B0161NEC9Y (F) (8 page)

A spark of unease emerged in Shanti. Her mind raced, running through implications. “He’s clearing the path for me. He must be. He’s allowing me safe passage back.” She shook her head, the unease turning into a fire of doubt. Cayan’s response welled up, half supportive to calm her down, and half anxious, wondering what the problem was. “He is allowing me to get settled again. He must’ve made obvious deductions about my ties to Cayan.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

Shanti stopped in the middle of the lane, thinking. She’d spent her life learning about Xandre’s habits. She’d studied his battle awareness, his tactics, his movements. She was sure of his need to always acquire intelligence before carrying out his plans. She’d shaped him that way. In turn, he was studying her.

She wandered off to the side of the street and leaned against the wall, contemplating. Looking for deductions Xandre might’ve come to. And then she knew. As plain as day, she knew. She wasn’t a wanderer—Burson had gotten that wrong. She
needed
to be a wanderer.

“What have I always done, Rohnan?” Shanti said as a sick feeling turned her stomach.

“I can’t… I’m not following your emotion,
Chulan.”

She gave him a direct stare. “Our people knew Xandre would come for us. We
knew
it. And what did we do?”

Rohnan’s brow furrowed. “Prepared…”

“No. We waited. We dug in our heels, stayed right where we were, and we were annihilated.
Then
I left. And what did I do?”

“You found a new place to call home.” Rohnan’s voice turned grave. “And now you are returning to it.”

“Exactly.” Shanti rubbed her temples. “He
is
waving me through. Our people are not wanderers. We make a home, and we defend our home regardless of the odds. Despite my knowing I’ll never have one, I want a family. I want to live in peace with my mate. If I could choose, I’d choose Cayan and his city for that.”

“You did choose…”

Shanti hung her head. “And Xandre knows it.”

“Do you think the Hunter is acting on Xandre’s orders?”

“I doubt it. The Hunter’s failure should be shoved in everyone’s faces as a warning. But if Burson has figured out where he is, Xandre would’ve. He’s the bait to lure Cayan home, and me with him.
Flak.
”

A passing woman jumped and clutched at her child, throwing Shanti a startled expression.

Shanti pushed off from the wall, anger burning through her. “He is trying to strip from me everything I love, Rohnan. One at a time, he has peeled away the things that made me smile, leaving only death and decay. He is fighting only one war. I saw to that when I bested him the first time. His war is against me.”

“You are fighting only one war,
Chulan.
Always were. Against him.”

Shanti felt the weight of her sword heating her back. “Yes. Exactly. I’ve been blind. We don’t need armies, Rohnan. We don’t need to consolidate forces. We need stealth and the cover of darkness. We need Burson and our people, not a city and its resources.” She blew out a breath and thought about punching something. Rohnan took a step back. “I can’t leave Cayan, though. He is the other half of my power. Together we are a force. I was right about that.”

She clenched her fists and eyed the wall.

“I do not recommend punching a hard surface,
Chulan.
Surely you’ve learned that lesson by now.”

Shanti flexed, trying to work out the frustration. “I need to speak to Burson. I don’t know what to do.”

“Will you send Cayan on alone?”

Shanti flexed again. She shook her hands and swung her arms, trying to work out the aggression. “No. How could I? Xandre’s got me by the lady-balls.”

“He moves slowly. You move quickly. His strengths are in planning, yours are in action. We need to play to your strengths to keep him from using his.”

Shanti rolled her head, loosening up her neck. Rohnan was right. She needed to take action. But one thing at a time. “This is turning into a bad day.”

“You started it.”

“A bar fight might be in my future.”

“Let’s find a place to stay, and then we’ll find a
different
place to start a fight.”

It was sound logic.

They walked down the wide lane until they came to an inn with a chipped sign and paint peeling off the front. “They’ll let us in, I bet.”

“They’d admit a flea-ridden dog.” Rohnan plucked at her shirt. “Let’s go somewhere that doesn’t make us scratch for the rest of the journey.”

She glanced down at her clothes. They were the Shadow stylings, but with holes, some stains, and the general smell of sweat and filth from being at sea for nearly a week without a bath.

“I’ve been refused lodgings when I’ve looked this travel-stained before, Rohnan.”

