“No.”
Robin turned. “You are Brix, son of Logoff, is that right?”
“You are the washerwoman.”
Robin approved. He probed for information instead of answering her. His defensive posture hadn’t changed.
“What are you doing here?” Camilla asked.
Robin kept her attention on Brix. “Why are the two of you traveling together?”
Brix remained silent while Camilla answered. “We met on the road. He is also going to help herd Arum’s animals. He has done it for three years.”
“Then he should be on with it.” Robin fixed her eyes on hers and pointed to the road. “You and I have other plans.”
Brix took a step forward. “Why do you have any say in what Cam does?”
Robin hesitated at the use of the shortened name, then realized what Camilla had done. She still let him think she was a boy. Smart. It said the boy didn’t know Cam was a girl, and he certainly didn’t know she was Dragon Clan. However, the road saw a lot of people, and Robin didn’t want to linger in the sight of whoever might pass. “I’ll tell your father that I saw you and that you are well. Now, you need to leave us.”
“Will Cam join me to help Arum?”
Robin considered lying, but the boy had done no harm. “I’m sorry, that plan has changed.” As the words spilled from her, she paused. Only a short time ago she had thought about the number of people on the road. Most kept to themselves and made camp in sight of the road where they kept track of who else traveled. Strangers are not friends until they are known. Most are wary of highwaymen, robbers, witches, and evil of all sorts. Gypsies constantly traveled, seeking a free meal or goat wandering too far from the rightful owner.
“How do you decide Cam’s plans?” He asked.
Robin cast a warning glance at Camilla to remain quiet. She looked back at Brix, “Have you met anyone else on this road?”
“You mean besides those toy soldiers who were trying to beat me when I was leaving Nettleton? Or the real ones fighting the dragon?” Brix took two more steps closer.
Robin saw his fingers whiten as he gripped his staff. The ends were sliced like a man whittled a stick. Not sharp, but ragged. His shoulders were wide and his chin set. He looked ready to fight. She snapped her staff above her head, spun it twice, and let the far end fall to chest level. She jabbed twice, the end falling short of him by the length of two steps. It twirled again and regained its former position.
Brix backed a step. “Was that a threat?”
“Yes. Now stand there and let me think.” The King’s two henchmen were searching for a boy about Brix’s age. Worse, he was seen in the company of the only local wildling. The Weapons Master and the Slave Master would not hesitate to torture Brix if they heard rumors he traveled with the boy they were seeking.
If Brix didn’t tell them what they wanted, it might cost him his life, despite the fact he didn’t know anything. Many innocents died because of the King’s search for information about dragons. More because the King’s men believed they concealed that information. Sending the boy back on the road alone could get him killed. What choice did she have? Sending him to Arum’s or to Nettleton made no difference. The King’s men would locate him and demand information he didn’t know because surely others had seen them together.
She raised her eyes to his. It was not true he knew nothing. He did know where Robin and Camilla left the road, and any tracker could follow them if they knew that. The King’s men would buy information and people with gold. The boy was a liability. He might not intend them harm, but he could cost Camilla and her their lives.
That left two courses of action. Take the boy with them or kill him and hide the body.
She knew and respected Logoff. He and his family were honest, good people and killing their son would be almost as hard on her as it was on them. Almost. Perhaps he could be returned to Nettleton after the hunt for the dragon-boy ended. Yes, she could quietly slip him into the edge of the village one night and have him enter his home. She could impress upon him the importance of silence.
Mind made up, Robin said, “Listen to me carefully. Our lives depend on our actions. Arum will make do without either of you. We’re all in danger.”
“Danger?” Brix asked, almost sounding excited.
Camilla simply nodded and waited.
“Evil men are after us. I’ll explain later. Right now, I want the two of you to run up the road as far as you can and turn off into the forest. Go to that side.” Robin pointed to the side opposite the boulder. “Then leave a lot of footprints heading up into those mountains. Make it look like you’re going there. Then, at a stream or a place where you leave no tracks, come back to this place and meet me here. Do it as fast as you would if your lives depend on it—which they do.”
Brix said, “I don’t understand.”
Camilla stepped closer to Robin. “They’re coming after me, aren’t they?”
Robin nodded.
Camilla tossed her staff to the side of the road and started to run. Brix stood still, thinking and wondering. He glanced at Camilla, already far ahead. “You’re sure you’re the same washerwoman?”
Robin smiled for the first time. “You’re not the first to ask me that. Catch Cam if you can. I’ll be waiting here. Then we’ll be off.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The horse Tomas had provided Edward proved to be a good one, as well as expensive. It had endurance and speed. He could easily leave the boy called Tangos and his rented horse behind. Tangos was a tall, lanky boy of about twenty years. He wore a perpetual smile and didn’t speak much. He told Edward what he needed to know without undue and unearned respect. Tangos didn’t care that Edward would one day be the Earl of this land, and probably didn’t understand it, either.
Tangos worked on a farm in the lower valley. His father owned the farm, as had his father before him. A few days away from the farm fishing or hunting was a treat. A trip to the pass at the top of the valley was a journey to be spoken of for years to come.
Edward instinctively understood the boy. They rode hard, knowing King Ember’s Sword Master and Weapons Master followed. He had no way of knowing how far behind they rode, but he had observed them since he was a child. They clung to the King as he did to them. Each supported the others as if brothers. He also understood his father didn’t like or trust any of them, including King Ember.
His father had placed Edward at the council of the first day to watch and report to him the actions of the sheriff. He was a crony of the King and perhaps the most dangerous of all. The sheriff wished to be royalty, but was born common—and would one day die a commoner. At least, those details were told to him by his father.
Tangos rode at his side on a dun horse of ordinary appearance. However, so far, it had kept pace. He said, “Sir, there are men ahead.”
Edward saw them, dressed in the King’s gaudy colors. “We ride on. I’ll handle this.”
Edward rode directly to the two sentries on duty. “Who is in command?”
“Who asks,” one sentry replied, his palm held high for Edward to see so he would halt.
“I am Edward, son of the Earl of Witten. Now, where is your commander?”
The sentry glanced at the other, and with a nod said, “Ride pass and announce yourself.”
Edward nudged his horse forward. Announce myself?
At a small clearing beside the road several men lay in the grass with others attending to them. “Who is in charge, here?”
A man lying on a blanket, wrapped in bandages raised a weak hand.