Page 74 of Shardless
Maybe he was right,she thought, stretching her arms high overhead.
“Everything alright?” she asked when she heard a low, incoherent curse from the man riding alongside her. Receiving no answer, she glanced over only to see that Skye was staring at her with slightly unfocused eyes. “Do I have something on my face?” she asked, wiping at her chin self-consciously.
Skye started. “Huh? Uh… no. Sorry. It’s nothing,” he mumbled, shaking his head as he turned away.
“If you say so,” she muttered to herself. Shrugging off his strange behavior, Taly pulled out her map. Some of the wards on the side of the road looked damaged. That meant she needed to stay focused. After all, it wasn’t like they could depend on Skye’s sense of direction if they got lost.
Thankfully, they didn’t have to stray too far from the main road, and even though the horses were a little on edge, pulling at the reins and at times refusing to go forward, they made good time on the second leg of their trip to Ebondrift.
“Shouldn’t there be more people here?” Taly asked as they approached the outer edge of the small gate town. The main roads were still strangely devoid of travelers, even more so thanthe day before. In fact, they hadn’t passed a single person since shortly after they left Della.
“Yeah,” Skye replied. He closed his eyes, and Taly knew that he was channeling his aether, using his enhanced senses to search for those things that were beyond her ability to detect. “This is strange. The Seren Gate opened a few days ago—that’s more than enough time for the mainland traders to get set up. The Ebondrift market should be in full swing by now.”
“I don’t get it,” Taly said, dismounting and bringing her horse’s reins over its head. “Kaeli, my contact back in Della, mentioned that the market has been a bit slow lately, but I’m starting to think she meant to say it shut down.”
“How old was that information?” Skye asked as he slid out of his saddle.
Taly sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She scowled when her fingers caught in her braid. “She said she was here the night before last just before the stalls closed.” Glancing around the deserted stable, she reached for the reins of Skye’s horse. “I don’t see the groom. You go on ahead and check with the Watchers—I’ll take care of the horses.”
“Thanks.” Skye paused when his fingers grazed her palm. His eyes found hers, and he frowned, opening his mouth to speak.
“I’ll be fine,” Taly said, anticipating his concern. Leave it to Skye to worry over nothing. “And if I’m not… well, I’m armed.” She patted the heel of one of the pistols holstered at her waist.
“I know, but I just don’t think it’s a good idea to split up.” Skye ran a nervous hand through his hair. “Especially with that guy in Ryme and—"
“Seriously, would you just go?” She laughed asshe pushed him towards the stable door. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll come straight to the command post after I’m done. No dawdling.” She gave a mock salute, something she had learned from a mortal trader years ago.
“Okay! Okay,” Skye conceded, holding up his hands. He still didn’t look convinced, but he started backing away. “Justpleasebe careful.”
“I always am.” Taly gave him a wink.
Skye stumbled slightly, and she couldn’t stop the giggle that fell from her lips. She didn’t think she’d ever seen a shadow mage trip over his own two feet. “No, you’re not,” he muttered, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “Still, I expect you to at least try.”
“Will do,” Taly said as she turned back to the horses. “Now, get lost, Em.”
Tying off the horses, Taly shook her head, still laughing to herself as she heard Skye’s footsteps crunching on the gravel path outside. When he was finally far enough away that she didn’t think he could hear her, even with those super shadow senses of his, she turned to the little gelding she had been riding and said, “Can you believe that, Byron? No faith. I’ve done just fine on my own for almost a year now, but he doesn’t think I can walk across a village without finding trouble. That highborn jerk is going to make himself go gray if he’s not careful.”
Byron gave a disinterested snort in reply, which Taly decided to take as wholehearted agreement.
As she wandered up and down the rows of stalls, she shook her head in disgust. She had never had much respect for the grooms in the public stables in Ebondrift before, but this was anew low. Even for them. The stable was near capacity, but there wasn’t a man or woman in sight. The stalls hadn’t been mucked in over a day, and the animals’ water troughs were empty.
Taly had always had a soft spot for animals, so after she stalled her own horses, she started tending to the others—feeding, watering, and mucking. The animals tore into their food, paying her no mind while she shoveled out the trampled hay and manure.
It was hard work, but Taly was grateful for the distraction. After that morning, she could no longer deny that her feelings for Skye were becomingcomplicated, and she needed space to sort it all out. The fact that she had drunkenly invited the arrogant, highborn bastard into her bed last night clearly indicated that her usual strategy of just ignoring whatever made her uncomfortable until it went away didn’t seem to be working this time.
When she was done cleaning out the stalls, Taly washed herself off underneath one of the spigots in the training yard, splashing water over her face and arms and picking random pieces of hay out of her braid. She had discarded her jacket when she got too warm, so she dusted it off before pulling it back on. The late afternoon sun beat down on her from above, and she could still feel sweat beading and dripping down her back. Unbuttoning the cuffs of her coat, she rolled the sleeves up and over her elbows, breathing a small sigh as she felt the cool breeze caress her heated skin.
Figuring that Skye would probably be worrying himself into an early grave by now, Taly set off for the village. The stables were situatedjust outside of town, and instead of taking the main road, she cut through a small wooded area. There was a narrow footpath winding between the trees, a shortcut forged by the passage of people and time that would deposit her just outside the tenements west of the market square. While the western side of Ebondrift couldn’t exactly be considered the safest part of town, that didn’t worry her too much. If she loosened her braid to cover her ears, she was dressed well enough to pass for a lowborn. She might have to be more wary of pickpockets, but most criminals tended to steer clear of those they thought might have enough magic to put up a fight.
As she stepped off the beaten-down path onto the cobbled street, Taly paused. Something felt off, and her hand instinctively reached for the pistol holstered at her hip. The narrow lane was empty—completely deserted. Though unusual, that wasn’t what worried her. The market stalls were just a few streets over. Even if the crowds were a bit leaner than normal, she should’ve been able to hearsomething—voices carried on the wind or the clang of a blacksmith’s hammer. But there was nothing. No sound. Everything around her was still and quiet.
A clash followed by a muted scream shattered the heavy silence. Taly hesitated. This was the part where Skye would tell her to turn around and walk the other way. Unfortunately, the other way would take almost an hour to loop back around to where she needed to be. That wouldn’t do.
Taking a steadying breath, Taly pulled her pistol and continued along her original path, heading down the street that would eventually lead her to the market square that bordered theGate Watchers’ compound. As she navigated the maze-like backstreets, the condition of the homes that lined the narrow thoroughfare started to deteriorate. All up and down the roadway, doors were smashed in, and smoke trailed from broken windows in lazy wisps.
The further she ventured into the slum, circling closer and closer to the market, the more the roads began to narrow. Here, scattered debris littered the streets and some of the buildings had been completely burned to the ground, the embers still smoldering beneath piles of cindered wood. The air around her started to feel hot, and motes of ash drifted on the wind like snowflakes.
There had been fighting here recently. Fire mages—water mages too, if the puddles beneath her feet were anything to go by—had taken up arms. Against whom, she didn’t know. There were no bodies, just wide streaks of crimson smeared across the pavement.
