Page 34 of The Orc's Thief
I wrap my clothes in oilcloth and pack them tightly into the saddlebags. The rain has let up, but that doesn’t mean much atthis time of year. Soon, the first frost will arrive. My gut clenches at the thought of Tessa traveling alone in such poor conditions. Sarrai is right. Surely my mate will accept my help if it means she’ll be safer. I’ll protect her and take care of her, and once she sees how well we fit together, she’ll accept me as hers.
I pull my hunting bow from under the bed. It’s useless in the city, but we might need dinner on the road. I fold my still-damp jacket and store it in the bag I’ll strap to the other animal, then add my travel blanket, a water skin, a tin plate, and a pair of spoons. I don’t know where we’ll be sleeping, and if everything goes to shit, we might have to rough it in the wild. Alone, that wouldn’t be a problem, but humans are much more delicate than orcs.
I grab the apples from the breakfast tray and shove them in the pocket of my cloak for Pip and whatever horse Sarrai deems acceptable. I swing the saddlebags over my shoulder and take one last look around the room before clattering downstairs. The maid hands me a cloth sack filled to bursting with hard bread, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and cured meats, and another smaller bag of apples and pears.
“If you have a small kettle, I’ll take that as well,” I tell her, passing over a generous tip. “I’ll be in the stables getting ready.”
The head groom is tightening Pip’s saddle straps by the time I reach the courtyard, and Sarrai is standing to the side, stroking the nose of a small, human-sized horse—a gelding, by the looks of him. He’s carrying a pair of bags on either side of his back, already filled with sacks of feed.
“He’s the one,” she informs me. “He’s a little older, but he still has some good years in him. You should be sorted for at least a couple of days if you let them graze, too. More if you stretch out the oats.”
I introduce myself to the brown horse, whose name is Cricket, and offer him one of the apples. He munches it happilywhile I check his teeth, noting that Sarrai judged him well. Pip gets the other apple because he’s eyeing our new friend with jealousy, and I don’t want any animosity between the animals.
“You’re sure you don’t want to wait for me to accompany you?” Sarrai asks, one last attempt to get me to come to my senses, no doubt.
I pull her into a tight hug. “I can’t. But I promise to send news as soon as I can. And I’ll try to leave word of our passing at the villages, but only if I can find an innkeeper who won’t blab the information to the wrong people.”
She squeezes me, then thumps my back. “Stay safe. And I can’t wait to meet this Tessa. I need her to tell me all about how she knocked you out.”
“Ha.” I take Pip’s reins from the groom and swing myself into the saddle. “Once I win her over, she’ll be on my side, you know. She won’t want to disclose her mate’s secrets.”
Sarrai grins and lifts her hand in farewell. “You keep telling yourself that, friend.”
I shake my head at her, but the truth is, my heart is lighter as I ride out of the inn’s courtyard and onto the road leading toward the Eastern Gate. The weather is finally turning, the day is dawning bright, and I have enough provisions to last me for days, as well as my friend’s blessing.
My mate is somewhere out there, and I’ll find her. I know I will.
Chapter
Thirteen
ARLON
“Godsdamnit,” I roar as the mud sucks at my leg and my boot slips from my foot.
Holding on to Pip’s reins, I bend down, balancing on one foot, and yank the boot from the muck. Pip lets out a frustrated nicker as his hooves slide around on the wet surface. The other horse isn’t doing much better, but he seems content to follow Pip for now, the lead between them never pulling taut.
“That lying son of a…”
I shake the worst of the mud from my boot and pull it on, then wobble down the path, backtracking to the last intersection. The setting sun has touched the low hills in the west, and I’m no closer to finding Tessa because some asshole farmer I met on the road told me the curly-haired miss riding a nice horse turned left—yes, yes—toward that suspicious-looking bog.
Now I’ve lost an hour of daylight, and my crafty mate has an even bigger head start.
I’m almost certain she bribed that man to lay a false trail. Why else would he insist on telling the lie? No one has passed through here in ages, if I’m reading the trails correctly, apartfrom foxes, rabbits, and a herd of deer. I should have known she wouldn’t have picked a path that would slow her down.
She likely paid him with the money she stole from me.
The thought rankles, and I grit my teeth so hard my jaw pops, then force myself to relax. Letting Pip and Cricket graze in the grass beside the road, I take a moment to clean my boots and the smear of mud on my pants from when I slipped and sat in a puddle of fetid mush. Once it was clear I’d wandered into a bog, I’d hopped down from my horse. We would’ve sunk even faster if I’d stayed mounted, and I didn’t fancy pulling my animal out. But that means I’m dirtier than he is at the moment, and I don’t want to transfer all this filth onto the saddle.
When I’m as clean as I can manage, I pluck two apples from the saddlebag and offer them to the horses as a reward for not running away from me. “I’ll clean you both later,” I murmur, patting Pip’s neck first, then Cricket’s. “We’ll catch her, you’ll see, and then we can rest.”
My horse levels a disbelieving look at me, and I can’t blame him. Still, I swing myself into the saddle and clop down the road to the village where that farmer sent me on a wild goose chase. He’s nowhere to be seen, of course. It’s raining again, a fine drizzle that’s steadily soaking through my clothes. I ask around and find the man in the tavern. It’s dinnertime, and I want nothing more than to settle in for a warm meal, but I don’t have the time.
The farmer is sitting behind a table in the corner, drinking away the bribe money, no doubt. He’s had a few, judging by how his head is nodding. He lifts his pewter mug with a wobbly hand and takes another slug of ale as I watch.
I nod at the barmaid. “Another drink for the gentleman in the corner, please, and a cup of piping hot tea for me, with a splash of brandy.” It’s the best remedy to chase away the chill, and I’ll need it before the evening is out.
“Yes, sir.”
