Page 48 of Silverbow
“Didn’t think so. Not ones you could use, even if you had them.”
Regret flooded her chest as her fingers curled around her belt knife. She would do what she must to escape, but Berral Kenara made no move toward her.He reclined on an elbow and looked again to where his boys still slept. “Good man, Renley Ryerson.”
Enya blinked in surprise, her heart taking off at a gallop. “I don’t know who that is,” she said slowly.
The farmer gave her a flat look. “Fine horse for a girl from Greenridge. Good man, Renley Ryerson.”
Enya swallowed. “You know him?”
“Met him a time or two. It was Del I knew better. Sorry to see his name on that scrap of parchment and his boy’s.”
Enya’s mind scrambled for how this farmer from somewhere on the Trydent knew her father and his stablemaster.
“Can’t imagine he’s done anything that deserves a bounty on his whole House. And even if he has, his time served should count for something.”
Enya gaped. “Time served?” Master Kenara shifted uncomfortably, realizing he had perhaps said more than he should have. “How is it you know the Lord of Ryerson House, Master Kenara?”
“I didn’t know him well. I was only in the city watch you see, with Del. Not a good enough sword to serve in the Queen’s Guard. Not like Renley.”
Queen’s Guard? Renley Ryerson? That wasn’t possible…that wasn’t…
He lied about the gift. What else?
A cold that had nothing to do with the dewy morning slithered across her skin even as anger sparked anew, and within it, was the bitter taste of betrayal.Had I known him at all? Or Del? Did Liam know?
“Don’t suppose he ever talked much about his time in Misthol. Most of us don’t. Better not to.”
Her father said little and less of the capitol. She had gleaned enough over the years to know he was not fond of the city, but Enya, stupid foolish Enya, hadn’t thought much of it. “Why is that, Master Kenara?”
He glanced again at his sleeping boys. “Well, how it ended of course. Maia gone. Pallas on her throne. They put her guard to the question, every last one of them. In the end, all the lowborn guards were put to the sword. The sons of noble houses were allowed to keep their heads if their fathers paid their ransom, forbidden from ever serving the throne or the high courts ever again, not that there was much want of that after the questioners were done with them.”
Put to the question. Light.
“My father was one of Maia Trakbatten’s Queen’s Guards?” Enya was still struggling to move beyond that revelation. “You’re certain?”
Master Kenara scrubbed a hand down his face. “Aye. Hand picked by Esmond himself.”Esmond?Peras and Kennon were stirring, and the farmer eyed her warningly. “I’ve said more than I should. But the offer stands, Miss Ansel. To Trout Run.”
The Kenara boys crawled out from beneath the wagon, yawning and stretching. Their father turned toward them, plastering a grin on his face as he called his good morning. It seemed the Kenaras didn’t know of their father’s service either, and Enya wondered if all men were liars.
Still, when they set out, she found herself riding alongside the wagon, listening to Peras and Kennon bicker and rib one another as mid day slid into afternoon.A Queen’s Guard. Renley Ryerson. Had he known this Master of Coin? Is that why he had taken an interest?She snapped back as the boys competed for her attention, a welcome distraction from the questions she had no answers to.
“Is Trout Run a proper city, then?” She asked as they plodded down the road.
“A city? No, I don’t suppose it is. A town, I’d say,” Master Kenara mused.
Kenon swiveled to his father in disbelief. “Not a city?”
Master Kenara chuckled. “I can’t say I’ve seen the great cities of Estryia, but Trout Run is hardly more than an overgrown village with a few docks.”
Enya frowned at the lie. “It is larger than Innesh?”
“Oh yes,” the farmer nodded. “Not nearly as grand as Trowbridge, but if it’s a boat you’re after, Miss Ansel, you should be able to find one there to take you south.”
“Is it a pleasant town?”
The man scratched the stubble of his beard. “The town watch keeps a close eye, but merchants and sailors can be rougher folk. Most of that stays contained to the docks. The upper town is pleasant enough. Now Trowbridge, watch your purse and your horse if you disembark in Trowbridge, Miss Ansel.”
“You ought to see the bridge,” Peras beamed, and his brother’s scowl indicated only the elder Kenara had been as far as Trowbridge.
