Out, Root and Stem (Part 2)

Their High Queen fights with them.

With every mile closed, and every battle won, the world she symbolizes, but which they always would have fought for, gets closer. Olin’s might and theirs are well-matched. He wants his Queen back, and he will do terrible things to achieve that goal. He believes she belongs to him.

But Althea belongs to her people. To the General and the Captain who allied with her; to the male and female who waited for her all her life; to the friends who loved her when her heart was still snared within twisted vines. And to him. To them.

Her power and her heart will both be wholly freed. To remain that way, they need only win the war.

Would that such a task be so simple.