“Where do I go?” he asked.
“Shura and Fara will switch to the stallion, if he’ll let them. He doesn’t seem to be tired at all from the long night. I’ll take the saddle off the bay mare and put it on him. I’ll ride the bay and you ride the roan. The situation isn’t ideal, but they only have to make it a few more hours before they can have plenty of rest.”
Ravi swallowed and eyed the horse Daks pointed to warily. With a grimace, he said, “I, uh, don’t know much about horses.”
Daks stared at him blankly for a few beats before understanding dawned. “You don’t know how to ride?”
Ravi winced, and Daks shook his head. “Of course you don’t. I wasn’t thinking.”
From a few feet away, Shura cleared her throat. She pulled a familiar glass vial from her cloak and waggled it in the air with a rather terrifying smile on her face, and Ravi stumbled back in dismay.
“Put it away, Shur,” Daks murmured tiredly. “Stop teasing the poor man.”
“Just saying,” she replied with a shrug before tucking it back into her pocket.
Daks stopped messing with the saddle on the bay and walked over to where Ravi stood nervously eyeing Shura. “I told you no more drugs, and I keep my word. Besides, it didn’t exactly work last time anyway.” He stooped and offered his cupped hands. “Come on. I’ll give you a leg up and get you settled.”
Ravi held the man’s midnight blue gaze for a moment, though he couldn’t have said what he was looking for. With a final sigh of resignation, he set his worn boot in Daks’s hands and allowed himself to be boosted into the saddle.
“Keep your feet in the stirrups. Hold on to the pommel,” Daks ordered brusquely after he’d settled. “Try to move with the horse’s rhythm, not against it. Keep your back straight and use your thighs to save your butt from too much pounding. We won’t be going too fast to save the horses some, and I’ll hold on to the reins and lead her. All you have to do is stay on the horse. Think you can do that?”
“Yeah,” he replied a little breathlessly, grimacing at the stretch of his aching everything.
“Good, because we don’t really have time for more of a lesson than that. If you think you’re gonna fall, protect your head, tuck, and roll before you hit the ground.”
With that bit of oh-so-helpful advice, Daks stepped away to help the others while Ravi shot a sour look at the man’s broad back. His concern was heartwarming.
Daks had removed his cloak and jerkin despite the early spring chill in the air, leaving only a loose linen shirt tucked into brown leather breeches. Ravi eyed the leather-sheathed dagger at small of Daks’s back uneasily for a moment before his gaze inevitably drifted downward. The way the supple leather trousers clung to Daks’s ass may have been just a tiny bit distracting.
He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He would not notice how well the big idiot filled out those breeches or the way his back stretched the linen of his shirt. Nope. He would not. He was angry, really angry, and he had every right to be. Every time he thought Daks might be halfway decent, the big jerk would do or say something else to piss him off… or his crazy partner would. These were not good, kind people. He didn’t know what they were exactly, but he knew what they weren’t: trustworthy. Who knew what kind of contract he’d have to sign, what length of indenture they’d expect him to serve, to pay them back for their aid on the other side. He needed to remember he was just as much on his own now as he’d been when he left home the first time.
“You ready?” Daks called from the back of the other mare, and Ravi scowled but nodded.
Without another backward glance, Daks collected the reins of Ravi’s horse and then urged his own into a walk. Of course, Shura hadn’t waited for them, so they had to pick up the pace a little to catch her. Ravi simply gritted his teeth and tried to hold on as the two horses broke into a jarring canter. All the while, dark thoughts swirled in his head about what revenge he’d wreak on Shura… if the woman didn’t scare him nearly witless.
THE RIDE to Urmat passed agonizingly slowly, particularly for the insides of Ravi’s thighs, his ass, and his groin muscles. Any other time, he would have been fascinated and entranced by the gently rolling farmland and scattered copses of trees that provided tantalizing glimpses of the wide river beyond. He’d lived a long time within the walls of the city, and the town he’d grown up in was south of the capital, along the sea cliffs, so the landscape was quite different. He’d never been this far up the Matna before, and the rush of its waters would have been both calmingly familiar and awe-inspiringly new if he weren’t fleeing for his life.
