Donnal was back within the hour, too stubborn to change out of wolf shape, which made for an interesting exchange of information. “Men in Merrenstow colors?” Justin asked. Donnal bobbed his head, his mouth wide in a silent pant. “How many? Twenty?” Donnal made no sign. “Fifty?” Donnal nodded again. “About fifty Merrenstow men,” Justin repeated to Romar, who looked just about as annoyed as Kirra felt about that ridiculous pantomime. “Still doesn’t guarantee that they’re looking for you, but—”
Romar shouldered up next to Justin. “Did you notice the man in charge? Was he big-boned and black-haired, riding a gray stallion?” Another sharp nod for that. “Colton, most likely,” Romar said. “My captain.”
Justin nodded. “It’s probably safe to intercept them. Let’s go.”
They all swung back into their saddles and changed course. Even so, Kirra could tell Justin was just a little nervous about it, not wanting to be wrong, wanting Romar to hang back long enough for the rest of them to create a desperate diversion if this platoon turned out to be hostile. But, as Romar so reasonably pointed out, “I’m the only one who will recognize my men. I can’t ride in the back.” Nonetheless, Donnal stalked in the lead and Justin and Kirra rode on either side of Romar as if to defend him with their own particular skills.
The precautions turned out to be unnecessary, which they could tell as soon as they trotted in sight of the oncoming party. The soldiers rode in strict formation, their chests proudly sporting the black-and-white checkerboard of Merrenstow, the lead rider carrying a Merrenstow flag. Just behind the herald rode a big man with hard features, his eyes restlessly scanning the way ahead for any sign of trouble. He was first to spot the small group stopped in the road before him.
“That’s Colton,” Romar said, but prudently didn’t push past Justin and dash straight up to the guard. This was a group, Kirra thought, that might react a little too quickly to the sight of a headlong stranger.
Colton had flung up a hand, and the whole cavalcade came to a disciplined halt. “Who rides there?” the captain called out in a booming voice. He didn’t put his hand threateningly on his sword, but he didn’t have to; every other man in his party did.
“Someone you’ll be glad to see,” Justin called back. “Romar Brendyn of Merrenstow.”
A collective gasp for that and an impressive change of expression for Captain Colton. Kirra wondered if even her father’s loyal guards would look so pleased at the notion that Malcolm was not dead after some risky enterprise. “Lord Romar!” the man exclaimed.
Romar nudged his way forward, both hands extended and empty in case his men couldn’t recognize him from a distance and thought he might be playing the impostor. “Captain,” Romar said in a warm voice. “I have been looking for you on the road these past two days. I knew you would come for me.”
Now there were cheers from the amassed men, and a few of them tossed caps and gloves into the air to create a little black-and-white snowstorm over their heads. Colton leapt from the saddle and knelt in the road, his right hand crossed to his left shoulder in a quiet gesture of respect. “Lord,” he said, his deep voice much softer now, “we feared you were dead.”
Romar was also off his horse, and, taking quick strides forward, bent to put his hands on Colton’s shoulders. “I feared death might come for me, too, but instead, friends arrived,” he said. “Sent by the king.”
That pushed Colton back to his feet, for it wasn’t good to be prostrating yourself before anyone but royalty when the king’s men were around to see. “We came as soon as we had word,” Colton said.
Romar nodded. “I knew you would.” He half turned to motion the others forward, and Kirra was amused. Was he really going to introduce all of them to his captain? “They had information sooner, and were on the road almost immediately. This is Justin. A King’s Rider.”
Colton nodded curtly and Justin nodded back. Kirra supposed that was some high mark of recognition from fighting men; no one offered a hand. Romar continued, “Cammon. Kirra Danalustrous.” He glanced around, and Kirra wondered if he would actually introduce the man in animal form. “The wolf is one of our party as well,” was all he said.
Colton’s eyes snagged on Kirra’s face, and he bowed again, not quite as deeply as he had to his lord. Truly, this was most entertaining. She couldn’t remember the last time her name had been offered to an attendant or a guard.
“Lord Romar was speaking of you just yesterday with a great deal of admiration,” Kirra said. “I am glad to have a chance to meet you.”
“I would have been less worried had I known who was in the party sent by the king to fetch him,” Colton said in a gallant voice.
Kirra laughed. “But now that you are here, we will happily let you do all the worrying about him from here on out! You can escort him back to Merrenstow while the rest of us go on our way.”
She caught Justin’s quick look and Romar’s troubled one. “We will discuss that by and by,” Romar said. “First, let me confer with my captain and my guards, and then we’ll decide where to travel next.”
Justin showed a grin at that, which was the first time Kirra realized what was afoot. Romar had never quite believed he was the helpless one who needed to be protected by a soldier, mystics, and a
woman.
He certainly wasn’t going to be happy about the idea of Kirra setting off by herself on any return journey.
She wondered if it was only the aristocracy that felt such inconvenient impulses to chivalry, or if all men behaved the same way. If she’d thought Justin was a typical male, she would have asked him. Sighing, she reined her horse to one side and said, “We’ll wait over here while you and your men talk.”
So she and Cammon and Donnal had another round of rations while they sat at the side of the road. Justin had joined the conference between Romar and Colton and appeared to be doing at least half of the talking. Tayse would have been proud of him, this trip out, she thought. She would have to remember to tell the senior Rider how cool Justin had been, how prepared, how cautious.
