Page 68 of Silverbow
He gave her a flat look and turned back to Colm’s cookfire.
Oryn’s rules seemed to multiply with every mile they covered. He had rules for where they could and couldn’t camp. He had rules for where they could and couldn’t wield. There were rules for tending the horses, most of which Enya begrudgingly agreed with, but under no circumstances was she to touch Kiawa. That was clear, even as she marked the place Oryn scratched the big stallion that made him curl his lip and bob his head. Enya silently vowed she would befriend the beast.
There were rules for how they spoke to passing strangers, rules that mostly involved her not speaking at all. There were rules for which names they used when. Most of the time, they used the ones scrawled on their papers. Colm she already knew as Andril, Oryn was Adar, Bade went by Pedron, and Aiden was usually Aiden, unless he was Linus, which she still hadn’t seen him use.
“Why is it you get to keep your name?” She asked as they rode.
He gave her a wry smile. “Because there are no stories about me, Lady Silverbow.”
She looked around at the others. “Stories? What kind of stories?”
“None that concern you,” Oryn said gruffly.
Enya rolled her eyes. That seemed to be his answer for everything.
“What about you, Lady Silverbow?” Aiden asked. “Aside from the occasional witch, have you done anything interesting with that gift of yours?”
Enya shrugged. “Not really.”
“What’s the most difficult target you’ve ever hit?”
“None of them are difficult,” she admitted.
Aiden gave an exasperated shake of his head. “Fine, what’s thesmallestthing you’ve ever hit?”
Enya considered. “The broadhead of a crossbow bolt, I suppose.”
“Was it moving?”
“Yes.”
“At you?”
She nodded begrudgingly, recalling the brigands.
“Nowthatis a story I want to hear!“ Aiden hooted.
The tick in Oryn’s jaw betrayed his feigned disinterest, and Bade eyed her from his periphery.
Enya shrugged. “Not much to tell. I met a band of brigands on the Queen’s Road. One of them fired a bolt at me when I made to run. It was either knock if off course or let it rip through my chest.”
“And then?”
“I lost them in Greenridge.”
Aiden whistled through his teeth. “You’re going to have to get better at recounting your deeds, Silverbow. The bards will sing about you one day.”
Enya didn’t particularly care what the bards sang of, she’d never even seen one perform. “I’ve never had much use for songs.”
Bade seemed to grunt his agreement. It was the most acknowledgement she got from the dark eyed demi-elf most days. He spoke little and seemed set on disliking her, or perhaps he disliked everything. Enya didn’t particularly like him either after their first meeting and was content to ignore his flat stare. She’d still seen nothing of his wielding gift, if he had one, not that he needed one with the twin blades rising over his shoulders.
When Oryn wasn't issuing orders or breathing down the back of her neck like an overprotective gargoyle, he too seemed intent on ignoring her.
Colm at least seemed genuine in his interest in getting to know her. He sometimes asked questions about her family and her home. He was careful not to prod, and answered her questions about wielding or the world in turn. As they rode, he offered stories of far flung places and when they made camp for the night,he pointed to the constellations overhead and sometimes told her stories of their gods.
Aiden reminded her of home. Sometimes, Enya found his grin infectious. Other times, he made a joke or flashed her a look that reminded her so much of Liam, she thought her heart might crack in two.Light, Liam. Where are you?
As much as Oryn’s rules grated on her, she begrudgingly had to admit, her situation had drastically improved. He and his companions seemed to know the terrain as if they held maps in their heads and they never went without food or water. They camped far from the villages and farms that dotted the Queen’s Road, but every few days, a pair of them broke off and stopped in a village to buy what they couldn’t hunt. What they couldn’t get in the villages, they purchased at outlying farms for generous sums.
