"I should see to her," he said, "then I'll return and listen to what you've said. I'm sure you'll have still more to stay."
"Aye, I will," Adhémar growled.
"Where can I take her. "
Adhémar jerked his head to his left. "The inn is there. Didn't you notice it when you flew over?"
"I was concentrating on you," Miach said.
"Well, it's over there; you can take her there, but don't look to me to pay for a room for her there. I have no coin left."
Miach frowned. "And why is that? "
"The wench poached most of it; I lost the rest of it humoring one of my more vocal subjects in cards. "
Miach decided he would learn the truth of all that in good time and probably at a higher volume pitch than he would care for. He started toward the inn.
"Be careful," Adhémar threw after him.
Miach turned and looked at his brother expressionlessly. "Why? She nearly killed me on Melksham when I was just trying to make sure she was safe. One moment I was following her at a discreet distance, the next she was attacking me as if I intended to do her harm."
Miach took note of her sword, standing there impaled in the ground. He could feel several more weapons strapped to her arms and waist. "Is she skilled, then. "
"Lucky, more like," Adhémar huffed. "But she fights with no chivalry. I have no idea where she trained?perhaps she trained herself."
"What is her name?" Miach asked.
"Morgan," Adhémar said. "Morgan from that backward island where there's nothing to eat but mutton and nothing to discuss in taverns but irrigation rights. She's uneducated and dangerous."
Miach looked down at her. "She looks quite harmless to me."
Harmless and lovely. Miach found it quite difficult to look away from her.
"She's unconscious," Adhémar said. "Wait until she's back to herself and you'll find quite a few surprises. Put her down and return. Immediately."
Miach turned and made his way to the inn. He hadn't paid it any heed before, but he could hear voices coming from it now. He felt more himself with every step, but it was still uncomfortable to go inside the common room with so much noise and so many people.
He hadn't crossed the threshold before he was confronted by two men and a dwarf, all of whom wore looks that bespoke serious concern?and not a little promise.
"She fell," Miach said simply. "I caught her. Where can I take her?"
The older of the men assessed him briefly, then went to speak with the innkeeper. Miach looked at the dwarf and the younger of the two men who remained. The dwarf regarded him steadily, but without any sign of recognition. The other, fair-haired man gaped at him as if he'd seen a ghost.
Miach frowned. "A problem, friend?"
"I thought, ah, I thought we might have met?"
"I doubt it," Miach said, his voice sounding rough in his own ears. The blond man might possibly be quite right, but now was not the time to find out. He was relieved when the older man returned.
"Follow me," he said briskly.
Miach did, leaving the dwarf and the younger man behind. He cradled Morgan carefully in his arms and followed the older man down a passageway. They entered what was obviously one of the inn's finest chambers, as it was well away from the common area and relatively quiet.
Miach laid her down on a soft bed, then stepped back and looked at the other man. "Are you her father to care for her so well?"
"I am not," the other man said easily, "but I will protect her as if I were."
"You can see to her hurts?"
