Page 14 of Sword & Sacrifice

Penn wasn’t much happier with their situation, but he didn’t think the mountains were to blame. “We should find somewhere to shelter,” he suggested, “until the storm passes.”

Niall narrowed his eyes. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Give the soldiers time to catch up with us. No, we drive through it.”

‘Driving through it’ was easier said than done. The rain turned the roads into deep mud that clung to the wheels and the horses’ hooves, slowing their progress until it would have been faster to walk.

Through the gloom, Penn spotted a signpost ahead, and the distant glow of lights following a path from the road into a village. He started to turn down it when Niall grabbed his wrist. The other man’s hand was clammy and overheated.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re wearing the horses out,” Penn explained. “If we don’t let them rest, they may die from exhaustion or illness, and then we’ll have to walk to the next town in this.” He waved a hand through the rain steadily streaming onto their heads.

Niall hesitated, his grip on Penn loosening slightly.

“Besides, don’t you need to sell what you stole from Lord Edgar? Furniture is worthless on the road. You need gold, not candlesticks.”

Niall considered this for a long moment, then his hand tightened on Penn again and he leaned forward, his hot, sour breath blowing in Penn’s face as he hissed, “If you even think of playing us foul, I will slit you open and feed you to the fish like the worm you are.”

Penn stared placidly back at Niall until the mage finally unsheathed his claws and crossed his arms again for warmth. Then Penn focused on guiding the horses to the village. Once they saw the light, their plodding pace picked up speed.

The shops had closed early due to the rain, the residents remaining in their cozy homes. Ahead of them, the inn’s warm, welcoming light called to all weary travelers.

As they approached the stables, Niall warned, “If you say anything at all to make them suspicious—”

“I won’t,” Penn said, forcing himself to smile as a groom ran out to meet him. He hopped down from the driver’s seat and went to rap on the side of the carriage when Niall once again grabbed his hand.

“What are you—”

“Are you going to question everything I do?” Penn asked.

Niall glowered at him. “Yes.”

Penn sighed. “I was just letting Val—Alistair,” he almost choked on the name. The silly combination he’d come up with in his head was so much easier to stomach. “Letting him know the plan.”

“I will tell him,” Niall insisted, then knocked rapidly on the carriage door.

The old dog is jealous of the new puppy.

There was no reply to the knock. Niall tried again, louder this time. “Alistair?” The second time, he waited only a few seconds before yanking the door open.

Valistair leaned against the seat, his hand dropping quickly from his head. He glanced at Niall and demanded, “Why have we stopped?”

“It’s the rain, sir,” Niall admitted grudgingly. The wet hair and clothes plastered to his skin should have been explanation enough. “We’ve stopped at an inn to change horses and wait for it to pass.”

Valistair glanced at Penn, his lips twitching down in displeasure. “Very well.” He stepped out of the carriage and straightened his rumpled clothes. Then he reached back and grabbed a bag, dropping it into Penn’s arms with no explanation.

Niall retrieved his own bag from the carriage, and they all went inside.

Penn walked straight toward the innkeeper’s counter, only stopping when Valistair grabbed his arm. With as many times as they’re grabbing me, they might as well hook a leash to my collar.

“Niall will make the arrangements,” Valistair explained in a low voice.

Right, they don’t want to risk me exposing them as traitors and kidnappers. “Force of habit,” Penn drawled, keeping his posture relaxed. “I usually make the arrangements if I’m traveling on my own or with Archer.”

“Do you travel with your king often?” Valistair asked. His hand remained on Penn’s arm, the grip gentling until it was only a reminder of his presence.

Penn shrugged. “Where he goes, I go.”

“Yet he wasn’t with you at the estate.”