Fred scratched his chin. “I can’t tell you yet what has been happening,” he admitted. “But I’ll go talk to Suit.” General Sanders breathed a sigh of relief Fred could not share. One of the last things he wanted to do was to talk with the prideful old man. But he promised. Grumbling, he said his goodbyes and left.
********
Martin was surprised to see Fred stomp into the room, his limp more distinct than before. He raised an eyebrow. “And what’s got you in foul mood?”

“Is Suit in?” he grumbled. Martin looked towards the Spy Master’s door. Suit’s regular secretary was on break, and since he had nothing better to do, he sat in Robby’s place. Now he wished he hadn’t. Good rarely happened when both the Ghost Commander and the Spy Master met in bad moods.

“He is,” he answered reluctantly. “But I think you should come back in a couple of days.”

“Why?” Chief asked with a frown. “What’s happened now? And why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be on some sort of mission or other right now? What’s Suit got you stuck here for?”

Martin grimaced. Fred was proud of him; he always took it as a personal insult when he was doing nothing to use his talents. “Terk saw my face a few weeks back,” he admitted, scribbling absently on one of the reports he was reviewing. “I’ve got to wait a few more weeks until the Mad General’s memory fades before heading back out.”

Chief’s face grew dark. “Why did he see your face in the first place?” Martin sighed, but repeated the same story he already told Luke, Thomas, Suit, Ander, Sona, Queen Abigail, and even Princess Sara. The young heir was growing attached to him; something he wasn’t too sure he wanted.

“I wrote out a report, why can’t they all just read it and leave me alone?”

After he finished his explanation, Fred sat down hard on one of the waiting chairs, tugging madly at his beard. “That prince,” he muttered under his breath. “It just all comes back to him, now doesn’t it? What am I going to do about him?” Martin frowned at that last part. Why would Chief be concerned about dealing with the prince? He shuttered. Was Chief going to sever ties with him if he ever learned about Martin’s suspicions?

“Queen Abigail and Suit are doing everything they can to find him,” he pointed out to the Ghost Commander.

“I know,” Chief said darkly. “That’s why I’m here.” He glared at Suit’s door. “Well, I won’t get any work done if I wait for both of us to cool down. If I might make a suggestion, I’d stand outside in the hall and warn others. This might come to… blows.”

Martin whistled softly. Although Suit and Chief had some different views, they always worked together to meet a satisfying end. Whatever this was going to be about, it was likely going to put the men at each other’s throats before they agreed to anything.

“I might just do that.” He tried not to dart for the door.
*******
“You want what?” Suit bellowed. He shot to his feet, his chair falling back in the process. Chief had remained standing when he entered the office; he had wanted his extra few inches on Suit so he could tower over the man with his demand.

“You heard me,” he snapped, beating his finger hard on Suit’s desk. “Our armies need their assigned spies! I don’t know why you’ve pulled them in the first place, but I’m going to put them back, by force if necessary!”

“But we need those spies here!” Suit took three long steps to come around his desk to face him. He bristled with anger. “Our number one priority should be finding the prince! I’m surprised you’re not agreeing with me.”

Chief stiffened. Some people called him harsh when he gave orders that involved leaving someone behind, and it did hurt him deeply when he had given them, but he learned years before the meaning of being a leader. Making the unpopular decisions because they were for the good of the most people, not because he could save a few.

“I know that any organization falls if they focus on one thing,” he growled, trying to stand taller. His knee protested loudly but he ignored it. This was too important to give in to small pains. “We need different people to do different things! We need to keep our eyes out for everything!”

“I know that,” Suit snapped. “Believe me, I do. But the queen wants every available spy on our suspected princes. I’ve had to get them from somewhere. There are still spies in our enemy’s camps. Just not in some of our own!”

“So our spies playing the enemy could risk their lives trying to pass on information to our armies?” Chief wanted to sit down; his headache had gotten worse, his knee felt as if it were about to tear again, and he was tired from riding all night to get here. “Suit, those spies were important!”

