The old innkeeper was sitting in a rocker by the entrance.‘Good afternoon,’ I said to the man smoking a strange, curved pipe.‘I stayed here a few weeks ago with another woman.We were travelling to Capita.’He responded with a puff of smoke.‘There may have been a man – or a few men – from Ephemeros staying here, and they told me I could leave a message at the inn if I wished to meet with them again.’I looked at him hopefully.It sounded vague even to me, but I didn’t know Torgrin’s father’s name.
‘Did you say you want to meet a man from Ephemeros?Well, here I am!’He cackled while smoke curled out his nose and mouth.His accent was the same as Torgrin’s father’s, so he wasn’t lying.But without a name, I wasn’t sure what else to say.
‘Stop being an old tankard, Jester,’ came a woman’s voice from inside.
The archer who had used her Curse to strip me of my weapons appeared out of the dark interior.She looked me up and down while I did the same to her.
‘Well, you look like shit.’She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe.
‘Braya, right?’My hand twitched above the hilt of my sword.‘You look better than the last time I saw you.’I had thrown her into a tree.I could have done worse.
She shrugged and waited for me to speak.
‘I need to meet with Torgrin’s father.I have a proposition for him.’
‘How does Torgrin feel about his woman propositioning our father?’she smirked.
Our father?
‘You’re his sister?’How could Torgrin not tell me I almost killed his sister?She had the same dark eyes and silky black hair, but her features were round and soft, not angular like Torgrin’s.
‘What are you doing here?’Braya was done with the chitchat.
‘I will speak to your father about why I’m here and no-one else.’
Braya rolled her eyes at me.She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled.I followed her gaze and watched two riders break from the trees I’d just come through.They must have watched me ride right past them.
‘Tell General Toro she’s here and wants a meeting.’The men nodded and turned back the way they came.Braya went back inside without another word.
I stayed outside the inn and waited.The sun sank lower in the sky, and soon it was almost nightfall.
Riders appeared, and Braya came back outside.They nodded to her and passed her a sack.
‘I’m not wearing that again,’ I protested, eyeing the sack warily.
‘Well then, you can leave, and don’t bother coming back.’
‘Fine!I’ll wear the sack!’This was wasting time Cillian and Torgrin didn’t have.‘At least let me get on my horse first this time.’I stomped off to get Nightmare from the stables.
I rode blindfolded for what felt like forever but, eventually, we came to a stop.I could hear running water and numerous voices around me.
Braya took off my hood.The sky was fully dark now.I could see several fires and makeshift huts alongside a sizeable winding creek.A small wooden cabin sat halfway between the little campsites.
‘This way,’ she said.
I followed her to the cabin.Torgrin’s father, General Toro, sat alone at a rustic table in a sparsely furnished room, eating his evening meal.He didn’t acknowledge me as I entered.
The general took a long drink from a tankard and wiped his mouth with a cloth.He eventually looked up at us, and he gestured for me to take the chair opposite him.
I sat and studied the man’s face, searching for Torgrin in his features.I could see the similarities in him more than I could in his sister.Father and son had the same sharp cheekbones, straight nose and strong jawline.Torgrin’s skin wasn’t as golden as his father’s, but they both shared the same dark, piercing stare.I wondered what Torgrin’s mother looked like, and if she missed the son who ran away at twelve.
‘Drink?’he asked.
Braya filled his tankard again and poured one for me.I looked at it cautiously, not putting it past her to use a sleeping draught on me and drag me back to Ephemeros with them.Braya snorted at my response and took a gulp from my cup before slamming it back down in front of me.
‘So, why is it you and not my son I’m talking to?’He observed me over his cup.
‘He is why I’m here,’ I said.‘I believe King Hared has taken Torgrin prisoner.’Neither father nor sister reacted to my words.‘I want you to help me get him and another prisoner out of Capita’s dungeon.’
