Amaskan's Blood Raven Oak (polar express read aloud TXT) 📖

her hood over her head, and all tongues stilled as the door opened. A soldier poked his head around the door. “Sergeant, I heard a loud noise from inside here. Sir, I’m sorry to intrude, but is everything all right—”

“We’re fine. Leave us.” The young man nodded once to Leolin before closing the door with an audible click.

“I thought you said this room was private, Sergeant.”

Leolin crossed the room and locked the door. “It normally is, Master Adelei. Whatever your business here, it had better be worth this. The Tribor don’t stop until their mark is dead. You put a great many people at risk by being here.”

“Son, we understand the risk. But what would ya have us do? Out there, we’d be dead once dark hit the trees.” She patted her son’s hand gently. “I hate to burden ya further, but we need a room for the night. After that, we’ll be gone, and the Tribor hopefully with us.” A silent plea passed from mother to son.

Leolin beckoned them to follow him. “I’ll get you a room. But you must leave by morning. I cannot risk the people of this town or the travelers outside the gates with your presence. If the Tribor are on your tail, we’re all in danger. Security is nightmare enough, especially with an ever changing border. Mother, I’m sorry, but I can’t do more.”

The woman wrapped her son in a hug. “I’d expect nothin’ less from ya my son, nothin’ less.”

CHAPTER TEN

Leaving Menoir proved uneventful, no further evidence of the Tribor present as both women journeyed the half-day toward Alesta. While Ida relaxed in the saddle, a tension knot ached in Adelei’s neck that sang of nerves on edge and too long on the road. The morning proved quiet for both of them, leaving Adelei time to worry about the assassin that was or wasn’t on their tail.

She was sure Ida worried about the son she’d left behind, no matter how relaxed her stance appeared. Adelei had never encountered a Tribor assassin in person, but the stories whispered behind closed doors at the Order were enough to give her pause.

“As the saying goes, flee before that which makes Amaskans fear,” Adelei muttered.

“What brought that up?”

“I was thinking about the price on my head is all. I feel like I’m walking into a death trap.”

“Look at it this way,” Ida said as she chewed on a piece of apple, “They’re of such small numbers; they probably won’t be a huge threat once we reach the city.”

“I’ve heard there’s fewer than twenty members, but if they all came here, this could get ugly.”

Ida waved her hand in the air. For all her carefree action, her thighs clenched against her mare’s side. She was as nervous as Adelei.

They passed by more travelers along the path, and Adelei lost herself in thought. The thoughts, worrisome though they were, held a distraction from their approach to the capital. Alesta’s outer walls and smaller dwellings on the outskirts blended in so well with those they’d been passing for a candlemark, that she didn’t realize they stood before the city until Ida’s mare stopped and Adelei took a good look at the city sprawl.

The capital city spread across Adelei’s view like a swarm of bees; houses and people scattered across the horizon in their busy lives. I had no idea the city was this huge.

While the capital city of Sadai was a large city, Alesta was three times its size, stretching across a spread of land easily five miles in diameter. The castle lay off in the distance, tucked safely behind several sets of city walls.

Each wall must have been built as the city expanded with the populace. Or after each war. She searched the castle for any indication of its size but couldn’t see much more than spires and the occasional tower poking above the brick and stone. As they approached the outer ring of walls, Ida removed the royal coin from her bag and held it in her hand.

Their horses pressed up against the throngs of people seeking entrance at the gate. Midnight whinnied and pranced beneath Adelei, and she patted his neck. While trained for the noises and confinement of battle, this group was a different setting all together. So many people. The good news was she’d be difficult to find in such a mess. Of course, if she were hard to identify, so were the Tribor.

The guard at the first gate stopped them without so much as looking up from a piece of parchment. “Names?”

Ida spoke as they’d decided last night in Menoir. “Captain Ida Warhammer, returnin’ from duty, and guest.”

The guard glanced up from his parchment and tried to peer under Adelei’s hood. He studied her a moment longer before giving Ida a pained expression. “Sorry, Captain, but I need her name.”

“No, ya don’t.”

He stared again at Adelei and waved a hand in front of her. “Hey—you have a name, honey?” A slight smirk played across his face. When she didn’t respond and instead stared over his head, he laughed. His hand moved to slap her thigh, though it made it only halfway as she caught his wrist in her grip and squeezed his fingers. He winced and tried to wriggle out of her grasp.

“I believe she told you it wasn’t necessary.”

Adelei released his fingers, which he rubbed before jotting something down on his paper. “My apologies, Captain. My lady,” he mumbled and bowed in Adelei’s direction.

As they passed through the gate, Adelei whispered to Ida, “Please make note of him. If I was given entrance so easily, who else might ride through the gates with a royal escort?”

“Indeed. You’re certainly goin’ to chafe a lot a highborns with security changes.”

“Just part of the job,” Adelei said.

The road, if it could be called such, was dirt covered and littered with yet more dust and grime. What few people were out, bustled quickly about their business, gathering baskets or livestock or both. The business