Tater led two horses into the barn from a wide door. His saddle-horse was tall, the hooves large, and the head square. It was not part of the royal herd and belonged on a farm instead of under a saddle. The other was shorter, wide, and snorted at me in a nasty way. Its fur was shaggy and tangled. It wore a pack outfit wrapped in heavy waterproof canvas. No telling what was under it. Between reaching the barn door and carriage, Tater spat twice.
Kendra flashed me an inquiring look as if I’d lost my mind. I ignored it and decided I’d made the right choice. Wearing my best smile, I examined Alexis’ hoof so I couldn’t see the scorn on her face. When I stood, Elizabeth and Kendra were seated in the carriage. Elizabeth held the reins, which was unexpected. A gentle slap on the rumps of the two horses set the carriage into motion.
I mounted my horse and rode to Tater’s side, the opposite one of where he’d been spitting. “You’re hired.”
“Can always use the work.”
No thanks. No promises. No guarantees of the good work he’d do. Tater just kept his eyes on the carriage as we pulled into the open and he pointed to the only lane that wound down the back side of the slope and into the forested valley below. Without him, we’d have navigated our way down the only road on the hillside.
He rode on ahead of the carriage. Alexis wanted to have her head and use up some excess energy, but we waited until the carriage reached me. I pointed to our new guide as an introduction. “Tater.”
Elizabeth smiled and spared me a small nod. “They say he’s very good. A wise choice.”
Kendra wrinkled her nose, which was the face sisters often make at their brothers when they disapprove of something they’ve done. It was clear she’d heard of Tater, too. I remained silent as we continued following the road. The forest grew to the edge of the road, thick with maple, oak, and ash. The underbrush was thick, the sun warm, the day pleasant. I used the quiet time to reflect and plan. Princess Elizabeth hadn’t yet provided a reason for the trip. That, in itself, brought up more questions. My indirect probing skills could get a few answers.
“How late were you thinking we should travel tonight?” I asked.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Ask our guide. Please inform him we are not in a breakneck hurry. Conversely, we’re not afraid of passing others on the road.”
Kendra kept a straight face. I detected a hint of humor as her eyes slid past mine, refusing to stop until she looked off into the distance. I wheeled Alexis and gave her my heels. The horse leaped ahead so fast she must have been waiting for that signal. Tater was riding well in front of us. His large horse moved easily, at a ground-eating pace. He watched the road at the same time.
Later, as we passed by an open meadow, he leaned down for a closer look. He dismounted, knelt, and touched the edge of a hoofprint with his finger.
“Something wrong?”
He slowly stood and mounted. “Not if you don’t mind two people from the palace cutting across that hill and meadow and racing to get ahead of you.”
Drawing on my extensive vocabulary that was sure to impress, I said, “Huh?”
“They left after us, cut through the forest up there and rode across the top of that hill. A carriage would have a hard time on that slope, but a pair of horses can make it with no problem.” He adjusted himself in his saddle and allowed me the time to ponder what he’d said and what it meant.
“Why would they do that?”
“It cuts off some time and lets them get ahead of us and into the forest without being seen. It isn’t that much difference in distance, but they let their horses run. They probably left right after us. You got any enemies?”
We let our mounts set our pace. I asked, knowing he had no way of knowing, “Intentional, you say?”
He spat and missed me. I’d seen him chew the inside of his cheek and remembered what the stable master had said about always knowing which way the wind was blowing—and that Tater didn’t care. My mind was quicker than him. As he spat, I concentrated the nearby air and used my magic to puff it aside. The wad blew back and landed on Tater’s thigh. He casually wiped it off with a flick of his hand.
“You’re sure about someone intentionally taking a shortcut to get ahead of us?” I asked, again.
He spat again, this time narrowly missing me because I wasn’t prepared. He said, “Rode up and down this same road all afternoon exercising the king’s horses. Nobody else was there. Not before, and not when we left.”
“Who were they?” I asked, knowing he couldn’t possibly know the answer, but want to establish that I was in charge by asking credible and insightful questions. From the look he gave me, he didn’t buy my attempt.
“Those hoofprints show a pair of horses running hard. Before you ask, yes, the two horses were from the King’s stable. That’s because the shoes have crowns stamped on them. If you want to stop and take a look for yourself, feel free.”
I didn’t. However, I remembered Avery earlier in the day riding past me. Counting us, that made six of us heading in the same direction, seven counting Tater. “Are they still running?”
“Nope. Slowed to a trot when they got far enough ahead that we couldn’t see them cause of the trees, but still moving faster than us.” He rode on in silence, his eyes on the dirt. After a while, near the crest of a hill, he said, “That’s where they paused and turned their horses around, watching for you to come over the rise.”
“And then they took off when sure they were ahead and out of sight,” I finished for him.
He nodded but didn’t bother answering. We rode on, the carriage rumbling and squeaking. The sound of the conversation between my sister and Elizabeth drifted to us, and occasionally they laughed or giggled, knowing nothing of what we’d discovered.
Later, Tater drew up beside me and said, “Why do you think someone would leave after you and rush on ahead?”
“Can’t say,” meaning I didn’t know.
He took my words differently. “Who can?”
“Can?”
He glared at me. “Who can say? That princess of yours?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Money?” He spat again. “It’s always about money, power, or sex with royals. Commoners like us never get much of any of those three.”
My inclination was to mention his lack of bathing, excess spitting, and general demeanor might prevent him from getting any sex, if not the other two. However, I kept those thoughts to myself because he had a point. Three of them, actually. It was always about those things when you got to the bottom of problems. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, wondering if I’d misjudged him—and decided. I was beginning to like the man.
He jutted his chin ahead. “There’s an inn up there. We’ll reach it about dark.”
“Were you thinking of staying there tonight?”
He chuckled an evil sound. “Me? I might down a mug or two at an inn, but out here it’s best to sleep under the stars. Safer that way.”
“Safer? Common sense would have thought the opposite.”
A heavy sigh and a wad of phlegm greeted my comment. “Question for you. Say you were a robber. Where would you look to find the right sort of people, the ones with coins to rub against each other? Camped by some lonely stream or spending good money on a bed and food at an inn?”
He had a good point. The downside was that there was another aspect he hadn’t mentioned. “Those spending the night by the stream have no protection. At an inn, there are others to help you.”