Chapter 6
by 
mally01
Who appears to meet them?
At last they meet.
The camp broke early the next morning and Arerto's party mounted their horses and headed towards the border as the sun started to rise. Karleen rode by Arertos side and the escort followed behind but as they got nearer to the border two riders took up positions on either flank. They got to the border and Arerto halted them just short of crossing over. Arerto looked off into the distance noting the lush plains and high mountains. To her right, she saw a plume of dust rising into the morning light and guessed it would be their welcoming committee.
Over a small rise approached Queen Hildegard along with twenty burly men acting as her bodyguard but being six foot four inches Hildegard was taller than them all. They arrived at the border and Hildegard considered Arerto weighing her up noting that she was tall but not as tall as her.
"Welcome Queen Arerto it is good to finally meet you please cross over into my lands" said Hildegard
Arerto signalled for her party to cross over behind her and the two outriders closed closer to Arerto without being ordered to do so. This was something that Hildegard noted and commended Arerto on how well her escort was trained. Arerto thanked her and both the Queen's shook each grasping the other's arm at the elbow joint. Hildegard then invited Arerto and her group to her camp which was a short ride away at the base of the hills. During the ride, both queens chatted and Arerto found out that Hildegard's people were a warrior race but now sort to live in peace.
They arrived at the camp which had a small guard detachment protecting it and Arerto looked around taking in the defences without letting on. They arrived at the queen's tent and entered and Arerto found chairs had been placed for them to sit on so they could chat. Servants brought food and drink and they discussed the possibility of trade and treaties while Arerto's escort were fed and shown around. Hildegard excused herself and headed outside and while everyone was distracted slipped out of camp and headed to the hills. She entered a cave that was hidden by trees and then transformed.
Hildegard transformed into the witch and smiled as everything that Arerto had seen this morning was an illusion. There was no camp just illusions. She was lucky that Arerto had not brought her own witch otherwise the deception would have been seen for what it was. Doing what she needed to do she returned to the tent and further discussed matters with Arerto commenting on her physique and muscle tone. Arerto blushed a little thinking that this queen was hitting on her. The morning turned to lunch and lunch turned to afternoon and finally evening.
They watched the sunset and Hildegard escorted Arerto to the tent that had been set up for her to sleep. The escort had a tent nearby and the ones not on guard rested as did Arerto. Again Arerto had fun with herself in her tent and slept happily dreaming of home and her sisters. Hildegard happy the camp was resting headed back to her cave and she too rested for she was very tired as maintaining the illusion to a lot of her stamina. Tomorrow would be an even bigger drain on her energy.