The travel from Lupa was quiet.The travel from Lupa was quiet. Jess had planned on it. The fall sales were three months away, and would be held in Toren this year. She hoped to have some of the Dark Lord's girls to put on the block. Oh, to get that sharp-tongued bitch Alyne in her coffle. She hated the Dark Lord's younger sister with a surprising passion. She clicked the reins on the cart, chafing that it moved so slowly. The tired horses moved a little faster for a few paces and then returned to their somber shuffle. Janesse rode beside her on the seat of the cart, and Jessica glanced at her daughter with pride. Janesse was fifty now, and Jess was ninety. They both looked as though they were in their late thirties. Janesse was a daughter to be proud of. She had learned the trade from her father, Malak, after he and Jess had parted ways. She had taken over when he retired and had made contact with her mother; with their combined skills, their operations had been more successful than ever. Jess was proud of her daughter's abilities in procurement and bargaining, and she was pleased that the girl was so pretty. The first bloom of her youth was fading, but she was lovely, and her face held a sort of wisdom that only those of elven blood could attain so young. The city of Tavect was growing larger in the distance. They would make it by sundown. Jess had often visited the city with Malak during the Time of Darkness and knew that the royal palace was much the same as ever. More ornamentation had been added over the years, sometimes unwisely, but still much the same. She planned to arrived after supper and leave, with the princess, before midnight, so that Brianna would not be missed until the next morning. |