Chapter Twenty-Six #2
The first few people we meet are grim-faced and wary of our bedraggled appearance, especially when they see Kaelen’s sword. But the prince can be very charming when he tries, a skill no doubt learned during all those years in Pyrrh.
Within a very short time, we have the bones of the story from a white-haired, wrinkled man sitting on a tree stump, whittling. He tells us about how a small group of Zhagarn and Fell swarmed past the village, headed south.
“They came to the edge of town, but there weren’t more than a dozen of them altogether. We met them with fifty armed men and women, so they decided we were more trouble than they wanted,” he says, grinning up at us.
“Setting fields on fire while they traveled, I see,” Bern says somberly.
The man nods, his brief glimmer of amusement gone. “We’ve no idea what we’ll eat this winter.”
“Are all the fields this bad?” I nod at the burned land next to the lane.
“Just these they passed on their way through, but it’s bad enough.
We’ll have half the harvest we expected.
It’s going to be hard times, for sure, especially with the dry conditions getting worse every year.
We’ve still got the inn, though, so travelers will stop by for at least as long as Khyrrus stays free.
” He shakes his head. “We didn’t know the Zhagarn had advanced so far. Don’t get a lot of news here.”
“Thank you for the information,” Kaelen says. He shakes the man’s hand and then holds out two gold pieces I didn’t see him remove from his pocket.
The old man stands, lifting his chin. “Don’t need your charity. From the looks of it, you need that gold more than I do.”
“For the children,” the prince says quietly. “I’ve a little sister, and we lived through some bad times, too.”
“For the children,” he reluctantly agrees, taking the coins. “I’m Urnar. You’ll be looking for the inn?”
“We are,” I tell him.
“Might be crowded with that odd party of five strangers that showed up yesterday,” he says. “Never thought I’d see a high-blood Sylvan lord in Merrion, that’s for sure.”
Bern whoops with joy. “Our friends made it!”
Urnar gives us a quizzical look but doesn’t ask.
He leads us through the town and to the inn, which we wouldn’t have been able to miss.
It’s the largest building in the town square, and a wooden sign swings from a metal pole over the door.
The inn is called The Speckled Goose, and whoever carved the geese in flight on the sign was a true artisan.
As we approach, a man who must be the innkeeper walks out, barrel-bellied, with a crisp white apron over his sturdy dark clothes. He watches us approach and nods to Urnar.
“Customers for you, Younkin,” Urnar says. “I’ll see you tonight.”
The man nods as Urnar walks off and offers us a bland smile.
“Who’ll you be when you’re at home, then?
” he asks us, and the question is so oddly phrased I wonder for a wild moment if he knows all about us and is going to expose us for who we really are.
Then I see he’s studying our bedraggled clothes and lack of horses or baggage.
He’s probably wondering if we have sufficient coin to pay for a room.
“I’m a merchant, and we were set upon by brigands,” Kaelen says. “We hear our party might be here? Five—”
That’s when Sergeant Neville bursts through the door and rushes down the steps to us. To my utter shock, the gruff soldier picks me up and swings me around. I don’t see any visible wounds, and he’s not wincing or limping. Maybe Elianna had more of her healing potion?
Maybe they escaped unscathed from the draugrs?
I suddenly don’t care about propriety, and I throw my arms around his neck and hug him. “I’m so happy you’re well!”
He grins at me. “Soli! I’m so glad to see you!”
When he puts me down, he turns and pumps first the prince’s hand and then Bern’s. “Great to see you, lads! We were worried after—”
“Those terrible brigands,” I break in, not wanting the innkeeper, who’s listening avidly, to hear anything he shouldn’t.
“Right. I need to be off to the stables,” Neville says, his eyes telling me he understands why I cut him off. “Chitai and Andras are preparing to set out to find you. We only got into town late last night, running hard, and the horses needed rest.”
“Elianna and …” I can’t bring myself to say Trick’s name. Hope is a rock in my chest.
“They’re still in their rooms, likely sleeping. They—It was a hard trip for them, after we lost you two in that crevasse on the way over the Barrows,” Neville says, giving us a meaningful look when the innkeeper turns to precede us into his establishment.
