“Starving,” said Zoria.
“I’d forgotten how wonderful the prospect of sleeping in an actual bed sounds,” said Laurel.
Hal nodded. “There were only two open rooms, so we’ll have to figure out what the sleeping situation is.”
All three of them looked at each other. Laurel’s gaze bounced back and forth between Hal and Zoria, her implication being clear enough.
“We’ll figure it out when Cadrian gets back,” Hal said. “Come on, let’s grab a table.”
Laurel frowned at him. “Cadrian just finished telling us that–”
“I’ll buy us a bottle of wine,” said Hal. “We’ll be fine as long as we eat quick. Trust me.”
Right now, I just want to relax.
Hal saw Laurel’s frown twitch into a small, guilty smile, and it reminded him of when they’d first met, before she’d taken on so much responsibility. She didn’t object as he led them over to an empty table. One of the serving girls hurried over to them as soon as they’d sat down, curtseying slightly as she began to explain what they had for food.
“There’s roasted mutton, fresh crab cakes, bread from the widow Sheltra’s oven, tomato soup, and slices of the harvest cheese with nuts worked into it.” The serving girl took a breath and smiled them.
“How much for a little of everything?” asked Hal. “Along with a bottle of wine and a pitcher of ale?”
The serving girl left, and ten minutes later, she returned with a second girl, the two of them carrying an epic platter of food and drink between them. A hush fell over the table as Hal, Laurel, and Zoria stared at their dinner.
“Well,” said Hal. “This certainly puts our traveling fare to shame.”
“That’s not really saying much, master,” said Zoria.
The three of them dug in, setting aside a small portion of everything for Cadrian. There was more than enough, and Hal was surprised by how far he’d stretched his limited coin. The mutton was delicious, hot without being overcooked, as though they’d just pulled it off the fire as the party had arrived.
The crab cakes were fluffy and had chunks of crab the size of thumbs cooked into them. The bread was, well, bread, but they’d been given a healthy supply of butter to go with it. And the cheese and tomato soup tasted as though they were made to be eaten in combination with one another.
Hal was hungry enough to focus entirely on eating his fill before pouring himself a mug of ale. He leaned back in his chair, sipping at his drink and wishing they could stay more than one night enjoying the inn’s comfort.
“I feel a little bad about this,” said Laurel. Her cheeks were flushed, and Hal wasn’t sure if she was on her second glass of wine, or third.
“Well, you shouldn’t,” said Hal. “We’ve traveled a long way and deserve a break.”
“Perhaps we deserve hot baths, as well?” asked Zoria. “If your coin purse is still full enough for it?”
Hal smiled and gave a small nod. He didn’t see the point to holding on to his money, given where their quest would take them next. He passed his coin purse to Zoria and gestured to the stairs. Laurel stood up along with the elf girl, taking the bottle of wine with her.
“You too?” asked Hal. “In that case, you should probably pay for them to fill a bath for Cadrian, as well.”
“We’ll take her food up to the room, too,” said Laurel. “And once we’re done, you can have your turn.”
He nodded at that and watched them head upstairs. He still had half a pitcher full of ale and felt more content than he had in days. A traveling minstrel was setting up at the front of the room, on the inn’s rickety, makeshift stage. Hal quirked an eyebrow as he looked more closely and recognized her as Rei Flowersong.
CHAPTER 37
She was already playing by the time Hal had decided to head over and say hi to her. It seemed as though half the town’s eligible men were crowded into the tables nearest to the stage, calling out compliments and slightly more lewd propositions as she worked her hands across the strings of her harp.
The song Rei played had a surprisingly active rhythm to it for harp music, and a few men and women had taken to dancing in the corner of the room, some with partners and some without. Hal tapped a finger on the edge of the table, watching Rei. She was looking around, and he felt a tension enter the air as her eyes settled on his. She smiled, recognizing him.
No hard feelings for the way we parted, I guess? Brave woman.