Rohnan pulled her toward a glistening sign featuring a plow with a backdrop of stars. “Your journey must’ve been awful,
Chulan
. You have my sympathy. But then, if you were in any way personable, things probably would’ve been different.”

He walked into the inn like he was nobility. His white-blond head, messed and a little greasy though it was, was held high. His shoulders were straight, even with the rumpled and stained coat he wore. His eyes glittered with self-importance and his face was pointed at the world regardless of the smudge of dirt on his cheek. It was as if he wasn’t aware of what he looked like.

“
Hello
,” he said in the trader’s dialect, his lips quirked in an almost-smile.

The man behind the counter looked up from his book and surveyed Rohnan. His brow creased in distaste. At Rohnan’s continued gaze, his expression bent toward confused. “
Yeah?
”

“
Yes
.” Rohnan gave him a slight bow. “
I will be needing several rooms, baths, and meals for the night.
” Rohnan’s hand dropped, grazing the slight bulge in his pocket. Gold?

Did Cayan give Rohnan gold? Or did he steal it…

The man’s gaze turned shrewd. “
I’ve got five rooms
.” The man leaned his hammy arms against the counter. “
Three gold pieces each
.”

“
Oh my no, that is outrageous.
” Rohnan smiled and took another step toward the door.

Shanti rolled her eyes as she felt Cayan drawing closer to the inn. In their shared language, she said, “I’ll get the horses. I don’t have the patience for your style of bartering
.”

“That is why you’re used to sleeping in bushes.
”

As Shanti left the inn, she muttered to herself, “You never get used to sleeping in bushes.”

She saw Cayan walking up the lane. It was hard not to. His shoulders were wide enough to knock down buildings with each swing. The things should’ve had a warning attached.

“What’s the problem?” Cayan asked as he drew near. A woman across the lane with her eyes glued on Cayan stumbled on a rock and swerved into the wall.

Served her right for gawking, Shanti thought.

“Nothing,” Shanti said, trying to calm her turbulent emotions from her conversation with Rohnan. To Cayan’s quirked eyebrow—lying was no longer an option with him—she followed with, “I’ll talk to you about it later. Rohnan is inside getting us rooms, so I figured we could—”

“There isn’t anything nicer?” Cayan looked at the inn front with distaste.

“Would you rather a castle? Elders have mercy!” Shanti started off toward the outskirts where Sea Farer, the ship’s captain, had said the main stables were located. “Let’s get some horses instead of standing around nickpicking.”

“
Nit
picking,” Cayan said as he fell in beside her.

They caught Sanders coming up the path, a few of the Honor Guard walking doggedly behind him. “I caught these idiots pooling money to go to the whorehouse.” Sanders threw a thumb behind him at the three boys with red faces. “A bunch of nitwits, the lot of them.”

“Rohnan is getting rooms at the inn.” Cayan pointed back the way they’d come. “Rachie and Gracas, you go up and meet him. Leilius, head back to the docks and get more gold. I have a feeling I didn’t bring enough up. Have Xavier carry it. You lads will have less problems that way.”

“I could do with a problem or two.” Sanders punched his palm. Just like Shanti, aggression rolled off him. He was spoiling for a fight.

Shanti would invite him to her party later. That flea-bitten inn would probably be great sport.

“Yes, sir,” Rachie said as he and Gracas walked on, their faces still bright red and pointed at the ground.

Leilius turned around and started jogging, not daring to look Shanti or the Captain in the eye.

Sanders cracked his neck before glancing off at the boys hurrying away. “I was curious at that age, too. Didn’t think they’d want that question answered with a ruddy-faced working woman, though.”

“They’ll thank you for it when they get older,” Cayan said as Shanti led the way to the horses, not at all surprised when Sanders fell in with him. He knew horses better than anyone else in their group.

“Are we sure we want to waste time staying in this town?” Sanders asked as they approached the stables. A row of stalls spread out in front of them, horses neighing and pawing at the ground. A loud thump sounded toward the end. Then another. It sounded like a horse was kicking its stall in a temper.

“Everyone is tired. A bath, a hot meal, and a good bed is needed,” Shanti said as they stopped in front of a mangy brown animal lethargically chomping oats.