But he was. And fatigue clawed at him, despite his forced periods of unconsciousness. His head ached, his stomach roiled, and he desperately wanted to curl up somewhere quiet, just for a little while. Instead, he gritted his teeth, clutched his bag to his chest, and endured.
From what he could see of the others and their general lack of conversation, he wasn’t the only miserable one in the party. The initial blame lay with the dumb brute in front of him, though, so no way would Ravi allow himself to feel guilty about it. He might’ve even taken some satisfaction from the misery of his “rescuers” if it didn’t mean their tense silence left him with nothing to distract him from his own discomforts… and his heartache.
He missed Vic and the others already. Their lives had been harsh and even dangerous in Rassat, but they’d had each other. At least one of their little family could be counted on to sing a song or tell a story to lift everyone’s spirits, no matter how hard things got or how empty their bellies were. Ravi was usually the storyteller. Every night the littler ones would beg him for a tale before bed. He hoped Vic remembered enough of the stories to take his place.
“Not far now,” Daks called over his shoulder, stirring Ravi out of his threatening melancholy. “Urmat should be just over that next rise, if I remember right.”
Ravi took a breath and straightened in his saddle. He gazed at the road ahead, but he couldn’t see anything beyond the hill Daks mentioned and trees to either side of them. As he squinted against the sunlight, hoping for his first look of Urmat, a sudden odd tingling sensation shivered along his arms, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
“Uh, Daks?” Ravi called shakily as his stomach twisted in fear.
Not now. Not again.
He couldn’t be having a fourth Vision in less than two days. He refused to believe it was possible.
Daks turned to look at him over his shoulder and was nearly pitched from his horse when the stallion carrying the two women suddenly stopped in the middle of the road right in front of him, forcing his mare to startle and dance. Daks scowled at his mount as he dropped Ravi’s reins and struggled to get her under control.
“Shura, what the hells? Why did you stop?” Daks growled.
“I didn’t,” she growled back as she tugged on her reins and nudged the stallion with her knees. “This damned horse of yours won’t budge.”
Ravi’s tired mount seemed perfectly content to rest when its lead was no longer being tugged on. She calmly ambled to the side of the road, dropped her head to a tuft of bright green spring grass, and started grazing, ignoring everything else. Still feeling shaky and afraid of passing out if he did have another Vision, Ravi swung a leg over his saddle and slid awkwardly to the ground. He realized his mistake as soon as his worn boots touched the road, but too late to stop his numb legs from crumpling and dropping his ass in the dirt, knocking the wind out of him. His erstwhile mount swung around to eye him for a few seconds before returning to her grazing.
Silently cursing his legs, the horse, Daks, and anything else he could think of, Ravi struggled to his knees. The tingling still shivered along his skin as he fought tears of frustration. Not bothering to try to get to his feet again, he closed his eyes and prepared to fight the threatened Vision as best he could, remembering Daks shouting “push it back” at him before. He didn’t exactly know what that meant, but he’d try.
Except
the strange shivery feeling wasn’t followed by the rush of a Vision. In fact, it faded all on its own, leaving him only a little cold and disoriented.
He blinked. Had it really been a Vision or something else?
His old granny on his mother’s side used to say she caught the “chills” sometimes before bad things happened. As a small child, Ravi had dismissed her ramblings as superstitious nonsense, because that was what the rest of the family did. They told him she was harmless, just a little addled, but he was rarely allowed to spend much time with her. Was this what she’d felt? He’d sometimes wondered if she was like him, only the family had protected her instead of—
“Why are you on the ground?” Shura’s harsh voice cut through his reverie, and he felt himself flush.
He glanced around and caught all three of his traveling companions staring at him with varying degrees of exasperation, disquiet, and curiosity. He narrowed his eyes and huffed out a breath as he struggled to his feet.
