He was swift to shift his thinking from the engagement of Jacob and Rachel, although for some reason he had a difficult time thinking of anything else. Once he’d mounted his steed, along with Byron, who occasionally accompanied him during such escapades as this, he disregarded the news of his dear friend’s wedding and, of course, Rachel the Elder. For the life of him he could not easily stop thinking about her. But once the journey to Rowan began, which was a seven hour one, he did well to shove it all from his mind. After all, the documents in his possession were not only important, but time sensitive as well. Byron was only aware of a portion of the cause of this mission. He was conscious of the fact that the scrolls being transferred were of value, otherwise he would not have been summoned to go along; but he knew nothing of their contents and Marcus preferred to keep it that way. Only Marcus knew, and the emperor, of course, who’d taken special care in ordering each one for each individual case of three specific detainees who were to be strictly supervised until arrangements could be made to have them transferred to the emperor’s palace where they would be reasonably questioned.