Hal stood up, feeling a little tipsy. He started making his way around the tables, toward the makeshift dance area in the corner of the room. Rei was still watching him, and her attention didn’t go unnoticed. Some of the people watching from their tables eyed Hal as he moved, apparently assuming he was part of the act.
He started moving slowly as soon as he was on the floor, keeping his motions more in line with the foot tapping, loose jigs that the men in the town seemed fond of. People made room for him, noticing something in his posture or expression that gave away some of what he had planned.
Hal began to let his upper body swing loose, his stance widening. Rei’s song shifted, speeding up a little, a song she was adjusting on the fly, just for him. He swung his hand up and across at a diagonal, letting it graze the floor as his back leg came up into a sweeping kick. The crowd let out a low mumble of surprise.
He kept his momentum going, turning the kick into a spin, and then tossing himself into an acrobatic roll. Some of the people at the tables let out cheers, or banged their mugs. Rei grinned at him. Hal was caught up in the moment, but not so caught up that he missed the man by the door.
Whoever it was had arrived after Hal and the others. There was no way he would have missed him, otherwise. The man wore a heavy cloak with the hood pulled up, hiding his head and facial features. He was short, but he had a bulky frame, and he was watching Hal carefully.
Rei’s song came to an end and the crowd applauded, a few people tossing coins onto the stage. The man by the door stood up and left, blending into a small group of others who were leaving at the same time. Hal felt his heart skip a beat, and he started after him.
“Halrin Kentar,” said Rei. She approached him, positioning herself a little closer than she needed to. She was still as beautiful as he remembered, with a curvaceous figure and light brown hair. “Quite the surprise, running into you this far north.”
“Rei,” said Hal. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”
Rei grabbed his arm as he started to leave.
“You didn’t offer me any coins to pay for my song,” she said, drawing in a little closer to whisper in his ear. “Perhaps you had another form of payment in mind?”
Hal ignored her, slipping his arm out of her hold. He almost ran to the door, bumping past an older couple who both grumbled in annoyance. The mystery man was almost out of sight as he made his way out into the night. He was running, too, and he had a fairly massive head start.
Using Wind Dash to give himself as much of a tailwind as he could, Hal took off after the man. He felt like an idiot and knew that he’d fallen into a trap of his own making. Cadrian had warned him and he’d ignored her completely, too caught up in his feelings toward her to listen to good advice.
His spell let him close the distance to the man, but not quickly enough. The man knew he was being followed, and changed his direction, heading toward the forest instead. He broke through into the trees a full minute before Hal reached them, enough time to disappear completely.
Sweaty, half drunk, and annoyed with himself, Hal slowly walked back to the inn. Rei had already found another man to give her attention to, which didn’t bother him that much compared to the mistake he’d just made.
He made his way inside and up to the rooms they’d rented. He opened the one on the left without knocking. All three of his traveling companions were within, and all three were naked. They all let out shouts of anger, or surprise, and hurried to grab towels and pieces of discarded clothing. Hal winced.
Right. They were
just getting ready to bathe.
He stepped back outside the door and closed it behind him, deciding to just talk through it.
“There was someone in the barroom,” said Hal. “Someone who... might have recognized me.”
Cadrian was the first out the door, wearing only a towel that was barely large enough to cover her breasts, midriff, and hips. She gave him a level stare.
“And where is this person?” she asked.
Hal sighed. “He escaped. I followed him out of town, to the woods, but I lost him when–”
He didn’t see the slap coming, and it hurt more because of it. Cadrian put enough force into the strike to very nearly knock him off his feet. He glared at her, but before he could say anything, her hand was in motion again.
This time, Hal blocked it, and shoved her backward. The towel fell from Cadrian’s midriff, but if she cared about being naked, she didn’t let it show. She grabbed one of Hal’s wrists, twisted, and pressed his face and chest hard into the wall. It was impossible for him to struggle out of her hold without hurting himself, and he gritted his teeth, feeling his anger roil pointlessly at her violent response.
