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sometimes sticks his feet in the ground and refuses to move. He simply thinks, as al men do, that he knows best. And when that happens…” Madison winked suggestively at Laura.
    “…he just needs a woman there to show him the way,” Laura said, finishing the sentence. And then she and Madison both burst out laughing.
    “Come on,” Madison said once the laughter had died down, “the boys are starting to stare daggers at our back wondering what’s taking so long.” Laura glanced at Alexander and Logan, and realized that both of them were staring at them, and both had a befuddled look on their faces. Laura laughed again, and fol owed Madison to the center of camp.

Chapter Five
    ~Decisions~
    “So,” Alexander said once they had come within earshot, “you final y decide to grace us with your presence.”
    “Oh, give over, Alex,” Madison said as she sat down, nudging him with one elbow. “Laura and I were just having a quick private chat.” She winked at Laura. “Anyway, I’m sure you two had plenty to talk about without us.”
    “Right,” Alexander said slyly. He shot an unreadable look towards Logan, who nodded in reply. Laura settled herself on the ground, leaning her back against the log that Logan sat on. “But now that the pleasantries are done with, we need to get down to business. And the first question on my mind is: did you find what you were looking for?”
    Laura looked to Logan, who shook his head. “No. It seems that somebody had beaten us there, and wiped the entire mil clean. There was nothing left in the chest.”
    “So the letters, then,” Madison began, looking worried. “They’re…”
    “Gone,” Laura confirmed, nodding. “The elders set two guards on duty there, in case we come back. We overheard them speaking.”
    Alexander leaned forward intently. “Guards? Did they trouble you?” Under his breath, he added, “I knew we should have come.”
    “No,” Laura and Logan said at the same time. He looked at her, and after a moment tilted his head in acquiescence.
    “There were two of them there,” Laura began. “They were talking about guarding the place in case we come back. As far as I could gather, they’d been stationed there for quite some time. And the elders were the ones who put them there. The two of them were brothers.
    “When we got to the mil , it was empty. We lucked out in that sense, I guess. We went to the attic, where Logan had kept the chest, but when we opened it – we realized it was empty. That was when the two guards came back. One was named Kalvarin, and the other…”
    “Algar,” Logan said, finishing the sentence. “It sounded like they weren’t too happy to be there.”
    “Wait,” Madison said, frowning slightly. “Did you say Algar ?”
    “Yes,” Logan said. “Why, do you know him?”
    “I may have… once, long ago. The name is not one you hear every day. Tel me, did he have a deep, somewhat hoarse voice?”
    “Yes,” Laura said.
    “And dark hair, with wide shoulders?”
    Laura looked to Logan. He had been the one who fought him. “That’s right,” Logan nodded.
    “Then it likely is one and the same.” She bit the bottom of her lip, something that Laura had never seen her do. “I did not know he had kin, but he was never one to take kindly to being told what to do or where to go. If he stayed there on order of the elders… wel , I doubt the assignment would have come easily.”
    “They were both arguing about what they were set to do,” Laura confirmed. “From what I could gather, neither wanted much to be there.”
    “But you fought them,” Alexander said. “Does that mean they are…”
    “Dead.” Laura finished the sentence for him. “There was no way to get out without getting their attention.” She looked at Logan rueful y. “And they fought to kil , too. It was either us, or them. If you knew him, Madison, I’m sorry.”
    Madison waved her aside. “There are more important matters now than long-forgotten