What little attraction might’ve been developing between us fizzled. I turned my attention to the passing scenery.
Chapter 6
Just as twilight descended and I was starting to nod off, we rolled up to the next village. Frank drove us right up to a building with a sign that had a beer mug and a bed on it, so I assumed it was some kind of tavern inn establishment where we could get a meal and spend the night. Worked for me! I was exhausted. I was pretty sure I’d lived this day twice because I’d spent more than half of it hiking around Michigan, but then come here and spent more than half of it traveling around Fairyland. That made for a really long day.
And it wouldn’t be over for a while yet, because I still had to figure out how to keep His Highness from escaping while I was sleeping.
I’d cuffed my ankle again after changing, but now I uncuffed myself and looped the length of the chain around Solaris’s middle. He said not one word, but his expression cursed me, my ancestors, and my future children. And when I led him by my cuff into the tavern, I was pretty sure he was already planning my murder.
But then the most incredible thing happened.
I hadn’t been sure what kind of reception I’d get for walking in with their prince chained up and basically on a leash. Maybe they’d fight me to free him. Maybe they’d be like the last place and fight his friends instead. I hadn’t felt like I could leave Solaris in the carriage, so in we went.
After a lot of blinking from everyone, someone hollered, “Is that the prince?”
“He is, yes.” I had the cuff in one hand and the hilt of my sword in the other. “I’m taking him home.”
And the room erupted in cheering.
Solaris flinched, blue eyes wide, and his boy band looked equally startled. Had they really been so clueless? How? Seriously, how did they not know that the people were getting pissed at them?
“’Bout time you did something!”
“My crops are dead!”
“My herds are dying!”
“Even the squirrels are fleeing!”
Solaris, at least, ducked his head and blushed, not looking at anyone. I was smiling about the squirrels as I dragged him over to a woman standing behind a podium, assuming she was the one to talk to about a room.
“Hello, sir,” she said with a little bobbed curtsy. “Welcome to The Spittin’ Hen. Will you be needing a room?”
I smiled at her as she made an effort not to even glance at Solaris. “I’d love a room and dinner, if possible.”
“Of course, sir.” She checked the book in front of her. “We only have the one room left, unfortunately, but we can provide pallets for those unwilling to share either of the two beds.”
Six men in one room and only two beds. That sounded like the setup to a porno. While I doubted anyone in our party had similar thoughts, the idea of being outnumbered in a small room while trying to sleep didn’t sit well with me. I turned to the boys.
“Go find your own accommodations,” I told them. “If you want to keep traveling with us, be back here for breakfast.”
I could tell that they weren’t happy about that, but not one of them put up a fuss as they left. I wasn’t even worried that the carriage would be missing and all of them gone come morning—they wanted their prince back in his castle and doing his job, too.
If they didn’t, they’d have tried to save him long before now.
But it still seemed to shock Solaris who watched them walk away with disbelief all over his face. Had he been biding his time? Waiting for the right moment to make his move? Expecting them to have his back?
Wah-wah…
“That simplifies things then,” the woman said with a smile. “If I could have your name and two silvers for the room, meals, and water for washing.”
Right. Payment. First, I had to get rid of my sword because I needed a free hand. I didn’t have a belt to slip it behind—and I’d probably stab myself in the hip if I tried anyway—so I leaned it against her podium.
“Here,” said a man who stood up beside us. I looked over to see him unbuckling his sword belt and handing it to me. “Give me that one, and you can have all this.”
“Hey, thanks.” I handed mine over. “I appreciate it.”
Rather than hand me his sword belt and leave me to figure out how to get it on, the guy buckled it on me himself. “You want it to sit just here,” he said as he settled it on my hips. “And cross over to pull it free.”
