Page 44 of Grave Situation

“Stop griping,” she orders. “There’s plenty of space, and I rented the whole room, so we have privacy.”

I stare down the line of four cot-sized beds that definitely don’t have the generous, plush mattress I’ve been dreaming of all day. “Don’t they have anything else? Why didn’t you say—we could have looked for another inn.”

She rolls her eyes. “Talon, I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but we’re already conspicuous enough. A mage, a healer, and a dragon rider traveling together—people who know how to recognize us are going to remember us. If our enemy is, by some chance, looking for us, we want to be as unmemorable as possible.”

The blank expression on my face must give away the fact that I have no idea what she’s talking about, and she sighs. “Three people, two on horseback, one in leathers, flashing money around—say, on three big rooms at one of the better inns—will get everyone’s attention. It’s enough thatsomepeople will notice us. Let’s make it so that as far as most people are concerned, we’re just passing travelers.”

“Wearejust passing travelers,” I protest, not ready to let go of my dreams of comfort.

“Yes. But we want them to think we’re poor, boring travelers. Maybe mercenaries heading south for winter work. Not travelers on a mission with money to spend.”

Reluctantly, I begin to see her point. And at least I still get to sleep in a bed. But… “I really wanted a hot bath.”

“I asked, and there’s a public bathhouse on the next street,” she advises. “I’m going to head there now.”

A shared bath. And here I thought the joys of dormitory living had ended when I graduated.

This had all better be worth it,I think toward the stone. It doesn’t respond.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Four days later,there still hasn’t been a peep from the stone. We’ve ridden past a lot of people on the road, past more villages and farms than I care to remember, and through another good-sized town, and not once has it suggested that we might want to stop so I can talk to someone. It was too much to hope that the champion might leave Lenledia and head in our direction, I suppose. At least the stone is continuing to insist that we need to stop at court—I ask it every night. The very last thing I want to hear is that the champion has left the city and is traveling even farther from us.

My relationship with Sweetie is… unsteady. And I’m not just talking about how I feel after riding all day. The muscle soreness that plagued me the first few days is finally beginning to wear off, but I’ll never be a fan of this mode of travel. Who thought sitting on a horse was a good idea? I’ll bet their horse was a gentle sort who adored them. Not like mine, who switches between hot and cold so many times a day, I’ve given up trying to remember if we’re at war or not. Now I just hope she’s not going to kill me while my guard’s down.

Tia thinks I’m being ridiculous—after all, horses are vegetarians. What would be the point of Sweetie killing me?She doesn’t realize that my seemingly placid mare is actually a sadistic demon disguised as a horse and would kill me just for the fun of it.

As though she can hear me, Sweetie tosses her head, her black mane flying. Sometimes I try to console myself with the knowledge that at least she’s a pretty horse, a fifteen-hand bay with a glossy coat I’ve been taking good care of. And definitely steady—she never flinches when Leicht’s near, unlike the packhorse, and didn’t even bat an eyelid when we rode past a group of village children playing with toy bows and an “arrow” flew right past her head. Even Jaimin’s gray was skittish then.

On the other hand, she seems to get nervy at the oddest times, usually when she has an opportunity to send me stumbling backward—or like yesterday, when she shied for no reason and I went flying out of the saddle and practically into Jaimin’s lap. He always seems to be there when she’s in the mood to humiliate me, and I hate that. It’s not the image I want him to have of me. I need to redeem myself in his eyes, not make things worse.

Tia tugs at my mind, and I reach out to her. I can see Leicht, a distant speck against the blue sky. At least the weather has been cooperating—though cold, we’ve had no rain or snow. That’s not likely to last, given the time of year.

“Yes?”

“Stop mooning.”

My face gets hot. Damn her. Somehow she’s gotten the idea that I have an infatuation with Jaimin—which is obviously not true. It’s just been a long while since I’ve had time for sex, and he’s an extraordinarily attractive man. It’snormalto notice. And have the occasional sweaty dream. Okay, maybe it’s a little bit true, but who can blame me? He’s slept mere feet away from me for days now, and we spend almost every waking moment together. That doesn’t mean I’m “mooning.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t guarding my mind strongly enough that first night, and Tia caught a few snatches of one of the aforementioned dreams. After waking me with a mental screech so loud that I leapt off my cot before I was fully awake, she’s taken it upon herself to tease me ever since. And because our minds are so linked, she can somehow tell when my thoughts turn to him.

“I’m not mooning! I was thinking about my horse!”

Her mental laughter echoes through my mind, and I wince. That was definitely not the right response.

“What do you want, Tia?”

“There’s a decent place to make camp about two miles ahead of you, but nothing after that for ages, not even a village. I think we’ll have to stop early today.”

I narrow my eyes. Interesting how she waited to tell me this until we were just far enough past the last village to make turning back illogical. We’ve already had to camp once, and it’s definitely not on my list of things I want to do again.

“I hate you,”I tell her.

“I love you too, baby brother.”

I don’t bother to argue that we were born less than three minutes apart.

“I’m going to ask Tia to scout ahead for a place to stop tonight,” I say casually to Jaimin. As part of our effort to keep the unusual twin bond a secret, I’ve been making a big fuss about being the one to initiate contact, since I’m the telepath.

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