He chuckled. “Och, ye are bossin’ me.”
“I mean it, you have to listen.” I tried for a smile and mostly failed. I tucked the leftover gauze and tape into my coat pocket. “Speaking of, how are your ears?”
“Tis fine, I am tired is all, and I was promised pizza after the battle but I daena think the Visigoths deliver it out this far.”
Just then I heard a trilling sound behind me.
“Dude, what are you doing here?” The cat walked over as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Torin raised his head. “Och nae, cat, I told ye ye couldna come, nae one listens tae me.”
Dude said, “Meow.”
I asked, “Where have you been, how did you get here?”
Dude sat down and licked his paw.
“You’re lucky I stayed behind, or you would be stuck here too.”
The cat looked unconcerned.
I chuckled. “What are we going to do?”
“We canna stay here, we just beat this castle decisively, we ought tae get from the shadow of it.” He pulled himself up to sit and looked up at the sky. “And we need tae do it fast as we need shelter from the rain.”
I looked up and gulped. “Rain? That sucks. Didn’t Ryan say he had men on the inside?”
“Aye, but we daena ken who or whether they are feelin’ friendly towards us.”
I pouted, “So what do we do?”
“First, ye help me tae m’feet.” He put out his good hand and I heaved him up.
“Now, we are goin’ tae load these packs on Cathbarr, load up our cat, and then ye and I are goin’ tae ride tae the inn south of here.”
“How do you know there’s an inn?”
“Tis Oban, right up the road. Twas on the map, ye dinna see it on the map?” He slid his sword into a sheath on Cathbarr’s saddle.
“No, I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Och nae, Princess, what if ye were here alone?”
I raised my chin. “I didn’t need to worry about that.”
“Why nae?”
“Because you wouldn’t leave me, I don’t need to know there’s an inn becauseyouknow there’s an inn.”
He said, “Twould still be good for ye tae ken where ye are and how tae get tae shelter.”
“I am aware of that, lesson learned.” I helped him clip the bags to Cathbarr’s saddle.
He glanced in one. “We hae weapons. If we hae coins we are goin’ tae be good.”
“Should we go through all the bags?”
“Nae, we are out in the open, we will go through our spoils at the inn. We will hae plenty of time, we are stuck here for a bit.”
