Besides, it was too late to turn back now. She’d already slipped into camp that morning and laced the rum with her deadly decoction.
She crept behind the cages to a cluster of pines. There she waited until James paced to the opposite end, chuckled at something Paul said. Then she reached for the bough above her and pulled herself into the tree.
All that was left to do was wait.
Teryn Alante dippedhis hands into the rushing waters of the river. The sky was a pink blush overhead, painting the river the colors of sunset. He gathered a handful of cool water and splashed it over his face, scrubbing his stubbled cheeks. Layers of grit and grime were encrusted beneath his palms. He’d need more than a splash of river water to get clean. Still, he doused his face once more, then drenched his hair for good measure.
“What do you think is worse?” Lex asked from farther downstream. Their horses stood between them, drinking their fill after another grueling day of travel. “Riding or Helios’ repugnant face?”
“That’s a tough choice,” Teryn said. He rose from the riverbank and approached Quinne, his golden-brown palfrey. “I might have to choose riding as my least favorite thing right now, considering the repugnant face in question is out of sight for the time being. Which is unfortunate, as I used to love riding. Sorry, old girl.” He added the last part for Quinne and patted her neck.
“What do you think is better, then?” Lex asked, “A warm bed or a hot meal?”
Teryn closed his eyes. “Why are you torturing me? Both. Obviously.”
“You two are pathetic.” Helios appeared behind them, lips curled in a sneer. Just like that, the repugnant face was back.
Lex muttered a string of insults under his breath, then said at proper volume, “I thought you were scouting.”
“Unlike you,” Helios said, “I don't need all day to make myself useful. Tether your horses. Then follow me.”
“Tether your horses then follow me,” Lex mimicked in a high-pitched voice. Teryn suppressed a smirk, but Helios gave no indication he’d heard.
“Come on,” Teryn said to Lex. “Might as well see what he wants.”
They met Helios near a half-visible game trail. Without a word, he led the way through the underbrush until the smaller trail joined a much larger path, this one marked with human and animal footprints alike. A few more minutes down the trail, Helios stopped.
He squatted down and pointed at something in the dirt. “There. This print is larger than the hoof of a normal horse, yet it leaves a lighter indent in the soil.” His voice had taken on a reverent tone, one that almost made him not seem like a total ass. “Do you know what this means?”
“Big feet, skinny body.” Lex said. “My youngest sister is like that.”
Helios turned to them, and Teryn braced himself for the glare that was sure to come. His own lips were laced with venom, ready to intervene should Helios and Lex start verbal sparring like they always did. But when Teryn caught Helios’ expression, the other man’s eyes were wide, a tight-lipped grin stretched across his face. “It means a unicorn has been here.”
That wiped all prior thought from Teryn’s mind. “Are you serious?”
“Serious. Certain.”
Lex shrank back a little. “You mean arealunicorn?”
Helios’ expression shuttered, returning his dour countenance. “Why else do you think we’re here?”
“What’s the plan?” Teryn asked, stealing Helios’ attention back to him. “Do you think we can catch it?”
“No.” Helios returned his gaze to the hoof print. “This unicorn has already been caught.”
“How do you know?”
“See this print next to the unicorn’s? It’s smaller, probably belongs to a boy. An apprentice, perhaps. These marks are about a week old but consistently show up together. This tells me the creature has been caught and is being towed along behind the main company.” He pointed to a cluster of several larger footprints, these ones overlapping. “These belong to the other hunters, also a week old. The prints continue along this trail some ways. I also found fresher tracks about an hour’s walk away.”
Teryn had to hold his tongue to keep from expressing his shock over the fact that Helios was volunteering useful information for once. The unicorn print must have done a number on his brain.
Helios stood and faced them. “We’re going to follow the tracks. The newest ones tell us the hunters have settled into a new base camp by now. The older ones will lead us to it.”
“You’re so certain,” Teryn said, half in awe, half in question.
Helios nodded. “That’s how trained unicorn hunters work. Each party is assigned a specific region. They’ll hunt a small radius for a few weeks at a time, then move to new grounds once they’ve cleared an area. We’re going to catch up to this party.”
Lex grimaced. “Catch up to them and…politely ask to buy their unicorn?”
