Page 59 of Highland Lords of War & Thunder: The Prequel

“There is a young woman I need you to find. She is searching for documents she believes will prove I am not the rightful heir to the throne of Morra Mist.”

That caught Torden's attention. “And you know this for certain?”

“I know she is searching for them. Whether the documents actually exist is another matter,” she clarified.

“And my task?”

“You are to find the woman, find the documents, and bring both to me.”

Torden waited, expecting more.

His brow wrinkled after Eudora said no more. “That's it?”

“That is what I command of you,” she confirmed.

After seeing the state Legion had been in when he left this chamber, Torden had expected something far worse. Finding one woman and a few pieces of parchment sounded far too easy a task.

“There is something you're not telling me.”

“I tell you what you need to know.”

Torden scowled. “Shouldn’t I determine that?”

“Do you rule Morra Mist?”

He had already learned arguing with the queen got him nowhere, so he returned to the matter at hand. “Finding one woman shouldn't prove difficult.”

“You may find the woman herself more difficult than the task or, so I have been told.”

“How so?”

“The person who brought me the information described her as a bit of a hellion.”

Torden nearly groaned. His thoughts went immediately to Ismera.

One stubborn, argumentative female had been more than enough for him. He had no desire to deal with another who thought nothing of challenging a man twice her size and seemed to take particular pleasure in irritating him.

He had been glad to leave Ismera behind. Hadn’t he?

He shook the foolish question from his thoughts. “A hellion, you say?”

“Aye, that was what was reported to me.”

“She might prove annoying, but she would be far from dangerous.”

“I didn't say she was dangerous.”

Torden was confused. “Why summon me for such a simple task?” He shook his head, the answer easy. “You don’t know who to trust and since I⁠—”

“Have no choice but to obey me, you three were my only option,” Eudora finished. “And you may think your task minor, but if not successful the crown could fall into the hands of unscrupulous men who would destroy Morra Mist.”

“You sound so sure and yet you do not know who is behind this,” Torden argued.

“What reason would someone have to take the throne from me, but greed. My family has built Morra Mist into a safe and thriving kingdom. There is great wealth here, in what the land produces, what the people produce, and in what we trade. We are a wealthy kingdom, and someone wants that wealth. And once they have it, they will demand and take more from the people and the land until there is nothing left. I do what is necessary to save Morra Mist.”

Torden had learned through the many years just how burdensome wearing a crown could be on the wearer and on him, Legion, and Creagan.

“Tell me what happens to the woman after I bring her here?” Torden asked eager to be finished with yet another summons.