“Isn’t he? He’s been here for a while now. Sure, he’s not the friendliest, but he is always here. He contributes. He supports our businesses. Fates, he’s even Mister Moonvale,” Fiella insisted.
Murmurs from onlookers agreed with the sentiment, adding even more reasons why Shade was one of us.
“He buys a tea from me every single day.”
“I catch him cleaning up the town square in the middle of the night, sometimes.”
“Those critters seem to like him.”
“One time, my son’s kite got stuck in a tree and he got it down with his shadows. And he only grumbled about it a little bit.”
My chest squeezed. I hadn’t realized how much Shade’spresence had wormed under everyone's skin, and not just mine.
Tommins raised a hand, silencing the crowd. “We must be smart here. I refuse to put anyone at risk.”
Kizzi spoke up. “With all due respect, Tommins, we should have a choice.”
“Rescue mission?” I suggested.
Tommins met my gaze. He nodded slowly. “Volunteers only. This is risky—it could be life or death. And we need a plan.”
“I’m going,” I said immediately.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” Kizzi added.
Tandor readily agreed.
Fiella and Redd joined too, unwilling to allow the injustice or to allow any excitement to happen without them, I wasn’t sure which and it didn’t matter anyway.
By the time the crowd had finished considering, we had thirty adults willing to go after Shade.
We crammed ourselves into the pub to commence planning.
“The first issue is transportation,” Tommins said, hands clasping a glass of water. “There are only a few horses in the stables. And we know walking the Barren Lands is dangerous, even during the milder times of year.”
“Did you see how fast the King's horses were?” Fiella asked. “There had to be something magical about that, right?” She looked to Kizzi forconfirmation.
She nodded her head slowly. “They smelled weird, too. Like some sort of spell.”
“A speed spell?” I asked. That sounded simple enough.
She tapped her fingers mindlessly. “Something like that. Maybe an endurance spell. Or an energizing tonic. It’s hard to guess, really.”
“They went in the direction of Sunhaven,” someone added. “That’s only a three day’s walk. Quicker if we don’t stop.”
Tommins looked to Kizzi. “Do you have anything that could keep us going for three days?”
“Safely?” she asked.
His mouth pursed. “I assumed that was a given.”
Kizzi grumbled, “Just making sure. That limits our options.” Her satchel twitched on her lap, and she rested a hand on top of it. Hex must have been inside.
Tommins looked at her sternly. “What do you think?”
“I have an idea or two. I’ll get with the coven together, I’m sure we can manage something.”
“What if we can’t catch them?” I asked.
