Chapter 31 Cenric
Cenric
“You stay with me, young wolf,” Olfirth grunted.
Cenric bristled under that. He was in Olfirth’s lands, surrounded by his thanes, but he bristled. “You think I’m leading you into a trap?”
“I think I’m riding straight toward something with only your oath that it’s not a trap.”
Cenric bridled at the implied insult. “I honor my oaths.”
Olfirth laughed at that, as if something about that was truly funny. “We’ll see.”
It had been much easier to be civil to Olfirth when they had been speaking at Cenric’s table. Cenric was starting to realize Olfirth had been on his best behavior then. He had fewer reasons to behave now.
Olfirth had all the power and Brynn wasn’t here. There was nothing stopping Olfirth and his men from turning on Cenric and Edric and leaving their bodies for the carrion birds. Distantly, Cenric wondered which of these men was Rowan’s suitor or if that man was here at all.
“Lord.” One of Olfirth’s thanes rounded the bend, having ridden ahead to scout. He was a slim fellow with a dappled grey stallion. “Horses ahead with a wagon. About a mile.”
Cenric’s heart sped up. He caught himself standing in his stirrups on impulse, trying to see.
Bada sensed his movement and stomped, tail wringing. The stallion was still fresh and could feel his rider’s unease. The animal knew a fight was coming and was tired of waiting for it.
“Anyone we know?” Olfirth grunted.
“Can’t tell,” the thane answered. “Too far away. There’s a pair of white mules at the back, though.”
Olfirth rubbed his jaw, frowning.
That pair of white mules ridden by the twin sorceresses might be impressive, but they were also recognizable. It was likely the sorceresses hadn’t expected pursuit.
Brynn? Cenric looked down to Snapper.
Horses. Snapper answered. Hunt?
Maybe, Cenric sent back. If Brynn was in a wagon, it would be hard for Snapper to find her scent trail, but there might still be something the dog could do.
“Well.” Olfirth inhaled, hands crossed over the front of his saddle pommel. “There are a few inlets in this area.”
“The nearest one is to the west,” the thane answered.
Olfirth seemed to think. “We can cut around to the beach and sweep down it.”
“They’ll see us coming,” Cenric pointed out.
“If they’re sorceresses, they don’t need to see us.” Olfirth drew himself up. “But if we can spot their ship, we might be able to head them off.” He jerked his head toward the trees. “Evred, lead the way.”
A thane on a chestnut swerved off from the main group at a trot, heading into the trees. This part of the forest was sparse enough for horses to pass through, but the men still had to duck under branches.
Cenric wanted to move faster, wanted to spur Bada into a gallop to reach the shore. But even if the way ahead hadn’t been thick with fallen logs and unseen flaws in the earth, there was safety in numbers. Even if these men may or may not be friends.
As they rode, he wondered if Olfirth might be in league with Selene. Even if he wasn’t, the old man might just want Cenric and Edric far away in the wilderness before turning on them. This whole thing was a risk, but Cenric couldn’t see how to avoid it.
The forest thinned and Cenric caught the sound of the waves before the sea came into view. The horses skittered out onto the pebbled beach, the wind whipping up off the water. Bada raised his head, nostrils flaring at the sudden gust. The stallion chomped at his bit, mirroring Cenric’s frustration.
The beach ran north and south in either direction as far as the eye could see, disappearing around a bend of trees. Aging driftwood littered the pebbles and dark stone marked where the ocean had receded.
Cenric’s stomach knotted in sick realization. This was the beach—the beach from his foretelling. He could only hope they weren’t too late, but he found himself desperately searching the shore all the same.
Fish! Snapper cried. Seagulls!
Brynn? Cenric was almost afraid of the answer this time.
Snapper woofed . No Brynn.
“The tide is going out,” called Evred, the scout. “They’ll have to move quickly if they have a ship coming into the inlet.”
Cenric searched the swath of ocean before them. White waves peaked, swelled, and broke against the beach. A few birds circled overhead, but this shoreline appeared mostly deserted. From the dark lines on the stones, the water would rise nearly to the trees at high tide. No sign of a ship yet.
What if the sorceresses were taking Brynn another way? What if they’d already lost their quarry?
Olfirth’s horse snorted and stamped, but the animal kept its head down. Everyone around the old man showed discipline and control, even the animals.
Cenric found himself respecting Olfirth more with each moment, if begrudgingly.
Evred led the way down the beach, his horse trotting in the lead while the rest of the thanes fell in behind him. Their spears and shields jangled, but the sound was mostly covered by the murmur of the sea.
“I don’t need to tell you we’re keeping whatever we find,” Olfirth said.
Cenric glanced to the older man.
Olfirth continued. “Should we happen to fight, I mean. Your enemies’ horses. Their gold and silver.” A spark entered the old thane’s eyes. “Maybe even a ship, from the sound of it.”
That was the way of things. The reward for battle was the bounty of your enemies. Attacking was always preferable to defending because it had the greater promise of reward.
Another time, Cenric might have argued, but there was only one thing he wanted. “If I get my wife back, I don’t care.”
Olfirth chuckled again. “You’re a sentimental young man, I see.”
Cenric was sure that was meant as an insult, but Brynn would have ignored it, so he did, too.
“Ship,” Evred called as soon as they came into earshot. “Entering the inlet.”
Cenric’s scalp prickled at the confirmation. Entering the inlet, that meant the sorceresses hadn’t met it yet. They weren’t too late.
Cenric and Olfirth rode forward, keeping to the shade of the trees so they would be hidden from the men on board. They rounded the bend and sure enough, the tail end of a ship was gliding into the inlet, upriver.
Olfirth adjusted his reins, heaving a great sigh, turning back to his men. “Do we have the rope? Good.” He worked his jaw, seeming to think for a moment. “Well.” He cast a cynical grin at Cenric. “Now we just hope that Lady Brynn actually wants to be rescued.”
Cenric had no response to that.