Page 14 of Brighter Than Gold

“I’m sorry,” Callan whispered absently to me.

He crossed though the bedroom and covertly dropped a leather pouch of coins into the water basin, shooting a glance at Nyx. Not a moment later one of Lazio’s men entered the room, spilling out the contents of our bags and satchels, and taking anything of value. He roughly grabbed my hand and eyed the gold band on my finger.

“No,” I objected pitifully, tearing my hand away.

“If you fight me, I’ll take the whole fucking finger,” he snarled.

“Here,” Callan said, stepping between us. “Take mine, there’s more gold. Leave the lady’s.”

Whether it was the decent offer, or the fact that Callan was clearly more imposing, I couldn’t guess. But the man gave us a sneer and snatched the ring from him.

“I’m going to get help,” Nyx promised as he helped me stuff some clothing into a bag. “I’ll ride day and night to get to the palace and Iwillbring help.”

“I know. I know you will.” I wiped my terrified tears on the back of my hand. “And take care of Briar.”

He nodded. “Here, don’t forget this,” he said, stuffing the brown bottle of medicine into my bag.

“Gods there is almost nothing left. There was supposed to be more waiting for me at the homestead.”

“Are you ready?” Callan interrupted.

“Yes.” Nyx and I grappled in a tight, final embrace.

“I love you, wife,” he whispered. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. You’ll be all right.”

“I’ll see you soon.” I smiled through my tears.

“Come,” Callan said coaxing us apart.

As we stepped out the door, I felt an odd sense of relief to be out of that horrifying cage. Though the feeling was fleeting, because Callan and I were now being followed like cattle as we made our way into the stables to ready our horses.

Chapter4

Reyah

It was a slow and quiet ride. All I could hear was the leather saddle rubbing beneath me, and the tired, methodical steps of my mare. It was hard not to fall asleep with the gentle sway of the animal, but violent flashes of the previous night would startle me back to consciousness.

Callan rode directly behind me, and every hour would pull his horse up to mine to offer me something to eat or drink. I’d rejected everything. Between the nausea and witnessing the gruesome events at the inn, I didn’t think I would ever have an appetite again.

It was well after mid-day when Lazio finally led us off the road to allow the men and horses to rest. He found a lightly wooded area that offered some shelter, and tied the horses. The men shared what little bits of food they had brought with them, and Lazio made sure Callan and I were also offered a meagre bite.

“Where are we?” I whispered to Callan when we were out of earshot of the others.

“We haven’t been going east like I would have thought. We’ve been travelling north-west, but there are only bigger cities that way, which are policed heavier.”

“If we’ve been going north-west, then we are traveling back towards the palace… You don’t think—”

Callan shook his head. “They have no clue, Reyah.” I was only slightly settled. “There are dozens of small, but wealthy towns surrounding Arronbach. Rural enough for people to farm or breed animals and close enough to bring them into the city to sell.” He handed me bread and cheese. “Here.”

“I’m not—”

“It’s not foryou.”

I sighed, understanding his demand. The bread seemed to go down easily enough, but the cheese… the pungent smell assaulted my nostrils. There was no way I could manage it, I turned away from it with a look of disgust.

“You need more than a few bites of bread, Reyah. Plug your nose and just eat it.”

His clipped tone grated on my nerves. I knew he was only trying to get me to do what was best, but he didn’t always have to be such a prick about it.

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