I searched the creek for tracks and found they’re crossing and up the hillside. Numchucks was already way off sniffing around ahead of me. He went t...owards town. ‘Numchucks, get back here. They went into the woods not towards town and police and people who would see them.’ I took Chucks by the collar and led him back to the creek. Now in his mind he must have been thinking, ‘Oh, Okay…you want to go this way.’ Because after hunting and tracking all day in the woods. I mean every inch of this. Did he really say I’m beautiful and he cares about me?“So you’ll stay and keep them organized and run the household and solve the problems. You have a rare gift for solving problems you know. I’ve seen it in our troubleshooting forum discussions.”He was right again. Why couldn’t she see these things? Was it because she was exhausted? She hadn’t slept well in months. Tears spilled.“And another thing Natalie,” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I know you want to be around, not if, but when. A prominent scar given by a weak enemy would be a lesson she would have to carry with her for life, a constant reminder of her failing in both her own eyes and in those of her peers. It could make life tough among the Isiri.She also saw a human woman, laid out on her back, most of her armour cut away to reveal a nasty wound on her right arm. Even with her limited knowledge of the craft Lysera could see enough of the woman's blood to deduct a major, perhaps even life-threatening injury had been. The boy might be king but he is still a backward waif without the wiles to survive long on the throne. I do not worry that his radical plans for that horrible country will bear fruit.”“Then why must we visit him?” Annika von Schuman inquired. “I certainly wish nothing to do with him.”“In spite of his ignorance, he does sit at the head of a powerful army,” her father said. “Many of his soldiers hail from our shores and will be accepting of one of their own. One of ours already leads them but he.