She blushed and elbowed him. “Bugger off, Zev.”
“What happened?” Lucenna asked.
“The innkeeper said he had two rooms left and he saved them for the next pretty girl with red hair to arrive,” Zev said with a chuckle. “We didn’t have to pay a single russet.”
Lucenna arched an eyebrow at that. Innkeepers were notorious for price gouging, yet she must have made an impression to get two rooms for free.
“He was being kind,” Dyna grumbled as she handed Rawn a key and Lucenna the second. But even she looked puzzled by the unusual luck.
“What now?” Klyde said. “Shall we find something to eat? I’m famished.”
“Please do,” Rawn said. “I must see to something first.”
“You won’t join us, Lord Norrlen?” Lucenna asked, confused. It wasn’t safe for him to be out and about, either.
Rawn paused as he thought of it. “I must lease a carriage to take us to Kelpway, my lady. And perhaps find a courier to mail another letter.”
“Then, if you’ll allow me…” Lucenna waved her hand over Rawn’s face, and his features changed into another male elf with dark hair. His eyes remained the same, the only thing she couldn’t change. “To be safe.”
He rubbed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“I’ll follow you out,” Zev said. “I need to visit the smithy to tighten my chains before we leave tomorrow.”
“I’ll come with you, too,” Dyna said. “We need to replenish our provisions. We can stop at an outdoor vendor for a meal instead.”
All the food they brought with them had been confiscated at the gates. Not that it had been much. They had to ration their meals with their gold so limited. But the Shieldmen gave them some coin to replace what they took.
“Are you staying?” Dyna asked Lucenna.
She nodded. It was for the best.
“Today we replenish, rest, and report any news we may hear,” Rawn told them. “Keep your heads low. This may be a free state, but you never know who is watching. Let us meet here in the taproom tomorrow at dawn, then make our way to Kelpway. However, if we are separated, or if any of you are compromised, leave the state immediately and head for White Woods in the south.”
They all nodded in agreement. A light shudder went down Lucenna’s spine.
Nothing will happen.
The nerves must have showed on her face, because Klyde gently squeezed her arm in assurance.
“What’s in the White Woods?” she asked Rawn.
“It is merely a place of sanctuary on the border of Greenwood, my lady. A good place to lie low and to send for aid if needed.” Then he excused himself, with Zev and Dyna following him out of the inn.
The crowd soon swallowed them up.
“Wouldn’t you rather go with them?” Klyde asked.
“I would, but I cannot risk being spotted.” She took a seat at a dirty empty table, and he sat across from her. “There are far too many mages here. I can feel them.”
More than she was used to sensing, and it left an anxious buzz on her skin.
“Do they live in Dwarf Shoe?”
She shook her head. “If they do, it’s not permanent. Mages cannot gain citizenship in other kingdoms. They may travel for work and apprenticeship, but they belong to the Magos Empire and can be summoned back without notice. And sorceresses…”
“Are never allowed out,” Klyde guessed. “If a mage sees you?”
“He will attempt to detain me or report me to an Enforcer. I told you of them and their purpose.”