Her attention turned quickly away from him, though, as she studied Romar Brendyn. The late morning sun struck his matted hair and turned it a burnished gold, shaped his tired face into a model of strength and endurance. Mostly he was listening, to Justin’s comments, to Colton’s; once or twice he asked a question in what Kirra imagined was a clear, incisive voice. He looked the very picture of a commander on a battlefield, sifting through the reports of his men, making swift and well-informed decisions, ready to act, ready to defend, certain to win.
Sweet and silver hell, she hoped he never
was
on a true battlefield. She hoped there wouldn’t really be a war.
She wondered what it would feel like to wave good-bye, here on this empty road at the north edge of the kingdom, and turn back to Danalustrous, while Romar headed on toward Merrenstow. She’d only been with the man three days, and yet she found him more appealing than almost anyone she’d ever met—certainly the best of the Twelfth House lords. A solid man, a thoughtful one, quick-tempered and quick-witted, impatient and humorous and fair. She hadn’t come across anyone quite like him, inside the aristocracy or out.
“Don’t be sad,” Cammon said unexpectedly in her ear. “You’ll see him again.”
She automatically looked for Donnal and found him on the other side of the road, snuffling at something. Probably out of earshot. “So now you’re predicting the future in addition to reading minds?” she asked with a smile, hoping her bright tone covered her brief moment of shock.
“Well, it only makes sense,” he said practically. “You spend so much time in Ghosenhall, and he’ll be there more and more often in the next few months. Learning to be regent.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But I might have other traveling to do. I might not see Romar Brendyn again for a long time.”
Cammon gave her one long look out of his strange, flecked eyes and decided not to answer that directly. “I’ll be glad to get home,” he said. “Senneth should be back by now.”
They talked idly another twenty minutes or so, while the soldiers discussed topics that Kirra doubted were all that interesting. Eventually, Colton turned back to issue orders to his men, and Justin and Romar strode over. Kirra came to her feet, her best smile on her face. She had an inkling of what was coming.
“We’re going to take the main road back to Merrenstow. Neither Justin nor Colton expects us to run into any trouble,” Romar said. “You can either travel with us back to my house, where my wife will most happily make you welcome, and then continue on with me to Ghosenhall later. Or, if you are in a hurry, I will pick a company of my men to escort you to Ghosenhall now.”
Justin’s face was perfectly expressionless, but, just her luck, she knew exactly what he was thinking. She wished it was possible to kill him and still retain use of his formidable fighting skills. “I choose—neither option,” she said, her voice easy. “I will be perfectly safe traveling with my small party back to the royal city.”
Instant dissent pulled Romar’s face into a frown. “That’s not acceptable,” he said stiffly. “A serramarra on the road with only three men to guard her—it’s not safe. My own experience testifies to that.”
“Well, no one has any reason to abduct me, so I don’t think our situations are comparable,” she said. “And, lest you forget, it was with this very same small group that I traveled
from
Ghosenhall to find you. And we are halfway home already! So much less ground to cover! You do not have to fear for us.”
“I cannot agree to this,” he said, shaking his head.
She appealed to the Rider, since she had no other allies. “Justin. Tell him. I’m safe with you.”
Justin nodded. “The serramarra is safe with me and our other companions,” he said. “I do not expect we will have any trouble on the road.”
“We will discuss this further,” Romar said. “Let’s eat something and hash this out.”
“I already ate. Twice,” Kirra said, but the suggestion seemed to find favor with everyone else. In a few moments, the whole company had dismounted and broken into orderly groups for a noon meal. Kirra found herself in a small circle with Justin, Colton, and Romar. Cammon had instantly made friends among the Merrenstow soldiers—it was a knack he seemed to have, no matter where he went—and the Bright Lady alone knew where Donnal had disappeared to.
In the end, she got her way, but only because she was absolutely unyielding—in the most pleasant, friendliest, sweetest fashion. And because she had, after all, the ultimate trump card. “Romar, if you try to send a squadron with me, I shall turn into a bird and fly away from them all,” she said with a laugh. “I swear to you I will. Now take your men and go home. Captain Colton is practically shaking with his desire to get you to safety. Do not keep him fretting much longer.”
“My lady, I am not fretting,” Colton said in his deep voice.
“I wish you would not be so foolhardy and thoughtless!” Romar exclaimed. “What if something happens to you on the road? How would I ever forgive myself?”
“Nothing will happen to me,” she said. “I will be well defended. Now mount your horse and go.”
It was not that simple, of course, and Kirra found it harder and harder to maintain her smile and her carefree attitude as the final moments of the parting dragged out. All the Merrenstow men had to mount their horses and turn them in the road; her own small group had to be rounded up; good-byes had to be spoken all around.
The last one was the most difficult, of course. She stood there, with fifty-two men and one wolf watching her, letting Romar grip her hand a little too tightly and hold it a little too long.
“I will never forget what you did for me,” he said in a quiet voice. Still, it was a windless day and probably everyone could hear. “You and your friends. I will never forget your courage or your resourcefulness or your great heart. You are unique among serramarra, I believe, Kirra Danalustrous—unique among women. I have never met anyone like you.”
She spoke in a light voice that was very far from mirroring her actual emotions. “We shall be friends forever then,” she said. “What do they say about people bonding together over tumultuous experiences? Your abduction and your rescue have given us a lifelong connection.”
“Something has,” he said, bending to kiss her hand. The silence all around them was absolutely undisturbed. They might have been statues of soldiers—and wolves—witnessing this little farewell. Romar straightened and gave her a somber look from those dark eyes. “I will see you soon in Ghosenhall, I hope.”