Page 66 of Silverbow
“I hope so, seeing as that’s the last inn we’ll see for a while. We prefer to sleep rough.”
Of course you do.He gave her a roguish wink that may have once set her heart stuttering, but it only irked her now.
A long line of wagons waited at the gates to go out, held up by the crimson clad men checking papers. Enya swallowed and glanced around at the demi-elves. Bade wore the same scowl she’d seen before, perhaps the only expression he ever wore, but the split lip she'd dealt him was gone without a trace. A whispered argument broke out between Oryn and Colm. The man with the golden topknot finally conceded.
“Aiden, give her one of yours,” Oryn ordered.
Sighing, the young demi-elf fished into his breast pocket and produced a neatly folded square of parchment. Enya gaped. “Am I to pass as a man now?”
“Just act like it belongs to you. We’ll see to it,” Oryn said.
She was on the point of asking what exactly he intended to do, but Oryn silenced her with a sharp look. When they reached the guard towers flanking the high stone wall, Enya handed over a set of papers belonging to a brown haired boy named Linus. She watched the guard’s brows knit together, and then smooth. He handed the papers back with a glassy look to his eyes and barked, “Next!”
“What did you do?” Enya hissed at Oryn as they stepped out onto the Queen’s Road.
“Later,” he growled, eyeing the wagons waiting to enter Trowbridge.
She bit her tongue until they were a good half mile from the wall. “How is it that I passed for Linus?” She demanded.
“None of your concern,” he answered.
“Did you…did youdo somethingto that guard?“ She hissed.
“It is none of your concern.” There was a bite in his tone that made Enya bristle.
“There will be no lasting harm,” Colm assured her.
“Lasting harm?” She spluttered. “Did you…did you…” Enya trailed off. She had seen the wonder of Oryn’s healing first-hand and heard wild tales of what wielders were capable of, but speaking them aloud seemed ridiculous.
“For a girl who put arrows in a few men in Innesh, you sure are squeamish. Or is it just thewieldingpart you take issue with?“ Aiden asked with a broad grin. “Afraid of a little magic, Silverbow?”
Enya swallowed and drew herself up. “I think I ought to know what I travel with.”
“Men who take you to sanctuary,” Oryn sighed. “And it will be a very long ride for us allAnselif you plan to question everything we do between here and Drozia.”
“Careful, Ansel,” Aiden warned tauntingly. “Wag your tongue too much, and you might find yourself as mindless as that guard.”
Enya’s heart took off at a gallop, her mouth suddenly too dry.Mindless?
“Aiden!” Colm hissed.
Her horror must have been plain to them. Aiden barked a laugh and even Bade chuckled. Colm sighed with exasperation.
“You controlled his mind?” She hissed at Oryn.
“I didn’t. Colm did.”
Enya whirled in her saddle to stare at the kindly faced man who grimaced.
“It was only a small trick,” he winced. “I simply suggested there was nothing unusual in what he saw. There’s no lasting harm. He’ll have no memory of it.”
Enya’s jaw hung open.
“It is not something I would normally do.” He darted an accusatory look at Oryn. “But it was better than the alternatives.”
“The alternatives?”
“A number of options,” Oryn answered. “All with a great deal more lasting harm.”