“So is the prince.” Suit folded his arms across his chest, looking smug. He was going to try playing that card, was he?

“Yes,” Chief agreed, forcing himself to smile. “He is important. But I think he’s safest now than he’s ever been.” Suit frowned at that. Fred silently thanked Martin for the argument. “No one can find him if they don’t know who he is, can they? The prince is safest with no one knowing who he is. For all you know, he doesn’t know himself. He isn’t about to go put himself in danger if he’s just living his ordinary life.”

“That may be the case for some,” Suit replied, his scowl deepening. “But what about Martin? He’s on the List, you know. He’s always putting himself in danger. Shouldn’t it be better that he stays here?”

Chief wanted to shiver. Yes, what about Martin? He wasn’t some faceless orphan to him, but practically his own child; he had seen everything the young man has done to get everything he’s owned. He was proud of him. Now, the young spy he had taken in years ago was being robbed of the chance of doing what he loved to do.

“You know as well as I do that Martin can’t just sit around and do nothing,” he finally answered with a huff. “He needs to be engaged in something before he goes nuts. Holding him here is possibly the second worst thing you could do.”

“He’s under my command,” Suit pointed out, smiling smugly. “Martin stays here and I’ll try to get some spies back out to our armies.”

Chief wanted to smack the grin off the Spy Master’s face. He had no right to hold Martin against his will. “Fine,” he finally snapped, fed up with it all. He stomped out of the office, pointedly ignoring Suit’s evil grin at an argument won.

“We’ll see who won,” he thought bitterly, slamming his door. He burst out into the hall, startling Martin. The young man had been leaning against the wall and was no doubt listening in on the argument.

“Too bad,” he started to say when Chief clamped his hand on the young man’s mouth.

“Pack your bags, my boy,” Chief said, finally grinning. “You’ve mentioned how we haven’t had much time together since the war started. It’s time both of us took a vacation.” He removed his hand from Martin’s mouth. The young spy looked thoughtful.

“We’ll be keeping to that story?” he asked, his mischievous eyes matching his own.

“Of course. Go, I’ll turn in your request.”
**********
“Now where are you going?” Luke asked, leaning against the doorframe to his room. Martin wanted to roll his eyes as he packed. He had hoped to get away before his friends could talk him out of it.

“Vacation,” he said, snapping his pack up and shouldering it. “I haven’t been on one in a couple years.”

“Well,” his tall friend snorted, “of course you haven’t. We’re at war. I believe it was you who said working against the Mad General was more fun than any vacation.”

“Ah,” he pointed out, slipping past Luke into the hallway, “but that’s only if I’m alone. Fred invited me along for his vacation.”

“Fred?” Luke repeated. He stood there a moment, considering the implications. “Wait…” Sprinting, he caught up with him and glared. “Don’t tell me Fred’s asked you to do something dangerous.”

“Fine,” Martin answered, smirking. “I won’t tell you that Fred’s asked me to do something dangerous.” He laughed at the shocked look on Luke’s face and continued making his way to the stables. However, his tall friend caught up with him again.

“Don’t you remember the conversation we had a couple weeks back?” Luke growled. “You’ve got to stop putting yourself in dangerous positions.”

This time Martin rolled his eyes. “Yes,” he snapped. “And I seemed to remember telling you off last time as well. Now, if you don’t have anything better to tell me off with… Hey!” Luke grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the door to the stable. “What are you doing?”

“How about looking in the stable before waltzing in,” Luke whispered. Curious, Martin peeked around the frame, Luke peeking above him.

The queen was talking with Suit while the princess talked with Sona. They seemed to be waiting for something.

“What do you think this is about?” Luke muttered.

Martin examined the scene again, frowning. The queen was dressed in the same riding clothes she was the day she arrived and bags were gathered behind her. “I think Her Majesty is leaving,” he muttered back. “She’s stayed here too long already.”

