“There,” Rydon said a few minutes later.
Terena looked to where he pointed. “You go in first. I’m going to get the rooms. I’ll be right back,” she added.
Rydon looked as if he would protest, but then gave a quick nod and strode off toward the tavern.
Terena bumped into a woman holding the hand of a much older man, apologized and moved around them. She walked in the direction she thought the inn was, about to give up ten minutes later when she spotted the sign for public rooms written on a wall to her right. She went inside and secured a room for herself and Sonah, then asked for rooms for her ‘brothers’.
Satisfied, Terena walked out into the waning sunlight, lifting herhead to catch the last rays with her eyes closed. A moment later, she sensed the shift in the people around her, their excitement in the way they moved and spoke. Opening her eyes, she saw Commander Daris Antonius pass not twenty feet away with ten of his men. The way they moved as if they were all of one mind and body fascinated her, and she stood rooted to the spot, her mouth hanging ajar.
There were shouts of praise and homecoming to the men, but they ignored it. Terena arched an eyebrow and scoffed.
The ones closest to Daris Antonius started chanting something in Greek she didn’t understand except for the name of the goddess Athena.
Terena ducked to her right, hoping to stay hidden while she watched the commander.
Daris Antonius was almost out of sight when she turned to the woman next to her and asked what the words meant.
The woman grinned at her and sighed. “Athena’s Weapon.”
Rydon pushedthrough the doors of the tavern and held it so it wouldn’t bang shut behind him. He pushed back his hood and strode to the bar, motioning to the barkeep and ordered an ale. After dropping a couple of coins on the counter, he grabbed the tankard and moved beyond the bar to one of the back tables. With a satisfied sigh, he settled onto the wood chair and leaned back, stretching his legs out under the table.
He glanced around the room, his green eyes taking in the patrons, the stairs, the doorway to the kitchen on his left. A barmaid made her way toward him and through to the kitchen, returning a few minutes later to stop at his side.
“Get you anything, lord?” she asked, her voice slightly winded as she smiled warmly at him.
“Another ale. And food. Whatever you got,” Rydon answered.
She nodded and strode off to the bar. Rydon shifted his gaze from her to the room at large once again.
Twenty minutes later, Terena came into the tavern, casting a cursory glance around the room until she spotted him. She wound her way slowly to his table, taking the chair to his right, facing the rest of the room.
“Stew’s good,” he said by way of greeting. Terena grunted, her face shaded by her hood.
Rydon passed her his tankard of ale. “I’ll get more,” he said as he rose and went for the bar. He leaned on the counter after he’d ordered more drinks and asked for another bowl of stew and bread.
The barkeep had set the drinks on the counter when the doors behind him opened, a gust of wind rushing in. He glanced over his shoulder, then froze. Five men—five big men—strode in, one peeling off from the right and heading toward a large table. Another followed, grabbing a chair from a table he passed and bringing it to the table they’d chosen.
Rydon turned back slightly so it wouldn’t be obvious he was watching.
He picked up the tankards and turned slowly, all the while watching the rest of their party. They all wore the same colors, although the clothing varied, as did the armor. They were not in their uniforms from earlier, having replaced the bronze breastplates for leather armor, but they still wore the colors of the order they represented.
Liodari.
The man closest to him turned to another, said something before the other man dipped his chin and walked toward Rydon.
Rydon moved, taking the drinks back to his table. He placed one carefully in front of Terena, then took his seat, his hand wrapped around his tankard, and brought it to his lips.
He glanced over at the bar, then looked at Terena. She’d taken off her hood and now sat hunched forward and stiff, arms braced on her knees. She, too, watched the man who now walked back to his friends. Rydon stared as the man sat and his gaze naturally lifted.
To them.
Or more specifically, to Terena. Rydon peeked at her and saw she,too, had her eyes locked on the man. Rydon shifted his gaze between the two, noticing how still the man had gone.
“Food’s coming.”
“We need to leave.” Terena said, not taking her eyes off the man.
“They don’t know?—”
