His words from the other night came back to her, and they brought a strange twisting feeling to her chest. Despite his insistence that a part of him hated her, and that he had been foolish for thinking they could be together, she remembered the way he had looked at her in the river yesterday. And when she’d returned from the woods after he thought she’d left him. And now the apology… She didn’t quite know what to make of it all, so she did what she did best and shoved all her confusing feelings and thoughts aside so she could focus on the task at hand.
They made good time, even though Ena insisted on stopping and resting more frequently out of concern for Ty’s injury. They camped once more in the backwoods that night. Ty was back to insisting that she sleep next to him lest she escape. Admittedly, she thought his reasoning was pretty flimsy at this point; they both knew she was unlikely to try to escape again. But she didn’t complain. The weather was starting to turn colder, and she wanted his body heat.
They awoke with the dawn to continue on their way, and by midafternoon, they finally, blessedly, came to a large, busy dirt road. The road was significant—just as established as the Chasm Road. It was about twenty feet wide with rutted tracks from all the carts that went up and down it. Every few minutes, a group of travelers passed by, mostly on horseback, although there were a few people on foot pushing handcarts. Ena knew from studying old maps that this part of the road was highly populated with villages, so it made sense that some people would travel on foot between them.
They kept to themselves and tried to keep a low profile as they traveled along it for a few miles before they came to a bustling village— Attax. Their timing was blessed by Gaia, because asthey approached, rain clouds tumbled overhead, threatening to pummel them with rain any second.
Attax itself was fairly large, about as large as Northumbra, the closest mortal village to her Coven. It had all manner of stone and wooden houses and buildings, including a stable, a wood mill, a small blacksmith, and even, it looked like, a book binder’s shop. In the distance, she saw plowed agricultural fields and large animal pens with cows and pigs. It appeared as if it was a substantial trade hub, catering to travelers coming to and from the coast on a regular basis.
They wandered down the main dirt road through the village until they came to the guesthouse. It was a large, two-story stone building with wooden shingles, several chimneys, and likely enough space for ten or more guest rooms. It even had a wide porch that wrapped around the entire structure, where Ena saw patrons relaxing in chairs drinking mugs of ale.
She was distracted, taking in all the sights and sounds, when suddenly, the clouds broke and it started to rain. Ena was shocked as Ty grabbed her hand and rushed her under the cover of the porch.
“Thanks,” she said, looking up at him breathlessly.
“I think we’ve both been wet enough lately, don’t you agree?” he asked, flashing her a charming smile before pushing open the door into the guesthouse.
It was a cozy place, with a large, warm fireplace at the back, and a half-dozen sturdy-looking wooden tables dotted across the room with an abundance of chairs scattered around them. Several different groups of travelers were clustered around the room, some standing by the fire, others sitting and eating. And everyone was drinking and talking.
Ena hadn’t realized how isolated they had been in the backwoods for so long. It felt soniceto be around people again—to hear their vibrant chatter, smell the scents of freshlybaked bread. Not to mention, just being in a warm, sheltered environment felt like absolute heaven.
Looking around the room, Ena saw that there was no bar like at most guesthouses. Instead, there was a large desk near the front door where a brown-haired man in his mid-forties sat writing in a record book. Ena and Ty approached him as he looked up at them with a genial smile, removing his glasses from where they’d been perched on his nose.
“Great timing, eh?” he said, gesturing to the downpour occurring outside.
“Indeed, my good sir,” Ty replied, smiling charmingly and putting on the same overly polite air he’d donned at Tritam. Ena resisted rolling her eyes at the act. How did people keep falling for this?
The man looked them both over with a slightly judgmental air, clearly noting their bedraggled appearance. “Been traveling a long time, have you?” he asked.
“Yes, my good sir, we come from over the Chasm Mountains, from a village known as Yalta. We have a great forge there where we make all sorts of metallic goods we were hoping to trade. Alas, my wife and I were set upon by bandits on the road, and most of our goods, including our horses and our cart, were stolen from us.”
Ena whipped her head at him. She didn’t know what shocked her more: his use of the word “wife,”or him bringing up the bandits as a cover story.He didn’t even flinch or look at her. Clearly, this was a cover story he’d prepared ahead of time, and she guessed it made sense and would make them look less suspicious. But a little head’s up would’ve been nice, if only to save her from the shock.
“Oh dear!” the man replied. “I do hope you are alright. We’ve heard rumors of a group of outlaws roaming the woods near the Western Road as of late. Most of them hail from Ternan, a smallvillage just northeast of here that was destroyed by a wildfire not six months ago. Many of the residents were absorbed by other nearby villages, but there’s often only so much room, you know, and what with winter setting in soon… Oh dear.” The man tsked and shook his head in sympathy.
Little did he know, that group of outlaws wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Ena wondered how long it would be before word spread of the massacre in the woods. Clearly, no one had found the bodies yet.
“Yes, I’m sure the circumstances were tragic,” Ty replied, placing his hand over his heart in a sympathetic gesture. “We survived unharmed, thank Gaia, but alas, we only have so many objects left to trade. However, we were hoping to spend the night and secure a horse so we can journey home.” Then Ty looked over Ena appraisingly for a second before adding, “And get a new dress for my wife here.”
Ty gestured at her with this last word, and while she should’ve been mad that he was calling her out on her disheveled appearance, she was so happy to be getting a clean dress that she had to stop herself from verbally thanking him. She hadn’t mentioned anything to him about her slow, building hatred for this dress, but clearly, her appearance was so rough that he’d figured it out on his own.
“Yes, yes, that should be able to be arranged. Let’s see what you’ve got.” The man gestured to Ty’s pack.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you go settle in at a table while I negotiate with this good man here.” Ty looked at her expectantly, clearly wanting her to play along.
She gave him a quick death glare, before smiling sweetly and wandering off to an empty table.
She watched from afar as Ty took out the few remaining weapons and metal goods he’d brought and haggled with the recordkeeper. After several minutes, they seemed to reach anagreement as the man recorded their transaction in his book and Ty came over to sit with her.
“They said someone will be out soon with some food and ale for us. They’ll bring a dress your size to our room, and I had to trade one of my good daggers, but I was able to secure us one of their best horses.”
“Well done, sweetheart.” Ena smiled with faux sweetness at him, and he chuckled lightly in return.
“I knew you’d hate that,” he said, smiling widely. “But it just makes sense for our cover, you know, so be a good girl and play along.”
Ena narrowed her eyes at that, but something about the way he said it made her stomach flutter.
He was right, though. She didn’t want to be found out any more than he did at this point, not this close to the Occidens Coven. She’d pretend to be his wife, she’d pretend to be a trader from the other side of the Chasm Mountains, as long as it kept her identity as an Auster witch hidden.
