Tensa was a bit nervous that her flight from the castle might have been discovered, but having locked her room combined with the fact the after-party during royal banquets could go into the wee hours of the morning must have acted in her favor. There was no sign that anyone was watching the city gates, so she and Vix approached rather boldly, but separately. While Tensa might not garner any attention, Vix might, being a beastkin. Better that it be reported that Vix left the city alone, just in case someone came looking.
Luckily, even that seemed unnecessary, as the two exited the city with no trouble at all; the guards were more concerned with who was entering. However, although there was no difficulty at the gates, neither of them noticed the gloomy eyes watching all those exiting the city. Vix and Tensa quickly made their way to their rendezvous point, relieved that their plan had worked thus far.
"So what's your plan now?" Vix queried as the two trudged down the dirt road. "That crazy prince will come looking for you sooner or later."
"Don't remind me," Tensa frowned. "First, I suppose I have to get out of the Empire. If the prince tries to marry me, with all those backstabbing nobles around, I'll be dead before I know what happened. Not that Bursin would wait that long," Tensa added the last sentence under her breath. Sometimes she wondered if Bursin actually had a thing for Obliv. If it was simply a prince/subject relationship, Bursin's obsession with Obliv's future sometimes bordered on the obscene.
"Are you heading back to beastkin territory?" Tensa asked Vix, who nodded in response. "If you don't mind a tag-along, I'd like to get to the border with as little fanfare as possible. Even if I don't enter beastkin territory, I can follow the border to another kingdom."
"Of course you're welcome to come with me!" Vix grinned excitedly, her tail twitching happily. "You know my tribe would welcome you with open arms. Why don't you come visit at least?"
Tensa smiled and indicated she would consider it. Beastkin territory was populated by multiple beastkin tribes, each with varying characteristics. There were some towns where all types of beastkin were welcome, mainly for purposes of trade, but normally most tribes kept to themselves. There were also tensions between certain tribes, so the territory was by no means a monolithic structure. However, this did not necessarily make them weak. While the Vaunt Empire looked down upon beastkin, they would never launch a war against the beastkin. It would not be worth the trouble, and there was no guarantee of actual victory.
Tensa and Vix settled down in a little glade by a creek for the night, a good ways from the road in order to avoid bandits. They had made surprisingly good time for travelers on foot, but they were used to such things after their months in the demon lands. Still, it would take them at least two weeks to get even near the border.
Tensa took the first watch, but when she settled down to sleep after waking Vix, she found herself plagued by strange dreams. It was as though she were back in the demon lands, but she wasn't in the midst of battle. She found herself almost an observer, but could not make sense of the situation. However, one thing she was sure of was the increasing throbbing of her left arm. The pain continued to grow until it was radiating throughout her body, almost as though it were searching for an outlet. Unable to stand it any longer, Tensa woke up to find...