“These are pitiful.” Sanders put his hands on his hips and spat. He meandered down the row of stalls, checking out the offerings.

“Hello, hello!” A short, balding man walked up with a calculating eye and a relaxed demeanor.

“Is this the best you have to offer?” Sanders asked.

“Now, sir, these horses are some of the finest you’ve seen. Come from all over the land, they do. Fine horse stock here, yes sir. Mighty fine.”

“Are you blind as well as a bad liar?” Sanders demanded. He gestured at the stall next to them. “That mare is hoping for a ride to the afterlife.”

“Please, sir.” The man turned to Cayan, his cunning gaze starting to fray. “Tell me what you’re looking for and I will find it for you. Does the missus need…” The man looked at Shanti. He squinted a little. “A plow horse, maybe…”

“Do I have shit on my face or something?” Shanti asked in exasperation. “It’s not like I’m wearing rags.”

“Usually respectable women don’t look like the underside of a shoe,” Sanders said as he passed by, walking toward the other end of the line. “What do you have on the other side?”

“Oh.” The man looked at Sanders with a grave expression. “They are
very
pricey on the other side. But we have some fine ones over here. See?” The man hastened to an older animal that looked more like a mule than a horse.

“Show us the other side,” Cayan said in a loud, commanding voice.

“Don’t like it when people think you’re poor, huh?” Shanti smirked at him.

The man hesitated, something in Cayan’s voice drying up his protests. His shrewd gaze slid over Cayan’s frame, tall and broad, with a fighter’s grace. Calloused hands drew his eyes next, then the hilt of his sword. Finally he nodded. “Follow me.”

“Are they made of gold or something?” Sanders growled as they followed the man to a second row of stables.

As they got within sight of the horses, Sanders let out a low whistle. Compared to the first set of horses, these might as well have been made of gold. Large, shiny steeds neighed or bobbed their heads. Fierce-eyed and well groomed, they stood within their stalls expectantly. Or at least that was the way it seemed. Shanti didn’t need to know horses to recognize the breeding in these. She’d seen it up close.

“Graygual stock,” Sanders said under his breath as he passed in front of Shanti and Cayan, his scowl ever-present. “Hiding the good stuff, huh…?”

“Gustov, sir. The name’s Gustov. And no, sir. No, no. These are expensive animals, though. Too much for the common man.”

A loud thump sounded at the end of the row, followed by a whinny.

“Good thing we aren’t the common man,” Sanders said as he slowed his walk to a sort of stroll, his scowl still firmly in place. He eyed each horse in turn, completely ignoring the sales tactics of the stable man. When he approached the end, he stopped with a jerk and stared. His head turned slowly until he was looking at Shanti.

“What?” she asked.

“You won’t believe it.”

Brow screwed up in confusion, Shanti stalked to the end, Cayan in tow. As they drew near, Shanti sucked in a breath.

There, in the very last stall, was her bloody bastard of a horse. Shining like a star, sleek and obviously of excellent breeding even compared to the others, he huffed and neighed, shaking his head with all the ire and temper he was known for.

“That one—bad attitude, that one. He’s a horse for breeding.” Gustov shook his head.

“He’d bite the mare.” Sanders spat before pointing at the black stallion Cayan was standing near. “That one’s ready to bite, too. I’ll bet half these horses won’t take a rider.”

As if on cue, the black stallion stepped closer to the gate. He pawed the ground. His nose went forward, but he didn’t bite. He nudged his previous owner.

Cayan had found his horse, and Shanti bet he didn’t plan to pay more than stable fees to get it back.

She smirked before noticing Rohnan’s horse was here, too, standing placidly as it watched what was going on. Someone had rounded them up after the battle, along with any other horse they could capture, and locked them up.

“I wonder what happened to Burson’s,” she said quietly.

The Bloody Bastard kicked the wall in a fit of temper. He blew out breath and stomped the ground.

“My, my.” Shanti stepped up to the fence. “They let you get away with this temper, huh?”

“I don’t advise that, lady. That horse is wild!” The stable master reached out to pull her back.

The horse kicked, thrashing the wall, adding a hoof imprint to the plethora of others. It shook its head, scaring the man enough that he jogged backward again.