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“Yes.”
When I noted her looking toward barrels of hard candy, I added those to my order. The same with the dried fish she admired. And the dried meat. The odd vegetables her glance took in joined the rest.
“Anything else, Commander?” the clerk asked.
“Anything else?” I asked Rhoslyn.
She flashed me a sweet smile that made me want to buy everything in the store to keep that look on her face. “Oh, I don’t need anything.”
“This will be it for now,” I said.
The clerk tallied my bill and after I’d paid, put everything in a cloth pouch I tossed over my shoulder.
“You’re hungry,” she said as we left. “I should’ve given you more slices of bread this morning.”
Iwashungry but more for her than food. Pondering that notion, I led her down a few more streets, arriving at our next destination. By then, I hadn’t decided on anything, and I suspected I wouldn’t even if I dwelled on it for the next thirty days.
“We’ll get you clothing here,” I said gruffly, gesturing to the store.
Her head tilted as she studied the sign, and the most beautiful smile flitted across her face. “There’s a woman’s head on the sign, not just an orc’s.”
“Because this shop is owned by Eleri, a human female mated to Odik.”
Her breath caught. “Eleri’s here in the city?”
“As I said, she’s mated to Odik. She works in the city, though she and Odik live with the rest of his clan.”
“I remember her vaguely. She joined the Hunt five years ago, though in a more unconventional way. She was a few years older than me, and we weren’t close. I can’t wait to see her again, though.” With a grin shot my way that made my lungs freeze, she pushed open the front door and stepped inside, holding the panel open for me. “Come on. Don’t just stand there on the street.”
I found a way to breathe and followed her inside.
Someone shrieked in the back of the shop.
Dropping the bag of food, I yanked my mace from its sheathe and thrust Rhoslyn behind me.
I’d kill anyone who threatened my mate.
Chapter18
Rhoslyn
Jaus bristled and hefted his mace.
I peered around him, wondering what was happening, but I only found Eleri weaving slowly around racks of clothing. After suffering a grave injury when she was a child that left her with a bad limp, her parents—living in one of the other villages far from mine—had abandoned her in the woods. If a widower hunter hadn’t found and raised her, who knows what might’ve happened to her? She was only three at the time.
Five years ago, she was accused of murdering the hunter, but I’d never believed her capable of such a horrifying deed. There wasn’t anyone kinder or more generous than Eleri. She’d fled the night of the hunt, and no one had heard from her again—though that was the norm for those taken by orcs.
She hobbled over to me, her face filled with reservation.
I braced her shoulders. “Before you say a thing, I want to tell you I never thought you did it.”
The reservation didn’t leave her face.
“And my suspicion was confirmed when Brigid lay on her deathbed and confessed,” I added.
“I saw her leaving our home. I knew she’d done it, but . . .” Eleri’s gaze dropped from mine. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me.”
Most hadn’t, though a few of us spoke up for her. The consensus was she’d done it. Why else would she flee?
