Page 95 of Silverbow
“As entertaining as this is, now seems as good a time as any,” Aiden sighed. Like Colm, he rose with casually and strode up the stairs to retrieve their saddlebags.
“You want to try the kitchens?” Bade asked.
Oryn shook his head. “Better to leave the serving girls out of it. Twenty-seven swords between here and the door.”
Enya slid down an inch in her seat. Oryn shifted closer in a move that made her heart stutter again.Fool.Oryn Brydove might look like the gods he worshiped, but the bloody man was made of stone and she was his bloody bounty. And now was certainly not the time to lose her head.
“When we get up, you’re going to stay one pace behind Bade. One pace, no more, no less, all the way to the door,” he breathed.
“And you?”
“I will be right behind you. Keep your head down.”
Aiden appeared laden with saddlebags for five. No one paid him much mind as he trundled out into the evening. Enya watched her unstrung bow disappear out the front door with regret.
Oryn reached into his coat and pulled out a coin purse. Enya’s eyes widened at the silver he tipped onto the table. The sum was far more than their meals and baths. He cast another look around, sighed, and added two more marks to the tidy pile. He pushed his chair back, signaling her to rise.
Enya scrambled to her feet, clutching her fork in one hand and Liam’s horse head carving in the other. She darted around the table to walk on Bade’s heels, eyeing the twin blades crossed over his back. She was measuring her pace, trying to take quick steps to keep up with Bade’s long stride as she stared at the worn wood floor. She nearly crashed into his back when he stopped short, and dread sank into her middle.
Sir Westerton stepped in front of the demi-elf, hand resting on the hilt of his sword in an open challenge. When Bade took a step to the side, the knight shifted with him. Sensing a brewing storm, heads swiveled in their direction, and Enya bent her neck further toward the floor. Her chin practically sat atop the signet ring beneath her shirt.
Don’t look. Don’t look. Light, don’t look.
“You make a mistake, Sir.” Bade’s voice held a cool, dangerous edge.
“I do not think I do,” Sir Westerton answered, peering around his shoulder. “I know the lady.”
“Do you know the man, Miss?” Bade barked roughly.
Enya’s eyes slid upward and dropped again. “No.”
“Seems youdomake a mistake,Sir,“ Bade growled. “She’s with us. Let us pass.”
For a long heartbeat, no one moved, and then the knight must have decided he would need more men to challenge Bade and Oryn, for he announced loudly enough for all to hear, “I think I know Enya Ryerson when I see her.”
Light.
Anyone still absorbed in their drink or their discussions whipped their attention to her face. Enya watched hands find hilts and men ready themselves to swing legs over benches. Others sat slack jawed and the serving maids edged toward the kitchens, wanting to be well clear of any fighting. Enya’s hand tightened on her fork, and the absurdity of it made a laugh bubble from her throat.
“Something funny, Miss Ryerson?” Sir Westerton sneered.
“Your mistake,” she answered simply. “Youdomake a mistake, sir.”
“Last chance,” Bade growled. “Let us pass. We don’t want any trouble.”
“I suppose it should be no surprise to find Estryia’s bounty in the company of a couple of half-breed bastards.”
Benches scraped across the floor as men rose and the rasping of swords leaving scabbards filled the thick silence.
“Gentlemen, please,” the innkeeper called feebly from behind his bar. “Not in my common room.”
“Elred’s Eagle,” someone whispered. “Gods above, that’s Elred’s Eagle.”
“You don’t want to fight me, boy.”
Sir Westerton’s eyes went to the twin hilts crossed over Bade’s shoulder and his ruddy face drained of color. A few who had drawn started backing away. Bade jerked his chin toward them. “Be a smart lad and live to see another day.”
A snarl twisted the knight’s face and he reached for his two handed broadsword. Bade was faster, a shining blade in each hand. The common room lurched into chaos. Bade waited for Sir Westerton to swing first and Enya turned her face away so she did not have to see the knight die. Her stomach roiled as she stepped over his corpse, leaving red boot prints on the common room floor as she followed Bade toward the door.
