Captain Marson didn’t look offended. If anything, he looked… relieved. “We’re not asking for guarantees,” he assured me. “We’re asking for your skill.”
“Yeah?” I muttered. “That might be your first mistake.” I didn’t hide the bitterness in my voice.
Gralen snorted into his mug. “Yet, you’ll take the gold.”
I turned my head slowly and looked at him. “Does it bother you?” I asked. “Knowing all you get is a soldier’s pay and a poor man’s death?”
Baxley’s shoulder brushed mine as he leaned forward, elbows on the table, mug hanging loosely from his fingers. “Don’t antagonize him,” he mumbled. “It’s a long way north.”
I didn’t like the way he said it, and I didn’t like that he didn’t need to explain any further. Gralen sat back slightly, eyes on me, but like me, he heeded Baxley’s warning.
My fingers tightened around my empty mug. “Iskaeld isn’t a place you walk into blind.”
“No,” Marson agreed. “Which is why we need you.”
“You need more than me,” I said. “You need sense, warm clothing, blankets, food, and a healer. Men who know when to shut their mouths and follow instructions.”
Gralen shifted in his seat. “Careful?—”
“No.” Baxley cut in, not looking at him. “Let her speak.”
I appreciated his support. I glanced at him, but he was already drinking again, like none of this mattered.
But it mattered. Gods above, it mattered.
“Five gold there and back,” I repeated slowly, tasting the words this time. “No one touches me. You do what I say when I say it. If I tell you to turn around, you turn around.”
The captain held my gaze. “And if we don’t?”
“Then you die.” I shrugged. “And I won’t stay long enough to watch it happen.”
Gralen scoffed again, but it lacked conviction this time.
Marson nodded once. “Agreed.”
Baxley’s mouth curved just slightly. Not a smile but something else.
“Then say it properly,” he said. “All of it.”
Captain Marson set his mug down carefully. “Ten gold, there and back. Your conditions. Your lead when it matters.”
When it matters? It wouldalwaysmatter once we passed the last settlement. I watched him for a moment, weighing it.
Ten gold.
I could stop being constantly on the trail. I could ease up on the workload. Or I could die somewhere no one would bother to look.
My gaze flicked to Baxley. His watchful eyes held steady. He didn’t look away. His attention was on me, deliberate and assessing.
Waiting for me to confirm what he already suspected.They’d never survive without me.
That decided the matter for me.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll take you.”
“And this time it’s an agreement?” the captain asked. “Because you said this yesterday, and then you left.”
I nodded. “This time, you’re making the bargain worth my while.” I looked around. “I thought you wanted two trailfinders?”
