Page 18 of To Kill a King
Crossing her arms, she rested her weight on one hip and tapped her foot at him. “You’re making all this up to tease me, aren’t you?”
Elessan bit his lips to hide the smile and shook his head. Raising his finger, he pointed behind her. She followed the gesture, to find the marmot in question sunning itself on a boulder twenty feet away.
“How many front toes on the print?”
She studied the indentation again. “Four.”
“And on a badger?”
She sighed. “Five.” She hadn’t felt this inept since that stupid magic instructor her father had hired in secret from the Mage College all those years ago.
His warm hand squeezed her bicep. “Don’t worry, you’re doing great. It took me years, decades, to learn all I know. You can’t expect to master everything in one day.”
Some of the tension between her shoulder blades released. At least he had more reasonable expectations than her old teacher.
The afternoon passed pleasantly as she redoubled her efforts.
She pulled up short when he led her to the tavern next to the market in a little fishing village. This inn, being farther from the king’s personal holdings, was less likely to be watched. She hoped. Taking a steadying breath, she lurched forward.
Someone had scrolled Free the mages, kill the King! MU Unite! in white paint on the side of the building.
She brushed the lettering with her fingers as they walked by. Her skin came away white—the paint was still wet. Biting her lower lip, she glanced at Elessan as she rubbed the pigment away. Someone should tell the building owner before the guards noticed such a treasonous message and punished an innocent person.
Elessan, his ears and facial features hidden behind a deep hood, turned to her and whispered in Elven, “Are you okay?”
She’d ask what MU stood for later. “Yes, I just want to be off the streets,” she said in kind. Even in this nondescript human form, the hairs on the back of her neck and her arms pricked like someone was watching her. She tucked her chin tight against her chest.
Something flashed across his face too quickly for her to identify.
“Of course.” He guided her up the steps. “Follow my lead.”
The common room was quieter than she anticipated, but for early afternoon in a riverside hamlet, perhaps that should be expected.
“How old are you, anyway?” The question had been eating at her all day. “You look about my age, but you’re an elf, so…”
Elessan glanced around the empty room. He kept his voice quiet when he answered. “I stopped counting when I got close to two hundred.”
She blinked at him a few times as her jaw went slack. Two centuries? He’d been alive to witness the start of the Elven War.
“Though, with our life spans, I’m not considered much older than you by my people.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. Would she want to live that long? It would mean watching everyone she knew die. She peeked at him from beneath her hood. For an elf living in the human realm, it must be a very lonely life.
Ignorant of her thoughts, he led her to the man behind the bar. “We need a room for the night,” he said, putting a silver piece on the counter. “With no visitors.” He added a second coin.
The barkeeper ogled her and sneered.
Aliya’s eyes widened as her face grew hot. How dare he presume such things? She opened her mouth, but Elessan squeezed her arm firmly. At the warning, she bit back her words and glared at the man as Elessan tugged her upstairs.
They passed several rooms before locating theirs at the end of the hallway. Elessan unbolted the door.
A single mattress dominated one wall, with a hearth opposite. A small table and stool sat beneath a tiny window, which overlooked the street below. The room was spartan but would suffice. Except for the one bed.
Sitting down in the chair, she peeked at him from the corner of her eye. “You have business in town?”
He nodded. “Yes. A message to deliver, and I need to resupply. Do you want anything other than a bedroll and the flint and steel? A warmer cloak, perhaps?”
“Oh. Good idea.” Fishing around in her purse, she froze. What was a reasonable price for such items? “Will five gold pieces be enough?”