Chapter 21
Ian felt as though he could disappear into the night itself.
The dark trousers, shirt, and cloak he had brought with him from the castle were so different from the formal, fitted vests and jackets that had made up his daily wardrobe as a prince.
He had not expected the freedom he would relish from the loose—albeit stained—linen shirt he had worn every day for the last sevennight.
Nor the acceptance he would feel while standing in the group of Robin’s bandits, wearing clothing that placed him as their equal.
And now, standing with those bandits near the front stable of Lockwood after sundown, he felt like he truly might be one of them.
Like he could slide his hood deep over his face, step into the dark trees, and become as invisible as they had been that first night when he could not see them on the road.
“Your first raid,” Lane said, standing next to Ian. He threw his arm around Ian’s shoulders and then quickly withdrew it, as though suddenly uncomfortable with his own action. “Robin,” he said, his voice loud and carefree, “What is your law for breaking the law with a lawmaker?”
“It is hardly breaking the law,” Ian replied, keeping his tone light. He was excited for his first raid. “In fact, it almost feels like we are enforcing the law by seeing if someone else has broken it.”
“Well said,” Lane replied.
Ian noticed that Robin had said nothing. She was busy attaching her bow to her back with a harness belted across her chest. She did not appear to be ignoring them; rather she was focused on the plan ahead.
“Besides, this is not even a real raid,” Ian continued, wanting to both enjoy this new camaraderie with the team and reassure Robin.
He trusted his own skills as a trained soldier.
But he also saw how Robin protected her band with a fierce loyalty, and he doubted she would endanger them by inviting him on a dangerous mission when his presence could disrupt their careful synchronization.
“I am just here to count the food supplies we find and compare them to the numbers Ilida showed me,” Ian said.
“But you are dressed for the part,” Nele chimed in, playing off of Lane’s energy.
“If something does happen,” Rigelt said, “I won’t even bother to shroud you in darkness magic this time. You can just disappear on your own.”
Ian lifted his hood and dropped it over his face. He stood completely still, acting in jest that he had actually disappeared.
Lane and the others laughed appreciatively.
Even Robin, who had finished adjusting her harness and checking the daggers in her belt, smiled.
“Are we ready?” she asked, looking around at each of them.
Ian nodded when she caught his eye.
“To Doulast,” Robin said. “Jette, lead the way.”
Falling into line behind the tall woman, the small group left the soft lantern light outside of Lockwood Manor and began their walk to the nearby village of Doulast. Robin had explained to Ian in advance that she preferred to walk rather than ride for night raids such as this, as it was easier to disperse into the forest without worrying about any large mounts.
It made the trip take longer, but Doulast was still close enough that they could be back well before dawn.
Ian found that, despite his best efforts, he was quite nervous.
He did not attribute the racing of his heart to fear, however.
This felt like something that he shouldn’t be doing.
It was a raid, even though they had no intention of stealing from the target.
It felt like something that a responsible prince should not do—and yet, he was excited to do it.
He wanted to ensure that the people in his kingdom had enough to eat, and this was one way to do that.
In front of him, he noticed the way Robin moved with ease, like she herself was a shadow in the night.
He watched the motion of her shoulders, the responsive bounce in her heel, and he attempted to mirror her movements.
It felt very different from the strong and deliberate way he always moved as a captain of the army.
He had been trained to stand out, to be seen, to make himself heard for the sake of the order and effectiveness of the companies under his command.
But here, none of those traits helped him.
So he eased into his step, relaxing his shoulders and trying not to worry about what they would find in the larder of the reeve of Doulast.
Perhaps he and Ilida were entirely wrong and the reeve had nothing to do with the missing food. Perhaps the food was not missing at all and the villagers truly were taking the minimum they needed to survive.
Or, perhaps they were right and the reeve was hoarding food for himself.
As the road grew wider and the trees thinned, the crescent moon overhead illuminated a village up ahead.
Even from a distance, Ian could see that Doulast was easily twice the size of Berwell.
Several buildings lined a few crisscrossed streets.
