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Bastilla, the former slave, and Siarra were waiting for us in the cave along with a small pile of goods. On top of the pile was my chain mail tunic. I'd grabbed my sword before leaving my room, but my hauberk had been tucked in a wardrobe. I was pla
"Oreg," I said sincerely, "I salute your competence."
Ciarra helped me into the heavy garment, and it settled over my shoulders like a familiar embrace. While I adjusted belts and sheaths, I explained about the writ and Garranon.
When I was through, Ciarra frowned at me. She tapped her forehead twice. Not so stupid, Ward, said the gesture.
"No," I said. "Do you want to come with us?"
She gri
"Bastilla, I'm sorry that I wasn't able to grant you freedom here, but I'll see to it that you don't go back into slavery."
She didn't react to what I'd said, just studied me.
The rabbit rocks were less than a half mile from the keep because I had to carry Bastilla most of the way. She'd have preferred to walk, but she was too slow.
Penrod and Axiel waited with eight horses behind the pale boulder that stuck up over the tops of the aspen grove surrounding them. Six of the horses were saddled, and two more bore heavy packs. Six with saddles, but there were only five of us.
"Thought you might use an extra hand," Penrod said.
Penrod had fought in the Guard, and he still trained under Stala every day with the rest of the stable hands. My father wanted everyone to be capable of defending Hurog. Three fighting men and a wizard weren't a large force, but it was a good start.
Penrod continued, "My second will tell your uncle that you came to the stables with a strange woman in tow and took the best horses. When I protested, you ordered me to go along and care for them."
"That way they won't tear down the keep looking for Bastilla," observed Oreg approvingly. He held out a hand to Penrod. "I'm Oreg, a cousin of Ward's. He's been letting me hide here while I tried to decide what to do with myself. It seems I'm going to travel with you."
Admiring Oreg's storytelling skills, I introduced Penrod to him, and then Bastilla to Axiel and Penrod. The introductions were necessarily short.
"We need to hurry," said Axiel. "Stala thinks that she can buy us time, but we want to get going."
We turned our attention to getting mounted. For the first time I realized Pansy was among the saddled horses. He snorted at me and shoved his nose in my chest. He wasn't a safe mount yet, but I was pleased to see him, nonetheless. It was Feather's presence that surprised me.
"You brought a mare with the stallion, Penrod?" I asked. Feather twitched a lazy ear in my direction as Ciarra scrambled atop her wide back. Ciarra was the only one besides me who I allowed on Feather.
Penrod chuckled as he checked the cinch on his own muscled gelding. "He knows that saddle and bridle means work. He's traveled with mares before and knows his ma
It took some sorting to get horses and people together. Oreg, for instance, had never ridden before—something that Penrod hadn't counted upon when he'd picked what horses to take. Finally, we changed the saddle to one of the pack animals, high-bred still, but with a calm ma
There was no hiding the trail of so many, so I didn't bother to try. We needed distance more than secrecy.
"Where are we going?" asked Penrod, riding by my side.
"South," I answered. "Tyrfa
As we rode onward, I felt the steady lessening of the magic that impregnated Hurog. It was a dreary, depressing feeling, and I knew it would get worse before it got better, it always did when I left Hurog. I don't think that leaving Hurog had affected my father the same way, perhaps because I was mageborn and he wasn't. But it made me feel like a drunkard deprived of his beer. After a while I'd get used to it again, but it was always unpleasant, especially now when, deep in my heart, I wasn't certain I'd ever come home again.
"Did I hear you say Oranstone?" asked Axiel, pushing forward to ride shoulder to shoulder with Penrod and me. "Why Oranstone?"
"There's a war brewing there," I said. "And I think it might be my best chance to regain Hurog. You don't have to join me."
To my surprise, Axiel, my father's man, who'd been in countless battles at my father's side, didn't say any of the things that Oreg had rightfully mentioned about the foolhardiness of my scheme. Instead, he gri
"If we're going to Oranstone," said Penrod, "shouldn't we get passage to someplace farther south than Newtonburn? The road from Newtonburn to Oranstone goes over several mountain passes, and it will be late fall by the time we get there. I've done it once, and I'll be honest, my lord, I'd not care to do that again."
I used the conversation to distract myself from the growing discomfort as we got farther from Hurog. "I hadn't actually pla
5—WARDWICK
I don't know that ru
What had appeared rational and adventurous in the dark of night seemed a lot stupider in the morning light. But no better plan presented itself.
As we came down out of the foothills, Tyrfa
I turned to Oreg, who was riding beside me, and murmured, "Can you tell what's going on at Hurog from here?"
"From anywhere," he said. His body relaxed, and his gaze grew faraway. "You've been discovered. Garranon is saddling horses in the stable."
"Thank you." Tyrfa
"Penrod," I called. When he approached, I said, "I'd like you and Axiel to buy what supplies we don't have. I'll get a room at an i
"Right," he said. "I'll tell Axiel."
When Penrod had ridden off, Oreg asked, "May I come with you?"
I wanted no company, but something in his voice made me ask, "What's wrong?" instead of refusing outright.
"I ca
"What do you mean?"
"Unpleasantness for me," he said with a brief, apologetic smile. "Not much for you."
"How far is too far?" I asked. "My business is no more than a mile from the i
He stared at the tips of his horse's ears for a moment, then said with clear reluctance, "It should be all right."
Since Newtonburn was the next major port on the coast, I didn't have much trouble finding a ship going there. A ship that was leaving before the pursuit from Hurog would make it to Tyrfa