Free Ties of Blood by D.W. Jackson

dared to interfere. A lingering thought crossed her mind if the others in her group felt this way when they were in Farlan. No it had to be worse in Farlan here while women were looked down on they were not as discriminated against as males were in Farlan.
    Had she really been so unaware of what had been going on around her for so many years? She had always prided herself in treating her soldiers equally. She had done her best to make sure both the female and males were treated as close to the same as was possible, but she knew that it was impossible in most cases. Men and women had different inns and while the ones for the females had always been well taken care of in the males case they were forced to either camp out, or sleep on straw mattresses crawling with bugs and seldom washed.
    Watching Ballard now she tried to think back to one time any of her soldiers had complained about their lot in life. There had been a few minor complaints over the years but it was usually to do with isolated cases on how an individual treated them and in those few cases it was an extreme treatment. Such as the time the woman refused to thank the men after they had saved her and her caravan from a bandit attack simply because they were men. But she couldn’t recall a time where any of them complained about being treated like nothing more than a bothersome pet.
    The tension that had been mounting in her as she watched the two men converse drifted away as Ballard turned around a large smile on his face headed straight in her direction. She wasn’t sure what he was happy about but that didn’t keep her from being eager to hear what he had to say. In fact it was all she could do not to yell at him to hurry his pace. Ballard must have got the hint from the way she was looking at him because no sooner had she thought about yelling at him that he increased his pace from a slow walk to a near jog. It wasn’t so fast to draw attention but did carry him along to where she sat in a matter of moments that still seemed agonizingly long.
    Ballard sat down next to her keeping the large smile plastered on his face but remained silent. She tried to wait for him to speak knowing that he was gaining a small amount of satisfaction from his little game. He knew something and was waiting for her to ask. It was a childish game she knew but one that they had played often throughout the years. It was always a challenge to see if they person with the news or waiting on the news would give in first. She liked to believe that she won more often than not and she wanted to win again but today she was no match for him. “What?” she asked her voice between angry annoyance and overflowing curiosity.
    Though he didn’t say it the look on his face gloried in his triumph. “Seems our friends over there have seen our little mage. It looks like we will not be able to catch them at our current speed. They bought fresh horses and are moving faster. From what information I gathered we won’t be able to catch them before they reach their destination. From what we learned I would suggest we turn back, but knowing you I doubt I will be heard.”
    Though his face stayed light she could tell that he was worried. She didn’t want to put her friends in needless danger for a personal issue but she didn’t want to give up on Thad before she had tried everything. If they reached the fort and count find a way to get him out she would simply have to beg her aunt to lend her an entire army. Though trying to get an army this deep into Abla would be impossible. Maybe she could talk to the queen and trade Thad for a lessening of the fees on trade to Abla. That would solve more than one thing at a time, though she wasn’t sure how long Thad had. Abla didn’t have the best history when it came to prisoners.
    The long she didn’t speak the more concerned the look on Ballard’s face became. Seeing the worry on his face made her feel better for some reason. “There is no reason to worry I