Two or three of the buildings appeared to be taverns, still open despite the late hour.
But for the most part, the town was dark and the streets deserted.
Avoiding the main road entirely, Jette led them through the fenced farmland outside the town itself. She took them down a dark side street that wound its way toward the town square and stopped behind the reeve’s large, two-story stone house.
While he could not see the front of the house, Ian noted that the back of the house was surrounded by a tall wooden fence built on top of a thick stone foundation.
This was not unusual, as the cities of Iseldis rarely built protective walls around the entire city, but rather relied on a single structure to act as a fortress should the need arise.
The castle he had grown up in was the fortress for the capital city, a place where the people could retreat to should the need for protection arise.
The reeve’s fence was not unexpected, but it did provide an extra barrier to viewing his larder.
Taking the lead from Jette, Robin stepped forward and tested the handle on the back gate.
It moved under her hand, and the door cracked open. It was unlocked. Perhaps the reeve had nothing to hide after all.
But then a dog growled, deep and menacing from behind the fence.
Ian froze. Robin had not included him in the planning meeting for this raid, so he did not know how they would handle this situation. None of the other bandits appeared concerned, however, so he watched as Ulli stepped forward.
The dog’s growl continued, growing into a frantic spiral of barking as a second dog joined the first.
Opening a satchel at his side, Ulli removed a package of waxed fabric. As he unwrapped it, the stench of raw meat filled the air.
The dogs’ barking increased.
Ulli tossed a piece of the meat over the fence. The barking sounds turned into loud sniffs, followed by slobbery smacking.
Ulli waited for several more seconds, then threw another piece of meat over the fence.
The dogs devoured it, then sniffed along the fence, whining as they went, begging for another piece.
Robin slowly inched open the gate and motioned for Ulli to go first.
Holding another piece of meat in front of him, Ulli silently entered the fenced area and continued to distract the alarmed dogs.
Lane and Nele followed, then Ian and Rigelt. Robin came in last, gently closing the gate behind them.
The back of the house was lit only by a soft glow that came from one of the lower windows near the back door. Ian assumed it was the light of the coals from the kitchen fire.
“The barking likely woke someone,” Robin said in a low voice, quieter than a whisper. She motioned for them to follow her, then led them around the side of the house. They huddled in the darkness, out of sight of the back door.
The two dogs followed them, intrigued and pressing their noses against Ulli for more meat, but their loud barks and growls had disappeared.
Ian sat in complete stillness, Rigelt pressed up against one side of him and Robin against the other.
The door around the corner creaked open.
Ian nodded in the darkness. Robin had been right—not that he was surprised, but hiding around the corner had been a smart decision.
Hearing the door, the dogs dashed away from Ulli and ran around the corner toward the sound.
“Gray!” called an angry male voice. “Wolf! What is going on down here?”
Ian held his breath, feeling the same tension in the muscles of Rigelt’s arm digging into his side.
“What did you see?” the voice continued. “Is something amiss?”
The dogs barked, but it was not aggressive. Ian could imagine them wagging their tails as if trying to explain that they had received a tasty treat.
Footsteps sounded on the packed dirt behind the house, walking along the back wall and then back to the center.
“Stupid brutes,” the voice muttered. “Let a man get some sleep.”
The door slammed shut rather loudly, and Ian heard a bolt sliding into place. He was not sure how they would get around that, but if Robin had been prepared for the dogs, she would surely have a plan for quietly breaking into a man’s house.
Ian looked to Robin, waiting for a signal from her in the darkness. “Not yet,” she whispered.
The next several minutes felt like hours. Ian assumed they were waiting for the man to fall back asleep.
The dogs came back, sniffing each person in turn and then panting happily when Ian and each of the bandits offered head pats and ear scratches. Eventually, though, even Gray and Wolf grew bored and wandered off, likely to return to their favorite sleeping spot.
Finally, Robin stood from her crouched position and peaked around the corner of the house.
Ian followed suit, ignoring the protest in his legs as his frozen muscles reawakened.
Robin motioned for Nele to follow her around the corner and onto the wooden porch.