“Unsurprising, since so many are former indentured servants who were cheated into extended or indefinite terms of servitude,” I say sharply.
“The territory was ripe for someone like him. People do so like being told what to do,” Elianna finishes, nodding at my remark. “At least the Pyrrhan Inquisitors since then have wielded much less power.”
The brand on my wrist burns in remembered pain, and I clasp a hand over it. “Not so much less power. They still have far too much over people like me.”
Elianna looks away, but not before I see the shame and regret on her face. Her plan might yet kill me.
I hear a horse galloping toward us. Before I can move, Kaelen pushes me behind him and draws his sword. Chitai’s knives are in her hands, Andras’s sword is out, and Elianna’s palms glow with power.
Trick, though, yawns and bites into an apple. “I imagine that’s Sergeant Neville, chasing me down,” he drawls.
Sure enough, Neville rides into the clearing like an army of Fell isbehind him and leaps off his horse. “Did you tell them?” He points at Trick and then bends over, panting, trying to catch his breath.
“Tell us what?” Kaelen demands.
Trick tosses his apple core in the fire and shrugs. “I didn’t want to interrupt story time for what is probably minor news. But we’re being followed.”
“How many?” Andras demands.
“How close?” Kaelen asks.
“A long way back,” Neville says. “Only one, maybe two at most.”
“How far?” Elianna asks, her gaze pinned on Trick. I think she’s just repeating Kaelen’s question until she continues, “You were quite a distance from me at one point. Challenging the bond?”
His eyes go flat. “Can’t blame a trapped bird for testing its jesses, can you?”
I wonder if that’s what happened when she winced earlier. Does it cause her physical pain when he gets too far away?
“There are two of them,” Neville says. “On palace-shod horses. The shoes are distinctive.”
Andras and Kaelen finally sheathe their swords, and Chitai’s knives disappear.
“They’re crisscrossing our trail,” Neville says, uncapping a waterskin and taking a long drink before nodding at Trick. “And good at hiding, too. I couldn’t find any trace of them past the tracks he found. Never expected a thief to be such an expert hunter.”
Trick says nothing but flashes an easy grin.
“If they’re after the amulet, they should have brought more people,” Kaelen says, his face hard.
“Maybe they’re not,” I venture. “Maybe because the amulet is our focus, we think everybody else is out to get it. But we’re mercenaries, right? Maybe they’re just a pair of travelers who want to stay safe on dangerous roads, and they figure following us keeps them in proximity to armed and dangerous people who most brigands will try to avoid.”
“Brigands?” Chitai grins at me. “I’ve never heard this word.”
“Outlaws,” Andras says.
“Bandits,” Elianna says.
“Thieves,” Kaelen says, giving Trick a hard stare.
“Anyway, maybe,” I say, flushing. My library vocabulary has its drawbacks; the other servants think I’m putting on airs when I use words they don’t know.
“Maybe,” Kaelen says. “It’s a smart thought, Soli. We need to be careful not to think everything is a nail just because we only have a hammer.”
“I know this one,” Chitai crows. “Your version of ‘just because we only have an axe, not all enemies have long necks.’”
“You’re a very strange woman,” Sergeant Neville says, and then he flushes. “Um, begging your pardon, ma’am.”
“I am no ma’am, but I’m surely strange to your riverlander eyes,” Chitai says, her smile suddenly filled with sharp teeth.
