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“That’ll be all.” Silas handed over some coins and tapped on Mara’s shoulder as he rose. “Which room for the boy and I?”
“Number two.” The woman put the coins in a pouch on her side. “You two, number three.”
“One more drink, Barda? For old times’ sake,” Arnolo said.
“We must rest, friend. We leave early in the morning.”
Arnolo held out a hand to Mara. “Good to meet you, Peter.”
Mara’s hand disappeared in Arnolo’s as they shook.
“Until next time, Barda.”
Silas nodded at Thomas, who nodded back.
“More ale, young lady,” Arnolo said.
Mara stood next to the bed. “Is this for me?”
Silas hadn’t considered Mara wouldn’t have slept in a bed before. “For tonight, yes.”
Mara sat on the bed and ran his hand over the sheet. He looked more like a boy than ever, nothing like a demon.
“Never slept in one?” Silas said.
“No.”
Silas flopped onto his own bed. “Well, not the most comfortable, but a whole lot better than the floor.” He watched Mara squirm around. Probably the most comfortable he’s ever been. Funny how quickly you forget that sort of thing. “You’ll have your own bed at the castle.”
Mara looked to Silas. “What castle?”
“In the Shadow Forest.”
Mara turned back to stare at the ceiling and said nothing.
Shouts and crashes echoed along the corridor outside their room. Hicket returns.
Mara sat up in his bed. “Should we go see?”
Very brave all of a sudden. Silas blew out the candle. “No.”
“But what about your friends?”
“They are not my friends.” Silas pulled up his bed cover. “And they do not need our help.”
“What if they get hurt?”
“They will not be the ones getting hurt. Sleep now, boy. We have a long journey tomorrow.”
The commotion lasted ten or so minutes before all went quiet.
Silas and Mara rose early. The tavern looked like the bull in the corner had been let loose. Tables and chairs flipped over, bowls and mugs smashed, and several patches of blood across the room.
Outside, Arnolo and Thomas’s horses were nowhere to be seen. Four men sat tied and unconscious in their place. One of them was Hicket.
“Are they dead?” Mara said.
“No, they’re breathing.” Silas pointed at the chest of one man. “Judging by the dent in that one’s skull, he’s going to wish he was. Come now before they wake up.”
