Cenric’s stomach knotted in sick realization. This was the beach—the beach from his foretelling. He could only hope they weren’t too late, but he found himself desperately searching the shore all the same.
Fish!Snapper cried.Seagulls!
Brynn?Cenric was almost afraid of the answer this time.
Snapper woofed. No Brynn.
“The tide is going out,” called Evred, the scout. “They’ll have to move quickly if they have a ship coming into the inlet.”
Cenric searched the swath of ocean before them. White waves peaked, swelled, and broke against the beach. A few birds circledoverhead, but this shoreline appeared mostly deserted. From the dark lines on the stones, the water would rise nearly to the trees at high tide. No sign of a ship yet.
What if the sorceresses were taking Brynn another way? What if they’d already lost their quarry?
Olfirth’s horse snorted and stamped, but the animal kept its head down. Everyone around the old man showed discipline and control, even the animals.
Cenric found himself respecting Olfirth more with each moment, if begrudgingly.
Evred led the way down the beach, his horse trotting in the lead while the rest of the thanes fell in behind him. Their spears and shields jangled, but the sound was mostly covered by the murmur of the sea.
“I don’t need to tell you we’re keeping whatever we find,” Olfirth said.
Cenric glanced to the older man.
Olfirth continued. “Should we happen to fight, I mean. Your enemies’ horses. Their gold and silver.” A spark entered the old thane’s eyes. “Maybe even a ship, from the sound of it.”
That was the way of things. The reward for battle was the bounty of your enemies. Attacking was always preferable to defending because it had the greater promise of reward.
Another time, Cenric might have argued, but there was only one thing he wanted. “If I get my wife back, I don’t care.”
Olfirth chuckled again. “You’re a sentimentalyoungman, I see.”
Cenric was sure that was meant as an insult, but Brynn would have ignored it, so he did, too.
“Ship,” Evred called as soon as they came into earshot. “Entering the inlet.”
Cenric’s scalp prickled at the confirmation. Entering the inlet, that meant the sorceresses hadn’t met it yet. They weren’t too late.
Cenric and Olfirth rode forward, keeping to the shade of the trees so they would be hidden from the men on board. They rounded the bend and sure enough, the tail end of a ship was gliding into the inlet, upriver.
Olfirth adjusted his reins, heaving a great sigh, turning back to his men. “Do we have the rope? Good.” He worked his jaw, seeming to think for a moment. “Well.” He cast a cynical grin at Cenric. “Now we just hope that Lady Brynn actually wants to be rescued.”
Cenric had no response to that.
Brynn
Brynn felt the group of animals veer into the forest and her heart sank. Perhaps it had been a herd of deer.
“Did you do anything to Cenric?” Brynn looked straight to her mother.
Selene exhaled sharply. “You need to forget about him.”
Brynn straightened, her back resting against the wagon as she glared up at her mother. “Did you or your people do anything to my husband?”
“He is not your husband,” Selene snapped. “You married him without my permission.”
“He was fine when we left.” Anselma volunteered, looking down from her white mule.
Selene narrowed her eyes at the girl, but she only smiled down at Brynn.