“Leaving us with Royal Pain there,” Luke groaned. “Great.”

“Hey,” he said, glaring up at him, “at least she hasn’t taken to following you around.”

Four riders with five horses joined the small farewell party. The guards bowed respectfully to the queen and princess. After the introductions were given, Queen Abigail said her good byes. The words were short with Suit and a long conversation with Sona. Then she reached her daughter. Though the princess tried to act as if she couldn’t care less that her mother was leaving, Sara did look a bit down.

“I’d hate to be raised as royalty,” Luke whispered. “Always being pushed aside for the kingdom.”

Martin didn’t reply. At least she knew her parents and that they did love her. He grew up always being pushed aside, always for no reason other than being alone. Even when he started his training as a spy, he felt the distrust of others.

After the goodbyes, Queen Abigail mounted her horse and left. Suit lingered only to see her through the gate before marching back to his office. Sona and Sara stayed until after the gate was closed then wandered back together.

“I wonder why Her Majesty didn’t announce that she was leaving,” Thomas said, joining them at the door. Luke jumped but Martin continued to watch the stable to make sure no one returned.

“Who knows,” Luke grumbled. “But she’s not the only one leaving without telling anyone.”

Thomas noticed the pack Martin shouldered. “So, it does seem he’s going. What’s the problem with that?”

Luke threw his hands up. “I give up on you two!”

Martin and Thomas shared a look. “Perhaps a vacation wouldn’t do you bad either,” Thomas suggested. The response was only another glare.

“There’s Fred,” Martin said, spotting the Ghost General across the stable. Ignoring his arguing friends, he entered the stable and crossed over to Chief.

“Any idea why the queen left?” Fred asked as he approached.

He shrugged. “She needed to get back to Nacre, I suppose. The kingdom needs her there.”

“Yes,” Fred sighed, “The kingdom takes precedence.” Martin frowned. It was a line he expected from nobility. “But,” he went on, “we are off for vacation. Got everything?”

“He can pack everything he needs in that pack,” Luke said, joining them. “Of course he has it.”

“Luke’s bitter,” Thomas explained to Chief. “He wants to go on vacation as well.”

Chief laughed. “Sorry, Ander. If I remember correctly, you got in trouble again.”

Luke stared down at his feet, trying to pass for an image of innocence. “It was getting a bit too boring. A little distraction, I thought, would loosen everyone up.”

“All it earned him is working in the records with Sona,” Martin laughed. “Imagine, he has to spend the next two weeks pulling records out only to put them back.”

“Useless,” Luke spat. “I hate feeling useless.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Fred assured him. “Now, we’ve got to be going.” Saying goodbye to his friends, Martin mounted the horse Fred had ready for him and followed him out the gate.
********
The town of Firth was the closest town of suitable size to the Tree. It could also be called the closest thing to a spying town. About half the people of Firth knew at least one spy, though most knew more. Martin liked the town; these people knew enough Tree gossip to talk about. Though, he did hope they had yet to hear about the prince.

Riding on the outer muddy streets, they headed for an inn known as the Sky Lark. The inn was often used for a relay station for the Tree. Found just off of the main streets, just short of the paved ones, the Sky Lark had the look of a well used building. Three stories tall and mud spattered siding; Martin had yet to find a cozier place.

As they approached the inn, a large dark skinned man was throwing out a bucket full of dirty water. As they approached, Martin could see more of Ben Lark, the owner of the inn. His bulk was mostly made of fat, though his arms were muscular. Martin always thought Ben should shave his thinning black hair; he would look good bald. Shading his eyes with a large hand, he glanced up to them as they rode up.

“Well, look who’s finally come to my humble inn,” Ben said, flashing his white teeth. “Fred Chief and the Alex.” Well, news of his promotion had reached them.