“You are an idiot, Halrin!” hissed Cadrian. “You very well may have just doomed everyone in this town.”
“I made a mistake,” he said. “I’m well aware that it was stupid.”
He closed his eyes. Was it true? If the man was a spy for Tessianna, would she act against the entire town once she’d received the information about their location? He’d seen what she’d done to West Haven. He had to accept that it was at least possible.
“You didn’t make a mistake,” said Cadrian. “You were willfully ignorant. I told you not to draw attention to yourself.”
“And you don’t always know what’s best, Cadrian,” said Hal. “Don’t act like you do. I messed up here, but you… you’ve done so much worse. And we both know it.”
Hal winced in pain as she twisted his arm in a manner it wasn’t supposed to bend. He felt her naked body pressing against him tighter as she brought her face in close to the back of his ear.
“I’m not denying my sins,” whispered Cadrian. “But I’m here, and we share a common goal. Either accept me as an ally or face me as an enemy.”
She gave him one more firm push into the wall before pulling back. Pain flared in Hal’s arm the second she let go, and he felt pathetic as he rolled out his shoulder. Cadrian paused as she moved to return to the rented room the three women had been readying their baths in.
“We leave immediately,” she said. “I have the supplies we’ll need. We can’t stay in this town, now.”
Hal heard groans of annoyance from Laurel and Zoria, just beyond her. He didn’t say anything in response.
He waited outside the inn. Laurel, Zoria, and Cadrian all emerged into the night with wet hair and scowling faces. Cadrian passed him a heavy rucksack, and he threw it over his shoulder.
“I bought some heavy fur clothing,” said Cadrian. “Along with travel rations, a lantern, and extra blankets. And I traded our tent for a larger one with a thicker skin.”
Hal nodded.
“Cadrian says we won’t be able to make camp tonight,” Laurel said, her voice bitter. “I, for one, don’t think it’s wise to question her advice. So we’ll be traveling through the night, thanks to you.”
Hal knew that anything he said would only foster more animosity toward him. He’d done enough to earn their ire for one evening. They were silent as they set out, traveling north through the night by the thin light of the stars overhead.
CHAPTER 38
The party traveled at a heroic pace, maintaining a marching jog across the flat grass plains north of Tarne. They slowed as they reentered the stretch of forest that marked the beginning of the realm’s boundary region. Only the mining town of Whitewatch, named for White Mountain, the largest peak in the region, lay ahead of them.
As far as the maps show. In Jessa’s time, there were towns and cities further to the north, and the land was fertile, free from frost.
It was only a few hours until sunset when they finally stopped to rest. They didn’t set up the tent, but they found a nook in between a sloping hill and a cliff face where they were effectively out of sight of any scouts that didn’t draw too close.
Hal spread out his bedroll and fell asleep almost immediately. He woke up midway through the night, taking over the watch for a weary Zoria. The sunrise was anticlimactic from where they were in the trees, but he took first light as a signal to start prepping for the oncoming day.
Cadrian had done well on her supply run, both with how she’d managed to stretch her coin and how efficiently she’d packed it all away. She’d purchased warm outerwear for each of them, but she’d also tucked a pair of trousers and a fresh tunic into each of their packs. They were plain garments, but anything was better than the rags Hal currently had on.
I should hold off on changing into them until it’s absolutely necessary.
The nook in which they’d spent the night appeared to be an old riverbed. Hal followed it for a few hundred feet and found a small, relatively clean-looking pond. He gave himself the bath he’d missed out on the previous night, scrubbing himself as clean as he could.
Laurel was up and organizing a small breakfast for them when he arrived back at their campsite. She smiled a little as she saw him returning, and Hal was glad to see that at least some of her annoyance hadn’t carried over from the previous night.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asked.
“Well enough,” said Laurel. “I would have been more comfortable in a bed, of course.”
