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He extended the toy to Snorter, who leaned so far out of his stable Ejam had to take a step back. Snorter breathed in hard and almost sucked the tiny toy out of his hand.
“Easy there, Snorter,” he said, running his other hand over the creature’s long nose. “We need a favor from you. Some friends of ours have gone missing. We need you to use that magical smelling skill of yours to track them down. Do you think you can do that?”
I shared a look with Waev. We were both a little apprehensive. Were we really going to trust the word of a man who talked to animals?
Then the animal bobbed his head. I could have sworn he was nodding.
“There’s a good boy,” Ejam said, smacking him good-naturedly on the neck.
Snorter reared up on his hind legs and slammed his front legs on the stable door.
BANG! BANG BANG BANG!
The other arjaths picked up the drumbeat, thumping hard on their stable doors.
“Looks like he can smell him all right,” Ejam said. “Step back!”
He opened the stable door and immediately waved his arms in front of the creature to calm him down. Snorter tried to sneak past him but the stable master wouldn’t let him. He ran his hands down the great animal’s neck and over his thick fur.
“Whoa, boy,” he said. “Steady. You’ll get to go find him. Don’t worry about that. But you know the rules. Harness first.”
He slipped the harness on over Snorter’s head.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to ride him. He seemed too active for my taste.
“Are you sure it’s safe to ride him?” I said. “I wouldn’t want to hurt him with his missing leg.”
“He’ll be fine,” Ejam said, putting the saddle on his back and giving him a treat. “He could do with a little time out of his stable.”
It wasn’t him I was worried about.
Ejam opened another door and prepped a second arjath for riding.
I rubbed Snorter’s nose and made sure the others weren’t watching.
“If you can find Bianca and Cleb, I swear to the Creator himself you will eat nothing but treats all day long,” I said. “Your stable master will be given the same. So, what do you say? Will you find them for me? I miss them a lot.”
Snorter bobbed his head again and pawed at the stable floor with his front foot.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I said.
My heart swelled at the thought that every member of the guard, every cook, every maid, every neighbor, every single one of them had answered the call. None had to. It was the middle of the night. Many would be taking time off, sleeping, but they hadn’t hesitated to lend their hand to help. I made a mental note to thank them all personally and have a huge celebration.
It was the least I could do.
Ejam could barely hold onto the arjaths, they were so excited about taking off. Waev and I swung onto their backs. I would have said “Thank you” to the stable master but the moment he let go of their harnesses, the arjaths took off like a shot. It was all I could do to hang on.
Arjaths were ideal at a slow gallop but due to the strange shape of their bodies, with their shorter hind legs and long necks, it made them lope along rather than stride.
They tore across the front lawn. Some of the guards waved to us as they returned from the woods having found no sign of the kidnapper.
But the arjaths didn’t know that. They entered the forest, running along the same trail we took that fateful day. I wondered if they were only overly excited about the idea of going for a nice ride again.
Suddenly, they turned off the worn path and into the forest and across the snaring undergrowth. They moved slower now—still much too fast for my taste—and lowered their long necks and snorting noses to the ground. The damp leaves and rotting wood rose and fell as their powerful nostrils sniffed.
Snorter came to a stop first and pawed impatiently at the undergrowth with his front leg.
I hopped off him and rooted through the leaves where he pawed.
