“He’s fine,” Croak said, laying his hand on top of Terena’s when she looked like she might surge out of her seat. “He thought it might be better if he traveled alone with the shroud. No one’s going to belooking for a cleric traveling alone. I gave him the last of my orichalcum so he’ll be fine.”
Terena scowled at him and snatched her hand back, crossing her arms over her torso. “And you both let him?”
“It makes sense, Terena,” Rydon said with a sigh. “We’re bound to run into more soldiers. Now we have to head even further south, it’s best he’s gone with the shroud than traveling with us and possibly getting caught with it.”
“Wait, where are we going? Why south?” Croak asked.
Terena dropped her chin and Croak imagined the wheels turning in her head. After a silence in which Croak shared looks with both Rydon and Gabriol, Terena pushed her chair back and rose.
“Take a walk with me,” she said to Croak. He lifted his eyebrows but stood, following her out of the inn.
When they were well enough away from the inn, he caught up to her and nudged her with his shoulder. “What’s going on?”
“I didn’t want to talk in front of the others,” she said, her eyes darting around. “There are things the oracle said I don’t want to say in front of Rydon and Gabriol. At least not yet. Rydon’s still not telling all when it comes to that northern king of his.”
Croak nodded. “Fair enough. What did the oracle say?”
They walked for a bit before Terena responded. “Something about someone’s death and two souls. A betrayal. The Heir of War rising and Athena’s Weapon being forged.”
“Sounds likeshewas drugged.”
Terena snorted. “Aye.”
“What else did the oracle tell you?”
“That I need to go to Sparta. King Altos has something of mine, although she conveniently forgot to mention what that was.”
“Fucking oracles,” he said with a shake of his head. “Always so vague.”
Terena couldn’t help but smile at his grumbling. “Yeah. They’re all the same.”
Her brother winked at her and threw his arm over her shoulders as they started walking once more.
“Think we’ll ever get to the north? I bet fifty silver we’ll find someone else telling us we have to do something else to get something else and then go see someone else who will guide us to something else. We’ll be old and grey before we ever set foot in Seleste at this rate.”
Terena laughed. “I get that sense as well. Hopefully, this northern king will have more answers for us. But first, another detour.”
“Well, what else would we be doing if we didn’t have this legendary quest to go on?”
She grunted.
“And,” he said, squeezing her shoulder, “how many people in this day and age can say they went on a hero’s quest looking for the Olympian gods? Just saying that gives me chills.”
Terena grinned up at him. “So, off to Sparta?”
“Off to Sparta! And if you’re lucky,” Croak wagged his eyebrows at her with a wicked grin of his own, “maybe you’ll see a certain dashing commander.”
Terena gasped and pulled back to hit him, but he anticipated her and jumped away, laughing.
As their laughter died down, she looked up at him with a hesitant smile.
“One more thing,” she said, her voice low.
Croak looked down at her, waiting.
“Sonah’s my sister.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