“Sorry,” said Hal. “I know. I made a mess of things.”
Laurel shrugged. “Though, a comfortable bed might also have spoiled me for the rest of the journey.”
“Hopefully we’re getting close,” said Hal. “It feels like we’ve been traveling for ages.”
Laurel nodded. She had a worried look on her face, and Hal understood why as he saw her glancing up, scanning the sky.
“It’s been a while since we last saw Karnas,” she said. “I hope he’s okay.”
“I’m sure he is,” said Hal. “He’s probably keeping his distance on purpose. He’d risk giving away our location if he flew down to one of our campsites. And given that he’s still recovering, there isn’t much he could offer us in the way of help, at least outside of a fight.”
Hal looked over to where they’d set up their bedrolls. Zoria was still asleep, but Cadrian was absent.
“She said she wanted to walk around and up to the top of the cliff,” said Laurel. “To get a look of the surrounding area, and to do her morning meditation.”
“Right.” Hal ran a hand over his chin, feeling the stubble that had grown in over the past few days. “Do you mind handling breakfast? I think I’m going to go check on her.”
“I’ll take care of it,” said Laurel.
He left the camp, heading around the edge of the cliff, and then up the slope to its peak. It was a steep hike, and it forced Hal to weave back and forth to make progress.
He found Cadrian standing on an overlook free of trees, where a clear view of the land to the south of them was visible. She was going through the motions of one of the martial combat routines she’d once taught him. She’d changed out of her robe and into a set of the plain grey tunic and trousers she’d bought all of them.
He watched her for a while, saying nothing. His emotions, at least in relation to Cadrian, were a mess. He felt so much anger toward her, coalesced around a bitter, crystalized core of pain. There was loss there, too, the loss of a friend, a teacher, and a lover, but letting himself recognize and feel it felt like a betrayal of Lilith and the rest of his family.
All of the people she took from me. I can’t ever forget…
And then, as Cadrian pointed out the previous night in the hallway, there were the practical considerations. She was one of his traveling companions, and they shared the same goal. Was it really that he w
as worried about betraying the memory of his loved ones? Or was it a fear of trusting her again?
Probably both, he figured. He took a slow breath as she turned to face him.
“I’ll never forgive you,” said Hal.
“I don’t expect you to,” she replied. She looked away from him, continuing with her routine. One of her legs hissed as it cut through the air in a fast, circular kick.
“I need to know what more you can tell me about Ascension,” said Hal. “And how to control it.”
“I’ve told you all that I can,” said Cadrian. “What you’re asking for is training.”
“I’m not interested in being your student again,” said Hal. “I’m past that now.”
She smiled, but it was sympathetic, rather than mocking or condescending.
“I never finished with you,” said Cadrian. “It’s why you have the control issues you do. I taught you to feel your emotions, but not how to let go of them.”
“And is that what I need to learn how to do?”
Instead of answering him, Cadrian turned her full attention in his direction. She lifted her hands, holding her combat stance. Hal hesitated for a moment, and then fell into a similar posture.
She attacked, feinting with one hand, almost as though to slap him as she had the previous night. Hal blocked it and dodged the second strike, her pattern familiar. He threw a quick kick, making contact with one of her thighs.
Cadrian fell back a pace and then pumped forward off her back leg, spearing him in the shoulder with her elbow. Hal kept his arms out of her reach, expecting another submission hold. Instead, she got a leg behind him and tripped him. He landed flat on his back, and she was on top of him in an instant.
“You must learn how to separate from your emotions,” said Cadrian. She was a little winded from the exchange, and Hal could feel her body moving on top of his as she inhaled and exhaled.
“I thought you said Ruby Ascension needed me to feel my emotions fully,” said Hal. “That it was the only way to cast spells while in it without overdrawing from my heartgem.”
Eternal Palace (Sexcraft Chronicles Book 4) Page 20
