The tears filling my eyes overflowed this time.
He didn’t have to do this. Letting me go was plenty, providing me an escape path was beyond expectations, but this? My heart swelled again, so big I nearly choked on it.
I wasn’t going to waste his generosity. I tucked the pouch back inside my pack, on top of a pile of my clothes. He’d put those in, too.
Last was the lantern. I took it from its hook and then stopped next to the cot, bending to press one last kiss to his forehead.
“Good-bye,” I whispered, my voice quivering.
With the lantern doused for the moment, I wasted no time, quickly and silently slipping out of the tent and around it to the woods beyond. Wolves lay in groups, sheltered at the bases of trees or opting for the soft grasses. Emberflies moved through the air in a lazy drift, sparkling above them.
This time my heart constricted. I’d made friends here. Well, the closest thing to friends I’d ever had, at any rate. I’d made allies; Hadriel was clearly in my corner. I’d remember them, always. I’d remember that, despite how we’d met, they’d eventually helped me get a fresh start in life.
Beyond them and through the trees, the bright moonlight dappled the ground, cutting down on my visibility. There was nothing for it but to push through. I couldn’t use a light until I was away from sentry view. There was a hole in their coverage, sure, but I doubted that would extend to a great glowing beacon. All I had to do was keep my current direction and I’d be fine.
It tookabout an hour and a half to finally step out of the trees, and I stood there for a moment, a little shaken. I looked back, seeing nothing but darkness and shadow in my wake. I felt no presence lurking in the shadows, felt no eyes watching me. No one waited.
Good news.
I ran my fingers through my hair and straightened my clothes so that I looked presentable. Once upon a time, a starved and frightened child stumbled up to gate houses and along thoroughfares of towns like the one in front of me, looking for help or shelter. Looking for food. Sometimes it had been in the middle of the night; I’d been bedraggled and wild and begging for help, eventually explaining what happened to my mother and revealing my magic-less status. Those had been nails intomy coffin, the guards completely unbothered if I were to stagger away somewhere and die.
Not this time.
With my head held high and an air of importance swirling around me, I walked with confidence along the path leading to the town. Given the hour and the apparent size of the town, the large wooden rolling gate would still be closed. A little viewing station sat beside it, currently empty.
“Hello there,” I called up, my lantern glowing and my pack secured on my back. I had a few coppers in my pocket for easy reach. Weston had thoughtfully given me change. Flashing around a bunch of gold would only bring the wrong sort of interest. “Hello!”
A sleepy face showed in the cut-out window with no glass. A man on in his years rubbed his eyes and then ran a dirty palm down his face. He blinked several times and then looked down on me again.
“What are you doin’ here at this time of night?” he asked, looking around me as though someone might jump out of the bushes.
“Please forgive me my intrusion,” I said with a gracious smile, bowing a little. “My horse went lame on the road and I dared not stop for too long. The roads can be dangerous at night. Unfortunately, it took me way longer than I could’ve expected on foot. Please, I’m tired and my feet are sore. I need an inn and a hot meal or warm bed?—“
The sound of hooves and the clink of metal interrupted my rehearsed speech. A light danced down the road, a bright lantern showing the side of a wagon, a ruddy sort of face with long whiskers, and the silhouettes of a team of four horses.
“Well what’s this, now?” the gatekeeper demanded, his accusation plain.
I didn’t bother answering, instead stepping to the side and further into the shadows. I knew that wasn’t part of Weston’s pack. What I didn’t know was if these newcomers had any connection to Alexander. He might not have been lurking these last several days, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t traveling the roads. Maybe it was a long shot, but I knew better than to take chances, especially with him.
“Whoa,” the whiskered man said as the horses drew near. “Whoa!”
The horses whinnied as metal clinked and leather groaned.
“You there!” the man shouted when he was within earshot. “Open the gates!”
“By whose authority?” the gate keeper shouted in return.
“I’ve got supplies here and a new shipment of tradable goods. We got some of Granny’s Special.”
A thrill coursed through me and I stepped a little further into the shadows beside the gate, lowering my lantern as much as I could without making it seem like I was trying to hide. Hopefully the light, now coming from below, would distort my visage somewhat, hiding my identity.
“We don’t need none of that Granny bullcrap,” the gate keeper growled. “We’ve got too much as it is. It’s ruinin’ this town, I say. That stuff is pure evil.”
“It’s not for you to decide what this town needs,” the stranger snarled. “This order was placed by the mayor. Open the fucking gates. I’m already way behind schedule. You’re holding me up.”
“The mayor is getting a cut of it, that’s why,” the gate keeper said, leaning out a little more. “Crooked, the lot of them!”
“That’s the way the world works. Hurry up.”