“Yes, right. That was a rough journey, indeed. Did the wagon make it? Our cargo?” Kaelen asks.
“All safe and sound. I’ll just run back and tell them to stand down, then,” the sergeant says. “You two can get rooms and food. Bern, you can room in with me.”
Neville hurries around the corner of the inn, Bern close on his heels. Maybe I should go with him to see for myself that Andras and Chitai are fine, but he surely would have told us if that weren’t the case. And that bath is all but calling my name.
Kaelen pulls his clinking coin purse from a pocket, and suddenly Younkin is all smiles. “Yes, young lord. Our best rooms for you and the young lady. Will that be one or two?”
Even though he asks in a perfectly normal voice, not in a leering or suggestive way, I can feel my face heat. “Two rooms, please,” I say, but it occurs to me I don’t have any way to pay for anything.
I’m suddenly aghast at my presumptuousness. From a pallet on the floor to my own room at an inn? Who do I think I am? “Or … I can share with Elianna or Chitai?”
“They’ve got one of their own, not big enough for three,” the innkeeper booms, no doubt counting coins in his head. “I’ve got the perfect snug spot for you.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, but I look a question at Kaelen.
Is this okay?
He waits until the man disappears into the inn and then touches my arm. “You saved my life, and you’re going to save all of Altarra. I think you deserve a bath and your own room.”
It’s the best bath of my entire life.
Not that I’ve had many, but even if I’d taken hundreds, this would be in the top ten. Top five, even. I empty my pockets and give the maid my filthy clothes and boots to clean, and then I wash off the worst of the travel dirt with a brush and a bucket.
After that, I soak blissfully in a wooden tub, neck-deep in steaming, flower-scented water. When I start to doze off, I rouse enough to wash my hair and body with the provided floral soap and then climb out and wrap up in a towel, so happy to be clean again.
Deciding to peek out, in case the maid left my clothes, I unbar the door.
Before I can open it, someone on the other side pushes it toward me.
I stumble back, clutching my towel, wishing I still had my dagger.
Chitai bursts into the room, carrying an armful of fresh clothes and my boots.
She dumps it all on a chair, kicks the door shut behind her, and throws her arms around me, only hesitating briefly when she sees the amulet in its locket and the key around my neck.
“Soli, I have never been so glad to see anyone in all my summers.”
I’m startled by her enthusiasm. I wouldn’t have pegged the warrior as the hugging type. She’s more the “get too close, and I’ll cut you” type. But I’m happy to see her, too, so I hug her back with the arm not holding up my towel.
“I want to hear everything. How did you escape?” Her keen black gaze bores into me, and she leans back against a wall and folds her arms across her chest, like she’s prepared for me to spill the entire story right here and now.
She’s clean, and her pale curls are tied back.
I also see, more importantly, that her armband is covered again with the blue cloth.
“I need to get dressed. I’m getting cold standing here in the towel.”
She shrugs. “So, dress. You can tell me your story as you do.”
I shake my head as I pull on my clothes. “Kaelen and I should tell the story together, and you can tell us how you escaped. It will be easier than repeating the same thing over and over.”
Her smile fades. “As you say. We’ll meet down in the inn’s great room. I’ll see you there soon.”
“Thanks for bringing my clothes. Is … is Elianna all right?”
Chitai frowns. “A complicated question about a complicated woman. Better you ask her.”
And then she’s gone, leaving me staring at the door. My empty stomach growls at me, and I hurriedly pull on my clean clothes. Fresh pants, the dark-green shirt, warm, clean socks, and my boots. I need to ask Kaelen or Elianna for a few small coins for the maid.
For now, I need to find my room, my companions.
My … friends.
Warmth flushes through me when I realize they’re on the way to becoming my friends. I never expected to have any but Trick, and certainly not so many. The thought is wrapped in wonder in my mind and heart.
I have friends.
My stomach growls again.
Okay, I need food.
Before I leave the room, though, I braid Survive into my hair and, tearing a piece from my precious few pages, Wavedancer.
Safe for now or not, I feel like I’m going to need all the courage I can get.