“I felt something before the horses stopped,” he admitted reluctantly, tugging his hood back in place and slapping road dust from the folds of his cloak.
“What did you feel?” Daks asked sharply.
Ravi winced. No way was he going to mention his granny’s chills. He turned away from Daks’s intense stare and shrugged. “I don’t know. Just, something feels wrong.”
He winced at how stupid that sounded and gave another helpless shrug. If he ever hoped to win a cushioned seat at some lord’s high table as pet prognosticator like the ones he’d read about in old tales, he was going to have to practice a more theatrical flourish with regards to any “feelings” he might have, but right now he just felt ridiculous.
No one spoke for several seconds, so Ravi cut a quick, reluctant glance back to Daks. Instead of appearing irritated or dismissive, the man was watching him even more intently than before.
After another few beats of silence, Daks said, “Let’s get off the road.”
Shura quirked an eyebrow at him, but shrugged and nodded to Mistress Sabin to dismount.
“Are you all right? Do you need help?” Daks asked him neutrally as he also climbed down from his horse.
“I’m fine. I just need to get a little feeling back into my legs.”
Daks pursed his lips but said nothing. He spun on his heel and headed for the stallion. “You take the mares. I’ll take this stubborn brute,” he called to Shura as he moved to collect the stallion’s reins. At Daks’s urging, the horse decided to cooperate and moved into the woods without hesitation while Shura glared at the animal’s swaying rump.
“Now what?” Shura snapped once they were off the road. “We were almost there.”
Daks pursed his lips as he scanned the area around them. “I don’t know what’s wrong with Horse, but we can walk from here if we need to. You know as well as I do that ignoring a Seer’s bad feeling is not a wise move. It could be nothing. It could be something. A little caution won’t hurt. We’re all tired, and even I would love to be in a boat crossing the river right now, but we have a few hours before sundown. We can do a little scouting first.”
Shura sighed. “I’ll do it.” She turned to Mistress Sabin. “Will you take these for me, Mistress?” she asked somewhat formally, offering the reins she held.
“Of course. And it’s Fara, remember?” the small blond said with a shy smile.
Ravi watched in astonishment as Shura’s normally harsh expression softened and her lips curved. “Thank you, Fara,” she practically cooed.
Shura disappeared into the woods before Ravi could do anything but gape at her. But when he turned to Daks, he found the man grinning after her like some lovesick fool. Unaccountably irritated, Ravi rolled his eyes, stomped over to nearest tree, and flopped down at its base. It was just as well he planned to leave these people as soon as he could manage it. They didn’t make any sense to him at all. Maybe being absolutely insane and confusing was a Sambaran thing he’d have to get used to. He should probably be paying more attention in case they were all like this, especially if he wanted to live there.
He dropped his head in his hands and closed his eyes. He needed a real night’s sleep or he’d be of about as much use as that sack of potatoes Daks compared him to only a little more than a day ago.
Had it only been that long?
Before he could let that realization sink in, Shura came hurrying out of the shadows, and he lifted his head.
“There’s a company of King’s Guard camped outside the town’s borders on this side of the bridge,” she said without preamble.
“Seven Hells,” Daks swore.
“They shouldn’t be there,” Mistress Sabin protested. “Our reports said they left the city three days ago for the north. They should have been well past Urmat and over the Kun river by now.”
“The information I received from my contact was the same,” Shura agreed.
Daks cocked an eyebrow at Shura and grinned again, and Ravi lost his patience. “Well, whoever you talked to was wrong. They’re obviously still here. Who cares why. What does that mean for us?”
“It means we’re going to have to alter our plan a little. That’s all,” Daks replied evenly.
Before Ravi could growl anything unflattering back at him, Daks turned to Shura. “We’ll have to skip the bridge and take the long way around to Emok’s place. We should have enough tree cover not to be spotted, and I think I remember a shallow crossing not far from town. I doubt they’ll have any scouts out this close to the capital, beyond the usual watch on the Matna. I wish I knew what delayed them, but I’d rather just get the hells out of here than risk trying to find out.”
