I pried my eyes from a length of exposed calf and a delicate bare foot.“I haven’t a clue, but they were ghisten ships.”
“Every ship on the waves is ghisten at this time of year,” Benedict pointed out.“But I doubt anything short of warships would hold back the Uknaras.We should proceed as if they have been captured and find another way back to Aeadine.”
Mary’s head shot up.“We will not!”
I rubbed my forehead, feeling the beginnings of a new headache coming on.“They may be able to shake them or talk their way out or escape.We will have to keep our heads low and bide our time until something changes.I will keep watch in the Other.”
“Well, we help no one by staying here,” Mary stated.“We should keep moving.”
I nodded.“Discreetly.”
Benedict’s expression swung towards irate.“And if they’re captured?What are we supposed to do?Rescuethem?”
A thick silence fell, riddled with unspoken truths and possibilities, most of them grim.Benedict’s expression was an angry kind of disgust and Mary’s the tight, distant stare she often took on when she was struggling not to be afraid.As for myself, I sat back and stared at the wall as I tried and failed to find any hope in my heart.
The door opened and Grant blew in, followed by the shaggy dog.It made right for Mary, who made a startled sound as the creature lay across her lap with a heavy sigh.Mary wasn’t a small woman, but the hound enveloped her.
I found a damp dog’s hindquarters on my leg, and a tail thumped against my chest.The thumping increased in tempo as I scratched its spine.
“He’s wet,” Grant warned.
“I can see…feelthat.”I sighed, but could not suppress a smile as Mary ruffled the dog’s ears and leaned down to kiss its head.
“I don’t mind one bit,” she said.
“We have to find another way out of Mere,” Ben pushed.
“We had planned to wait for Olsa at that cove.I vote we head there first and entertain more dire options later,” Grant said, stompingsnow from his boots, kicking them off and going to crouch beside the hearth in rumpled stockings.“Is there anything to drink?”
Mary nodded to the teapot on the table, her hands now occupied with scratching the dog.
“How far from the prison are we?”Mary glanced at Benedict.“We can’t have gotten far.I practically had to carry him.”
My brother made a disgruntled sound.“You were terrible at it.You also vomited on me.”
“An hour’s ride,” I supplied.“If we leave a few hours before dawn, we can still reach the cove under the cover of darkness.I agree with Mr.Grant—we should go there first on the chance Olsa will still make the rendezvous.Will you be all right to travel?”I directed the question at Benedict but glanced at Mary to include her.
“Oh, I’ll be quite all right after a few hours of sleep,” Grant replied, tea in one hand and leaning down to plump the cushioning of the divan, right next to me, with the other.“This will do.”
“Can we afford to sleep?”Mary glanced at Ben.“Can you keep control of the farmers?”
“I can maintain my control when I sleep,” Benedict replied.“Instinct is enough.”
“That’s unsettling,” Grant commented.“What if you dream?Do your instincts not… change?”
Benedict closed his eyes.“I do not dream.”
“Never?”Mary clarified.
“Never,” Ben affirmed.“Now if you three would be so kind as to shut up, I feel as though I have been in prison for weeks, then dragged through the Winter Sea and hauled through the snow for an hour by an ill-tempered hag.”
“I could have left you there,” Mary pointed out.
“You could never do that.”
“Because you’d compel me?”
“No.”Benedict gave a huffing laugh, low in his chest, and cracked an eye to look at me.“Because I look too much like Sam.”
