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which time the place was back and running, with most of the servants returning
to their old jobs. But there were no new sec men appointed. Ryan had made it
clear he wouldn't agree to that.
He made a long speech the first he'd ever undertaken and told the listeners
what was going to happen.
When he spoke of the ville existing for the good of all, there were scattered
cheers.
But his announcement that he and his friends were moving on and leaving Nathan
Freeman, now called Cawdor, as the baron of Front Royal was greeted with a
stunned dismay.
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"Why him, Lord Cawdor?" called out a toothless old crone in the front row,
leaning on a blackthorn staff.
"Because he is the son of my oldest brother, Morgan Cawdor, murdered by
Harvey. He is baron by right and by succession. I name Nathan Freeman as my
own heir to Front Royal."
So Nathan, son of Morgan Cawdor and the mutie girl Guenema, was duly installed
as the baron of Front Royal in Virginia, controlling the lands and woods for
many miles around.
Chapter Thirty-Six
THE BATTERED WAG that had brought them so many miles south was brought in and
refueled from one of the other gas stores that serviced the ville. The six
friends were once more dressed in their own clothes and carrying their own
weapons. Nathan had asked Ryan if he wished for something from his old home to
carry with him.
"I've carried this place with me for twenty years, Nate. Now I'm finally free
of it."
There had been no discussion between them as to where they should go. All of
them wanted to take the long road north, back to the hidden gateway up on the
Mohawk.
Jak engaged the gears, and the big wag lumbered off, its engine and exhaust
fixed.
It was a fine sunny day, and they had the ports and ob-slits open. Ryan hung
on the main door, staring back as the ville disappeared behind them. He had
one arm around Krysty, the other hugging his Heckler & Koch G-12 caseless
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"Glad you came, lover?" she asked him. It was difficult to hear above the
rumbling of the powerful wag, and she had to repeat the question. "Are you
glad you came back, lover?"
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"Yeah. Paid all the debts. Laid it all to rest. Now we can move on again."
They held each other tight as the wag moved steadily away north.
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