•••
Van Kroon left the North-Western Garrison feeling irate at Zaila's stubbornness. He sat in the back seat of his carriage, flanked on both sides by two of the Mages with him. The third took the wheel and drove the carriage.
"Myopic bitch!" He snarled as he pulled out a Loqui-Link.
He activated it and spoke harshly.
"How goes it?"
"We're on their tail, Sir," the responding voice came from the Loqui-Link, sounding hurried but a tiny bit excited.
"And do you have an idea of their destination?" Van asked.
"They seem to be heading toward the border, Sir," the voice answered.
"The Khione border," Van mused, "So they're leaving the Duchy."
"Well, the Acheron Border actually," the voice said, "They seem to be heading out of the Empire."
The Khione Duchy was situated at the very edge of the Empire and technically, depending on what direction one was turned toward, crossing the Khione border was the same as crossing the Acheron Empire Border. The Northern-most one anyway.
