Rod gave his son a measuring stare. “Yes, I suppose you would—even when you see it’s necessary.”
“As ‘tis, I know,” the little boy sighed. “Yet doth it trouble me, Papa.”
“I understand.” Rod frowned. “What bothers me, is trying to figure out how Alfar saw through our disguises.”
The family walked on in brooding silence—for a few seconds. Then Gwen said, “ ‘Tis widely known that the High Warlock doth have a wife, and four bairns—and that one is a lass, and the other three lads.”
Rod scowled. “What are you suggesting—that they had their illusionist attack every family who came North?” His gaze wandered. “Of course, I suppose there aren’t that many families coming North… and the kids’ ages are pretty much a matter of public record…”
“It doth seem unlikely,” Gwen admitted.
“And therefore must be seriously considered. But we would have heard about it, wouldn’t we? Monsters, attacking families…”
“Not if the witch and her monsters won out,” Geoffrey pointed out.
“But no sooner would they have attacked, than the witch would have seen the families had no magical powers!” Cordelia protested. “Surely she would then have called off her monsters.”
Geoffrey’s eyes turned to steel. “She would not—if she wished to be certain no word reached the King.”
“That does seem to be their strategy,” Rod agreed.
“But—to kill bairns?” Cordelia gasped.
“They are not nice people,” Rod grated.
The children were silent for a few minutes, digesting an unpleasant realization. Finally, Gregory pointed out, “We do not know that, Papa.”
“No, but I wouldn’t put it past them. Still, it does seem a little extravagant.”
“Mayhap they did post sentries,” Geoffrey suggested.
Rod nodded. “Yes, well, that’s the most likely way—but what kind of sentries? I mean, we haven’t seen any soldiers standing around in Alfar’s livery. So his sentries must be disguised, if he has them. And I suppose they’d have to know what we looked like…”
“Eh, no!” Magnus cried, grabbing Rod’s wrist. “They need only be…”
“Telepaths!” Rod knocked his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Of course! Just station mind readers on each of the main roads—and maybe even out in the pastures, if you’re the suspicious type—and they’d be almost impossible to spot! They could be anybody—the farmer who passes in his cart, the varlet in the kitchens, the merchant and his draymen…”
The children looked around them, suddenly alert.
“…and they’d be almost impossible to spot,” Rod finished, “since all they have to do is sit there, with their minds wide open for every stray thought!”
“We could have masked our minds,” Geoffrey mused.
“Yes, but we didn’t.” Rod shook his head. “Besides, it’s not as easy as it sounds. You’re all beginning to get pretty good at it…” He caught Gwen’s glance. “…every time you’re doing something you don’t want Mama and me to know about.”
The children exchanged quick, guilty glances.
“Of course, Mama and I are getting even better at probing behind the masks,” Rod went on, “so I suppose it’s very good training for all of us. In fact… that might not be a bad idea.” He flashed a grin at each of them. “Start poking around inside minds here and there, kids.”
Instantly, all four faces turned blank, their eyes losing focus.
“No, no! Not now! I mean, if they have been listening to us, they’ll have heard us, and just wiped their minds and started thinking disguise thoughts! You’ve got to catch them when they’re not ready, take them by surprise. Listen and probe for them whenever you just happen to think of it, at odd moments.”
“But will they not always be masked to us, Papa?” Cordelia protested.
“Not when they’re trying to listen to your thoughts,” Rod explained. “They can’t do both at the same time—mask and listen. You’ve tried it yourselves—you know.”
This time, the glance the kids exchanged was startled—and worried. Just how much did Daddy know, that they didn’t know he knew?
“Try to catch them unaware,” Rod urged.
The children sighed philosophically.
“I know, I know,” Rod growled, “this unpredictable Daddy! First he tells you to do it, then he tells you not to! So balance it—sometimes you do it, and sometimes you don’t.” He looked up. “Gee, that’s a nice looking horse, up there. I think I’ll steal it.”
The children gasped with shock, and looked—and gave their father a look of disgust. “Thou canst not steal him, Papa,” Gregory said sternly. “He is already thine.”
“Makes it more convenient that way, doesn’t it?” Under his breath, Rod muttered, “Nice of you to come ahead to meet us, Old Iron. How about I ride you, on the next leg of the trip?”
“Motion sickness, Rod?”
But it was Gwen and Cordelia who rode, at least as far as the inn, and the innkeeper was very obliging—once Rod caught his attention.
It wasn’t easy. Rod left the family at the door and stepped inside, bracing himself for an unpleasant scene. He saw a tall, wiry man with a stained apron tied around his waist, setting a double handful of mugs on a table and collecting coppers from the diners. As he turned away from the table, his gaze fell on Rod. “Be off with you,” he ordered, but he didn’t even stop turning. “We’ve no alms to give.” By the time he finished the sentence, he was facing the kitchen again, and had started walking.
“I’ve got money!” Rod called.
The man kept on walking.
Rod dodged around him and leaped into his path, shoving his purse under the innkeeper’s nose and yanking it open. The man stopped, frowning. Slowly, his eyes focused on the purse.
Rod shook a few coins out onto his palm. “See? Silver. The real thing.”
The innkeeper scowled at the coins as though they were vermin. Then his expression lightened to musing, and he pinched up one of the coins, held it in front of his nose to stare at it as though it were some new variety of bug, then methodically set it between his teeth and bit.
Rod couldn’t resist. “Hors d’oeuvres?”
“ ‘Tis silver.” The innkeeper seemed puzzled.
“Genuine,” Rod agreed.
The man focused on Rod. “What of it?”
Rod just stared at him for a second. “We’d like something to eat.”
“We?” The innkeeper turned his head from side to side, inspecting the walls and corners.
“My wife and children,” Rod explained. “I didn’t think you’d want us inside.”
The innkeeper thought that one over for a while, then nodded, frowning. Rod wondered how the man ever managed to make a profit. Finally, the innkeeper spoke. “Wise.” He kept nodding. “Wise.” Then he focused on Rod again. “And what food dost thou wish?”
“Oh, we’re not choosy. A big bowl of stew, a plateful of sausage, a couple of loaves of bread, a pitcher of milk, and a pitcher of ale should do us. Oh, and of course, six empty bowls. And six spoons.”
The innkeeper nodded judiciously. “Stew, sausage, bread, milk, and ale.” He turned away, still nodding. “Stew, sausage, bread, milk, and ale.” He headed for the kitchens, repeating the formula again and again.
Rod watched him go, shaking his head. Then he turned away to find Gwen and the kids.
He found them sitting under an old, wide oak tree with a huge spread of leaves. “Will they have us, husband?” Gwen didn’t really sound as though she cared.
“Oh, yeah.” Rod folded a leg under him and sat down beside her, leaning back against the trunk. “He was very obliging, once he tasted our silver and found out it wasn’t pewter.”
“What troubles thee, then?”