The Eighth Warden Ch. 013-014

Torse's mouth opened but no words came out. His eyes stared blankly, not focusing on anything.

Katrin grabbed Shavala's hand again and they carefully edged around him. "Hurry," Katrin said. "I don't think it'll last very long."

Once they reached the street, they started running, taking the next turn, then another, as they tried to find a roundabout way back to the inn. Katrin's old memories of Tyrsall started to return as she recalled the uncomfortable thrill of being chased through the city by a group of guardsmen.

"I didn't know you could do that," Shavala said once they'd slowed to a walk.

"Neither did I," Katrin said, panting. She felt very tired suddenly, and it had been a long time since she'd had to run anywhere.

Shavala was breathing easily. "I could have helped, you know. I just didn't know whether you wanted to hurt him."

"I didn't want to hurt him. Well, maybe just a little bit, but nothing serious. How would you have helped?"

The other girl didn't reply.

#

Bobo didn't return to the inn that night until after supper had been served, so Corec waited for him to get something to eat before questioning him.

Corec had spoken with Deshin for most of the morning, then spent the afternoon buying supplies. It would take him, Katrin, and Shavala sixteen or seventeen days to reach Four Roads. By the time they made it back to Tyrsall, it would be autumn. After that, they'd be heading to Circle Bay, which was six hundred miles away by the South Road. If the rainy season started, the trip would be unpleasant. Going by ship was an option, but he wasn't sure how much it would cost.

Katrin and Shavala had spent the afternoon at the inn, after a trip to the docks that morning. Katrin had showed him a hat she'd found that hid her rune.

When Bobo was ready, everyone gathered in the girls' room.

"Did you find anything?" Corec asked.

"It's what I didn't find that's more interesting," Bobo said.

"What do you mean?" Katrin asked.

"Well, you know that I spent yesterday afternoon looking through all of the books about binding runes to see if I could find anything else about wardens."

"And you didn't," Corec said.

"Yes, yes. So, today, I looked for wardens and only wardens. The catalog showed three sources for the word—not including the one I found yesterday, I might add. The problem is, all three were missing."

"Missing?"

"Gone. They weren't where the catalog said they'd be, and the librarians couldn't find them. They were quite perturbed."

"Then you didn't find anything at all?"

"Sometimes the absence of information is more telling. Why are those three specific books missing? Did someone steal them? If so, why?"

"Or maybe someone just put them back in the wrong spot."

Bobo deflated. "That could be, I suppose. But all three of them? It seems important."

Corec nodded. "Maybe it is. Anyway, thank you for trying. You know we're heading out tomorrow—I was thinking, you and Rose seem to get along. Maybe I won't sell her after all. You can go ahead and keep her when we leave."

"Actually..." Bobo said.

Corec had a sinking feeling. "Yes?"

"I thought I might come with you when you leave."

"To Four Roads? Why? A man with your skills should be able to find work here easily. What are you going to do in Four Roads?"

"To be honest, I'm looking for something."

"Looking for what?"

"I'm hoping I'll know it when I see it." He didn't explain any further.

Corec sighed. "I can't keep paying your way. I'm going to run out of money."

"I can help with that," Bobo said. "I spent four hours this afternoon copying and translating a scroll for the librarians. They paid me three silver. Then I sold half of my burn salve for another twenty. Twenty-three silver should be enough to cover what you've spent on my food and lodging, and then some. I can't pay you back yet for Rose, but I will. I've got all the ingredients I need for a salve that fights infections, and almost everything I need for one that helps soothe pain."

"Oh." Corec wasn't sure what to say. On the road, he'd gotten used to thinking of Bobo as mostly useless, and it felt odd to be suddenly confronted with evidence otherwise. "All right. I'd appreciate that, and you're welcome to come with us."

"Excellent!" Bobo said, smiling.

"I bought supplies this afternoon," Corec said. "Enough for three people to reach Dalewood, where we can restock, but if Shavala's willing to continue helping us forage and hunt the way she has been, we should be able to stretch it enough for four. We'll need to camp out, though. We can't afford to stay in inns as often as we have been. Maybe just in Dalewood and Four Roads."

"Just when I was getting used to real baths again," Katrin said, wrinkling her nose. Once they'd returned to the West Road, they'd alternated nights in inns and nights camping.

"Back to bathing outside for a while. But since we're still here, I'll pay for baths again tonight."

They split up then. The inn had two bathing rooms, so Bobo and Shavala went first.

Katrin stayed behind. "Earlier today, I ran into someone I used to know."

"Was there a problem?" Corec asked. "Did she knew about your bounty?"

"He, and he didn't mention it, but he's still trouble. The people that Barz and I used to work for here aren't happy that we left."

"Do they know how to find you?"

"No, we were able to get away. I just thought you should know."

Corec nodded. "We'll have to watch out for them, but we're leaving early tomorrow, so hopefully it won't be a problem."

He realized he was staring at her again. He'd seen her glowing blue rune so often, it had started to seem like it was part of her, not detracting from her beauty at all. She was wearing a dress rather than a riding skirt—the blue dress she'd worn the first time he saw her. He wished, once again, that he'd spent some time learning how to talk to girls that weren't tavern whores.

She hadn't replied, so to make conversation, he said, "So, Four Roads, then back here, then on to Circle Bay. We'll have to watch out for your friends here, but at least we'll be able to get your penalty paid off so you won't have to worry about being arrested."

"Thank you." She looked like she wanted to say more, but didn't.

"I've been thinking about how to get to Circle Bay. You came here by ship, right? Do you know how much it cost?"

"No. Felix handled that. It's much faster, though. I went by the South Road last time, and it took a month. But we were walking, so it won't be as bad with the horses."

"I guess we have some time to think about it. If Bobo starts pulling his own weight, we might be able to afford passage on a ship."

"I was surprised you said he could come with us," she said with a grin. "I thought you were trying to get rid of him."

Corec laughed, and double-checked that the door was closed so no one could listen in. "I never have any idea how I'll feel about him from one moment to the next, but I guess if he's going to insist on making himself useful..."

Katrin snickered. "I kind of like him, but then, I haven't been the one paying for everything."