Chapter 10 #2
Tal and Carrick hurried to the trees surrounding the outer palace walls, a small stream of water flowing on their left. After a distance, they slowed their pace, and Tal broke the tense silence that hung between them. “Does any of this seem suspicious to you?”
“You mean why would a noble come to us for help?”
Tal nodded. “I want to trust him, but something isn’t adding up.” She paused, then said, “Perhaps it’s because we’re expendable? Should anything go wrong, no one will miss a couple of orphans from the docks.”
Carrick grunted in response. They walked for a few minutes longer, their pace terribly slow as they picked their way over tree roots. A branch cracking behind them had Tal whipping around, knife in hand.
Without a greeting, Faron spoke, “When we reach the village, there will be a cart waiting to take Luan north to the mountains. They’ll have a healing elixir for him.
Whoever took him has connections within the palace, which means he can’t stay here.
I’ve hired a healer and her husband to care for him until he’s well enough to find his own way. ”
“What about his family?” Carrick asked, carefully adjusting his hold under the boy’s shoulders. He grunted softly, but didn’t stir.
“He has no family.”
Talwyn scoffed. “And you learned this when?”
“I met Luan three years ago while I acquired a new sword. He and I have spoken on occasion since then.”
“Where’s your friend?” Tal eyed the empty space surrounding him.
“He’s gone to get Ed. Do you not trust me?”
“I could hardly say I know you well enough to offer my trust. Why are you so trusting of me?”
Faron chuckled beside her. “So cynical. I trust you because you help the lowly, even if it puts you in danger. Besides, I’m a great judge of character.” He straightened with a hand on his chest.
“You don’t think this appears suspicious at all?” Moonlight illuminated his handsome face, and Tal tripped on a tree root. He caught her by the elbow and only released her when she steadied her footing.
“Oh, I think it looks terribly suspicious. Who on earth is trying to frame the king by placing a tortured blacksmith’s apprentice in a dungeon underneath the palace? I think we need to get to the bottom of this before it escalates.”
“You know that’s not what I meant. And what do you mean ‘we'? We don’t need to do anything. Carrick and I are doing you a favor. We need to get this boy to safety, and that’s it.”
Faron stopped walking, and the center of his brow pulled up in dismay. “You’re not going to help me get Nola out?”
Tal stopped a few paces ahead of him while Carrick continued walking. “Do you know where she is?”
A shout in the distance forced them to quicken their pace and ignore the hanging question.
When they reached the outskirts of the village, a cart waited for them, as the noble had said.
An older man sat at the reins while his wife stepped down to greet them.
She asked Faron questions about Luan’s condition before hopping in the back of the cart where Carrick laid him.
She uncovered a large crate filled with glass bottles of elixirs and salves.
Faron took Carrick aside and spoke too quietly for Tal to hear, handing him a leather pouch.
The two exchanged a few short words, and Carrick left with a gesture to Tal to stay put.
Tal watched him head south and disappear into the trees, then stood back as the woman pulled out several bottles and jars, poured one liquid over the cuts on his skin, applied a salve over the top, and instructed Luan to drink another.
“Brigid—” Faron began.
“Where’s the girl?” the woman, Brigid, asked.
“They’ve taken her to a place up north,” Faron answered. Something passed between the two that Tal couldn’t discern.
“It is not safe for you to go after her. Hire another who has the manpower to deal with this.” The old woman spoke to the noble as if she knew him well.
Tal contemplated the reason for this concern for the man beside her, not quite like a mother’s worry for her son, but certainly more than what could be considered common for acquaintances.
Faron gestured to Tal. “I’ve hired the best bounty hunter in Meladair and her muscle. They are more than capable,” he said with a wink, to which Brigid scoffed.
The healer rummaged through her cart and insisted Faron take a satchel filled with glass vials.
She didn’t describe the contents, but Tal suspected Faron already knew.
He protested briefly but thanked her when she wouldn’t take them back.
He then went and spoke to Brigid’s husband, who said they would ride further north and wait until sunrise.
If the group had not rescued the servant girl by then, they would have to arrange other transportation for her.
The man urged the attached horse forward at a slow pace, so as not to draw attention, while his wife cared for the unconscious boy in the back of the cart. Shortly after, Carrick returned on a large horse with two more in tow.
“I sent a message to Rainier,” he spoke to Tal quietly. “He’ll meet us there if he gets it in time.”
“Where?”
“Silaron, the royal family’s holiday home,” Faron spoke before Carrick could respond. “It’s a two-hour ride from here. We should go.” He mounted the brown mare and eyed the remaining horse meaningfully.
Tal briefly considered the significance that the kidnapped servant had been taken to one of the king’s additional homes, but even Carrick seemed to urge her to get on the horse. She complied reluctantly and they set off.