“Too bad none of them know our language.”
I allowed the beginnings of a smile. “One does. He’s the one that took our money to the town so he could buy food in the nearest store.”
She smiled in return. “Then don’t kill that one if you can help it.”
Kendra had a point. Until she spoke, our intent had to kill both men as they returned—and she hoped to question one of them. Her assumption that I was going to kill someone today also took me aback.
She changed subjects. “The Blue Woman has not returned. Can you feel her presence? She is near.”
“I was waiting for the proper time to speak with you both at once,” a voice emanated from the empty air near my left shoulder. I scooted away, ready to stand and fight.
The voice continued to emanate from thin air, without any appearance of the woman, not even the faintest flicker of blue, “However, this is not the time. We will talk later.”
“Wait,” I ordered, either too late or she ignored me.
“That was odd,” Kendra muttered. “And a little rude.”
I added, “Very coincidental for her to pop in just as we asked about her. Does she listen to everything we say?” The idea made me feel awkward. If the Blue Lady listened, did others? If so, who were they and how many? The answer was as elusive as the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin.
Kendra said, “She might. Otherwise, that was too coincidental. That one lone man who watched on the top of the pass was not associated with these men. That brings up more questions.”
“You’re right. They don’t fit together if that’s the right word.”
“But we still face the question of why three mages, a lord, and princess, as well as the highest of the Heir Apparent’s staff, are all heading to Mercia.”
“I’m more concerned with you,” I told her, allowing no trace of humor to creep into my tone. “And the wyverns.”
“I thought you always called them dragons to be ornery, and so you could object when I tried to correct you.” She didn’t bother smiling.
“Back to the dragons,” I said.
Kendra said, “We can worry about them later.”
I slowly shook my head from side to side. “They say Mercia has them filling the skies. I have a nightmare of you walking outside and dozens of them halting their flights while all look at you and either attack or flock to see you. It’s hard to tell what’s worse.”
“That makes sense,” Kendra said. “Maybe after they see me once, they will ignore me.”
“That is possible,” I agreed with the sense of how lame it sounded when passing my lips. I stood and made a complete circle of the campsite in the morning light, looking for anything out of order, and didn’t find it. Kendra puttered at a few tasks in a distracted manner and finally waved me to join her. She pointed at a dead man. His position was beside the fire, and his body was in the way.
She then pointed the same finger to a path that went directly to the road, and the steep hillside beyond. We each took hold of a foot and dragged him. When we reached the road, I said, “He looks like us. This is hard.”
“Yes. We can’t let the bodies stay here and rot.”
“They will freeze, and we won’t put up with the smell, but we can’t throw them over the hillside like old garbage.” My principals told me to stand firm, ready to fight her if needed.
She acted as if she would balk, then relented. “You’re right. They look too much like us to do that. Is leaving them here any better? When the weather gets warmer . . .”
“The ground is too hard to dig. What else can we do?” I asked her.
She quickly bent and adjusted the body at our feet and crossed the legs and arms, the old sign of respect. We dragged two more and wore ourselves out before Kendra asked why we didn’t use a horse.
A rope tied to the saddle made it easy to drag another to lay beside the others, doing the same signs of respect to each, then we went to the meadow and drug them to join their comrades. By the time we were finished, I was cursing us for not using one of the packhorses from the beginning. Still, we had over a dozen men laid out side-by-side, and I wanted to express something profound. No words came. I was sorry but happy it was not us. Those were not the words I’d searched for.
Instead, I turned away and walked beside my sister to the campfire and threw more wood on it. I’m not sure the cold in my bones had anything to do with the weather. We sat and watched the flickering flames for what seemed a long time without speaking. Kendra checked on Tater a few times and assured me he was fine. We saw nothing of Springer, and yet we had walked all over the camp, looked inside the tattered tents and lean-tos, and called his name. Who would have thought I’d expend that much energy on a dog missing one ear?
Elizabeth had gone back to sleep after being awake all night. She woke and as she moved about, she noticed the missing bodies, turned to us, but said only, “We should get going before long.”
She was right. We didn’t want the pair that had gone down the mountain to return and catch us off-guard. I also didn’t wish to spend all day and perhaps another night waiting in ambush.
I said, “That lone man who tried to kill us worries me. He just does not fit with what we know.”
“These twelve should worry you more,” Elizabeth grunted. “What’s the problem?”
“I can’t tell, exactly. He was alone, and these were here. I can understand them not knowing of him, but not the other way around. If he was alone, why? He should have chosen a place down either side of the pass where there was no snow.”
“Why was he there in the first place?” she asked.
“I have an idea. What if he was part of them? Or maybe running from them is a better idea? Or following them? He didn’t look like them, but maybe they chased him up there?” Biting my tongue was a good idea from the beginning, and I should have heeded it. From the intense expression Elizabeth wore, her next words were expected.
“Speaking of how they looked, did you happen to notice the similarities between them and you two?”
“We did.” Saying more would bring more attention to our origins a subject we wished to avoid, at least, for now. Kendra studied the ground at her feet with intense concentration. She was leaving what was said to me. Her actions were cowardly. If I made any mistake, she would later dredge it up and spill the tailings over me. Yet, I had no defense.
“They had your coloring.”
“And nose and hair,” I added reluctantly. “I’ll have to do an investigation on Kondor when we return home.”
Elizabeth turned her attention to Kendra, who avoided making eye-contact, and then back to Damon. “We shall speak of this at a later time. For now, gather what weapons you think we need and we’ll ride the pack horses.”
“Alexis is in the meadow.”
Elizabeth’s mood improved. She said, “Too smart for them to catch her?”
It may have been a reference to the old joke about her name, or simply an observation. I didn’t feel like laughing so shrugged as I continued, “There is not a spear I’d trust to throw, a knife that will cut a cooked trout, and the bows are poorly made. The arrows are straight, but the points dull. We can use the time we wait in ambush to sharpen them.”
With that, I stood. Elizabeth followed me, and we gathered a few extra blankets, some that were not as filthy as the others. I’d spoken to Kendra already, so went to my horse carrying four bows, one for each of us and spares. That is how little I trusted them. Either the wood would snap or the string, and I’d give even odds to any fool who would take the wager, but my side would be that something would happen to them. Never trust weapons not cared for.