Catching Ravi completely by surprise, Daks walked over to where he sat and offered his hand. He almost reached for it, but stopped himself, shook his head, and climbed to his feet on his own. He never touched people for a reason, and he needed to remember that until he was safely out of Rassa.
Daks withdrew, and his face hardened a little, but he said, “Thanks for the warning. Don’t ignore those feelings. If you sense anything strange like that again, let us know. I’d rather be overly cautious than walk into a hornet’s nest.”
A warm feeling spread through Ravi’s belly despite his best efforts to will it away. No one had ever thanked him for anything that came from his curse before. Part of him now stupidly wished he’d taken that hand, despite the risks.
“Sure,” he replied uncomfortably, not looking at him. “I’ll do my best.”
Daks was silent for a few beats before he turned and walked back to the horses. “Let’s get started. We’ll lead the horses through the woods and around the town. We’ll have to hope to the gods that the Rael isn’t too swollen with spring runoff, and that Emok is home and can take us across in his boat right away. If we’re lucky, he might be able to throw a little information about the company of soldiers and maybe a little ale into the bargain.”
Chapter Five
THEY WEREN’T lucky, and Ravi shot a glare at Daks’s oblivious back as they approached a cabin that looked like it hadn’t been lived in for months. They were all still damp from the waist down from the icy river crossing. Ravi’s worn boots threatened to fall apart after the dousing they’d received, and he felt like he’d never be warm again.
Cursed. I’m cursed. And Daks, the big idiot, should have known better. The gods can never pass up a chance to shit all over you if you invoke luck.
“Well, that’s disappointing,” Daks said far too calmly as they came to a stop a short distance from the seemingly abandoned home. If Ravi could have murdered with a look, Daks would have collapsed on the spot.
Shura made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat, and for once, Ravi agreed with her. Mistress Sabin crossed the last few feet and peered through what was left of the grime-covered windows.
“Looks like no one has been here in a while,” she said unnecessarily.
Without another word, Daks dropped the stallion’s reins and strode off down a worn path that, by
the sounds, must lead to the Matna. When he came back only a few minutes later, his expression was grim and he was shaking his head.
“No boats, not even a skiff we could borrow and make two trips.” He let out a frustrated growl and dragged a hand through his shaggy hair, dislodging more of it from the leather tie. “I’ll have to go into town and scout out another option. Maybe Emok had to move for some reason.”
“We’ll both go,” Shura said.
“No. Someone has to stay here with these two,” Daks countered.
“I can take care of myself,” Mistress Sabin replied quietly but firmly. “We’ll be fine until you return.”
Ravi didn’t intend to make any such brave declarations. He would not be fine, and he could not take care of himself.
That wasn’t completely true. In the city, his home, he knew how to get around, where to run and hide, and how to be smarter than the average bully, guard, or brute. He’d taken care of himself and his newfound family for years. But here he was utterly out of his depth, in a forest, with an entire company of armed men not far off. He came from a long line of scholars and scribes, not soldiers, fisherman, or woodsmen.
His face must have reflected some of his dismay, because after he caught her looking at him, Mistress Sabin turned to the others and said, “Why don’t Shura and I go? That would make more sense anyway. If anyone is looking, they’re looking for you, not us. Two women traveling alone will not be that out of the ordinary this close to the city, and I may see a familiar face who can help us. I haven’t traveled to Urmat more than once or twice in my life, but I might recognize someone from our meetings.”
Daks frowned and shook his head. “You won’t know our contact.”
“I don’t know his name, but I may know his face. Besides, Shura knows him, right?”
Daks and Shura exchanged a long look before Daks finally sighed and nodded, his expression grim. “In and out,” he said brusquely. “If anything feels wrong, leave, and we’ll think of another plan. We can always sneak down to the docks at night and steal a boat if we have to.”
The Seer Page 10
