“I’m ensuring he stays where he is, lest he find himself without a cock.”
Sonah colored again. “I don’t think that was his intention,” she sputtered.
The Riverman cast Melanos a venomous look. “The men we were following are known in the area as smugglers. They steal children, women,” he spat, turning his glittering eyes to Sonah. “We’d set a trap for them and you stumbled into it.”
“I didn’t—I mean, I wouldn’t—” Sonah mumbled, shifting her gaze between the two. If her face became any hotter, her head would surely explode.
“You did,” the man insisted. “And I thought I was protecting you. Until we made camp and Hector—one of my brothers—recognized you. He told our captain you were the Royal Taster. Sonah Yahn. After that, your fate was sealed.”
“And yet,” Melanos said in an ominous tone, still with his spear at the man’s neck, “you did nothing to stop her escape. Why?”
“Did Pytho send you?” Sonah asked, her eyes searching his face for answers. “She said to find the green-robed man and he’d lead me to the Rivermen. Have you spoken with her?”
“I do not know anyone by that name. As I said, I didn’t know you’d be there.”
“Why did you allow her to escape?” Melanos snapped.
The man squirmed, his feet shifting on the cold ground beneath him.
“Melanos,” Sonah said, her voice firm for the first time since this confrontation began. “Might we continue this conversation closer to the campfire? Perhaps get… what’s your name?”
“Leander,” the Riverman answered.
Sonah lifted a hand. “Leander, right. I remember now. Well, I suggest we get Leander some clothes and food and hear him out.”
Without waiting for Melanos’s agreement, Sonah stomped past both males and made her way back to their campsite.
A few seconds later, she heard the Riverman’s padding footsteps behind her, followed by Melanos’s much heavier tread.
The others looked up when they neared. Fane jumped to his feet, grabbing his sword and yanking it from its scabbard. Color blossomed in his cheeks, staring in disbelief at the newcomer.
“Stand down,” Sonah said, silently patting herself on the back for how imperious she sounded. “He is with us now.”
“That’s yet to be determined, little one,” Melanos barked, but not unkindly.
Which is why she softened her tone when she replied. “He is with us because I say he is, Melanos.”
Sighing, she motioned for Yianni to make room in their circle for Leander to sit and bade Fane to get him some clothes.
When she took her seat beside him, she looked up at Melanos with a quirked brow. “And I’ll thank you to refer to me by my name. ‘Little one’ demeans me.”
“Aye, goddess,” Melanos grumbled, and she twisted her lips in a rueful smile to match his own.
When she looked away, she caught Bethana staring back at her. After a moment, the woman winked.
The Riverman, startled, looked over at her. His expression turned wary, and he glanced at the others around the circle. “Goddess?”
“Aye,” Fane snapped as he threw a bundle of clothes at Leander. “You kidnapped the daughter of Ares. Now talk your way out of that, you worthless maggot.”
VILLADELLE, TURSK
Fane had argued against staying in Elis on their way north to Ovenno. Leander had agreed, about the only thing the two men had in common. He’d shared what he knew of troop movements in Elis and Ermanel, suggesting they instead cross into Pyrgos and travel through the independent provinces to reach Ovenno.
A week later, they reached Tursk as the sun kissed the horizon.
Sonah was desperate for a soft, warm bed to sleep in.
And a bath. Gods knew she needed it.
