Heir of Amber and Fire Rachanee Lumayno (books on motivation txt) 📖

“No. He never asked me about our purpose, and I didn’t bring it up. He’s been explaining the magic of Annlyn to me. It’s fascinating; I’ve learned a lot in just the short time we’ve been talking.”

“Do you trust him?”

I studied Pazho, who was happily chatting with a merchant about some fruit. “Yes,” I said simply. “Do you?”

Beyan looked at me, then over at Pazho, then back to me. He nodded slowly. “There’s something odd about him,” he mused. I bit my lip, trying not to blurt out Pazho’s secret. I would leave that up to Pazho to disclose, if he wanted to. “But in spite of that — yes. He seems all right.”

“And it’s very nice of him to offer us a place to stay for the night,” I said.

“It is,” Beyan agreed. “Although after last night, we can definitely afford it.”

“Save the money for the return trip home,” I said. “Do something crazy, like hiring all of us griffins for the return trip. We’d be home in no time.”

Beyan smiled. “I’ll stick to the horses, thank you. I don’t think flying would be for me.”

“How would you know unless you’ve tried it?”

“A fair point. We’ll see. But speaking of mounts — we’ll have to stable our horses here for a day or two longer while we search for Joichan. Horses don’t like dragons much. Although we might need to buy another horse or mule to bring home any treasure we might find.”

I refrained from saying I would be worried about purchasing a horse in this market. I couldn’t be sure the horse was actually a horse and not a human who could shift.

We walked over to Pazho, who smiled at us in greeting. “Well, then?”

“We appreciate your kind offer,” Beyan said. “And we’d be happy to stay at your inn.”

“My mate’s,” Pazho corrected. “And we’re happy to have you. Come, let me take you to the Red Antler.”

“We should probably go meet the others first,” I said. “The light’s already fading; I hope we’re not too late meeting them.”

“Where are you supposed to find them?” Pazho asked me.

“Just outside the city center, where the marketplace begins.”

“Perfect. That’s right where the Red Antler is. We’ll gather your friends and all head to the inn for a meal.”

As we headed out of the market, Beyan asked Pazho, “Red Antler? Where did that name come from?”

Pazho chuckled. “Denaan fancies himself a fierce warrior. Antlers dipped in blood, dominating over enemies, that sort of thing.”

Beyan looked confused, but with a flash of understanding I caught Pazho’s meaning. I had seen the wolf Pazho walking with an imposing elk earlier. That elk must be the form Pazho’s mate Denaan was able to shift into.

As if he knew my thoughts, Pazho winked at me, giving me confirmation that my guess was correct.

Farrah and Rhyss were at the edge of the market, sitting on a bench. Farrah was reading a book, while Rhyss was lovingly polishing his newly repaired knife. As we approached, we could hear Farrah saying, “If you don’t stop playing with that thing, you’ll cut yourself, and I’ll have to patch you up. And I’m not in the mood.”

“But they did such a great job with the repair,” Rhyss replied. “It’s so nice to have it back, beautiful and whole.”

“Rhyss, if you don’t put that thing away, I’m going to take it from you.”

“Farrah, I won’t cut myself, I promise.”

“Hey, you two.” Beyan cut off their growing argument. “How was the market?”

Rhyss started in surprise and then yelped. Shaking his hand, he stared at the blood blossoming from the nick on his finger. The cut was clean, but deep. Farrah sighed and snapped her book shut in annoyance.

“I won’t say ‘I told you so,’” she said.

“You just did,” Rhyss pointed out.

“Do you want me to heal this, or not?”

She held out her hand, and Rhyss meekly put his hand in hers. Frowning, she studied his finger.

“When you’re done, we want to introduce you to someone,” Beyan said mildly.

Farrah looked up from Rhyss’s hand. The blood was gone. The wound was already closed, with a faint line to show where the cut had been. “All set,” she announced. “That scar should fade in time. It wouldn’t have even happened if someone hadn’t interrupted me.” She glared pointedly at Beyan.

“Someone’s getting hungry,” Rhyss said.

“Someone’s already there,” Farrah said.

“We’ll eat soon,” I promised. “Our new friend here has graciously offered us a place to stay for the night, and we’ll eat there. Farrah, Rhyss, this is Pazho.”

The three of them exchanged greetings, and then Pazho led the way to the Red Antler Inn. True to his word, the place was only a few feet away. As we entered, our eyes adjusting to the dim interior, a deep voice yelled, “Watch out!”

Something heavy and solid whizzed by my head.

Chapter Twenty-Four

THE OBJECT FLEW THROUGH the air, hit the wall, and then clanged to the ground, where it shattered into several sharp pieces.

Incredulous, I eyed the item. It had formerly been a mug, and if the colors and pattern were any indication, an expensive one.

Pazho called out, “Denaan, I’ve told you not to do that when the inn is open!”

A stocky man wearing a stained apron came into the room. “No one was in here. Well, not until you came in.”

“If this is a bad time...” Beyan started.

“Nonsense, it’s a great time,” Denaan said. “When I’m frustrated, it really helps relieve the tension.”

I could tell Beyan was trying to find a judicious way to get us out of here. I started to giggle. Farrah joined in. Rhyss tried to suppress a smirk.

Pazho shook his head. “This is Denaan’s idea of testing for quality. He figures, if the dishes can be thrown around and still hold up, then they’re worthy of being used at his inn.”

“Of course,” Denaan agreed. “I don’t want to have to buy new dinnerware just because a few rowdy drunks decided to have a tussle.”

“Elk logic,” Pazho said, implying those