“Hello, Ben,” Chief said, dismounting and shaking the man’s hand. Two of Ben’s assistants came out and took care of their horses. “It’s nice to see you.” Martin also shook hands. Ushering them inside, Ben went into a back room. They helped themselves to a table as Ben came out with some drinks. The one he put in front of Martin was water.

“Aren’t you old enough to have something stronger?” Chief asked, sipping at his drink.

“I don’t like the taste of liquor,” he muttered. It was the truth; something about it made his stomach sick each time he had it.

“Maybe some day you’ll grow to like it,” Ben chuckled, sitting down across from them. “So tell me, why is our Ghost Commander and current Alex doing outside the Tree together?”

“Vacation,” Chief explained. “It’s been a while since we’ve had one.”

“And you’re sticking to that story?” Ben asked, sipping at his mug. His eyes told them that he did not believe the story.

“Yep.”

Ben chuckled again. “Martin, someday you’re going to get in trouble for interrupting orders.”

Martin shrugged. “It’s kept me alive so far.”

“Speaking of keeping alive,” Chief said, a smile creeping onto his face. “Did my package come yet, Ben?”

“As a matter of fact, it did.” The inn keeper returned the smile and stood. “Follow me.” Martin followed Ben as he led the way to the stables, frowning at the Ghost General.

“What is this package?” he asked. Chief pulled him aside.

“Martin,” he said, putting his hands on his shoulder, “I’m afraid that I haven’t been there for you these last couple of years.”

“There’s a war going on,” Martin pointed out. “And I’m a legal adult. I can take care of myself.”

“I know.” Chief half smiled. “But you’re still important to me. And, as much as I hate saying this, Suit and the others are right. You need to be more careful. So, I got you something to help keep you safe.”

Martin wanted to frown. “What is it?”

Chief whistled loudly. Ben found them, leading a gray horse behind him. “Here you go,” Fred said, taking the reigns and handing it to him. “He’s all yours.”

Martin was speechless as he took the reigns. Immediately, he began to examine the horse, feeling along the stallion’s legs, checking his teeth, eyes, and ears. “He’s great,” he told Chief after his examination. “But I can’t accept him. He’s worth too much.”

The Ghost General chuckled. “I thought you would say that. You’ve never been able to accept anything. Think of it as your payment for doing me a favor during your vacation.”

“But…” he started to say, holding the reigns out.

“It’s an early payment,” Chief cut him off, refusing the reigns. “But I think it’s worth it. You need a mount of your own.”

Martin stared at him, then smiled. Fred knew him well enough. He could accept the excuse. He patted the horse’s nose fondly.

“What you going to name him?” Ben asked. The inn keeper had a smile to match Chief’s.

His answer was immediate. “Rowan.” The name came from his favorite book character; a faithful companion of a reckless adventurer.

“An appropriate name.” Chief stroked the stallion’s neck. “He’s an elven breed. Since you are now his owner, he will know where you are. And if you ever need him, he will come at your whistle.”

Martin jumped at the news. “But elves rarely ever let their horses go.” The Ghost Commander grinned.

“I do have some influence in this world. Enough of this. Should we go for a ride before I send you off?”

Martin matched Chief’s grin and began saddling his Rowan.
**********
Transitions between adventures always seem awkward to me. Thankfully, those transitions don't last long. Now for that last bit of news I promised. This is the second to last post of NaNoWriMo. Next week we'll have reached 50,000 words. Things will get interesting after next week's post. You'll be venturing into my un-edited, freshly written works. After the NaNoWriMo challange, I took a break from writing to focus on school work, then I started this blog, so nothing new has been written. You have been warned.

However, I would like to thank everyone who has been reading and been giving me great feedback. I've been working on Martin's story since I was fifteen and have always been afraid to let people know of this hobby of mine. That's why the book never got all that far (I'd keep scrapping everything and start over). It's because of you readers that I'm now moving forward with the story. Thank you so much for motivating me to the next adventure. Until next week, enjoy the journey!