“How heavily armed is the town?” he murmured.
I didn’t look at him. “The watchguard is four at the gates. They patrol in pairs, usually six or eight patrols at any one time. It’s a small company, maybe thirty at most.”
His breath brushed my ear, a quiet huff of something that might have been a laugh.
“How many coin purses have you helped yourself to, bunny, that you can count the guard in that amount of detail?”
“I pay attention,” I snapped.
“That’s what worries me.” He walked away before I could respond.
I didn’t deny Ididhelp myself to a coin purse now and again, because a girl needed to eat.
“I don’t think he likes you,” Gralen told me bluntly.
I turned to look at him, knowing he didn’t like me either. “I don’t need any of you to like me. I just need you to listen.” I adjusted my pack and looked at the closed gate one more time. “To the shades with this,” I grumbled and started walking.
I heard Marson question where I was going. I didn’t respond, and I didn’t expect them to follow me, and as predicted, they didn’t.
It didn’t take me long to reach the gate. I hesitated, then with a deep inhale, I pushed on the gate.
It swung open.
“I really wish you hadn’t done that,” I told it, as I slipped inside.
A tug on my hood pulled me back, and I turned, ready to defend myself, and saw it was Larana.
“Can you use that short sword?” she asked me, her eyes scanning the quiet town.
“Enough not to die,” I told her honestly.
“Let’s hope that’s enough.” She gave me a cool smile and walked forward. “Stay behind me, Amarya. Don’t cry out, don’t scream, and if I say run, we run. Okay?”
“Sounds familiar,” I answered, my voice low, and I heard her quiet huff of laughter.
The sound of boots approached, and she shook her head slightly. “It’s Bax.”
The tall mercenary walked out from behind two buildings. He didn’t seem surprised to see Larana. His gaze stayed on mine longer than I expected.
Maybe my presence here surprised him.
“So how did you get in?” I asked as he moved closer.
“Wall’s not as high as it looks.”
He climbed the wall? I looked up at it, and it definitely looked pretty high to me.
“We stay together,” he told us. “Nicco let you come in here?” Baxley looked back at me.
“Not exactly…”
Larana scoffed. “This is where she tells you she walked up here on her own and pushed the gate open.”
Baxley looked at her incredulously, then saw my look and hesitated. “Really?” When I nodded, he made a face. “Good for you,” he murmured. “Stay close to me, Amarya. No heroics.”
They hadn’t gone more than a few steps before I noticed it. There were no fresh tracks.
Not even old ones. The snow lay smooth and untouched, like nothing had moved through here in days.
