“I shall retire for the evening,” the princess interrupted with a regality that didn’t sound at all like her. “I am sure Tamri can convey a message without bringing enemies down on the inn.”
Heath looked as if he wanted to object again, but he held his tongue as the princess stalked toward the stairs at the side of the common room. Then he looked down at Tamri with that stern disapproval she’d seen before.
“Fenn is the princess’s bodyguard,” he said in a tight voice. “She should have been on Mav with her today, but she insisted on bringing you with her instead.”
Tamri shrugged. “Okay.”
“The princess can be too trusting, but don’t assume—”
“You’re her sworn man or something, right?” Tamri interrupted. “Aren’t you supposed to trust her judgment?”
Heath blinked. “I do trust her—I just—you—” He threw up his hands. “Just tell Fenn where she is. I’ll guard her until then.”
He marched off after the princess, leaving Tamri alone in the middle of the common room.
The innkeeper in the spotless apron eyed her suspiciously from the polished darkwood bar. Innkeepers could always sense when you didn’t have a single coin to your name. She’d been to many similar establishments in Pendark, usually to listen for tips about loose Watermight or to meet buyers. A few of the customers were looking askance at her, too, perhaps wondering what a Pendarkan girl was doing with two foreigners. She wondered if Heath’s worries about safety here were well founded.
The inn door opened behind her, a burst of warm, dusty air ruffling Tamri’s tunic, and a group of people wearing Vertigonian blue traipsed inside.
“You’re with us, right?” A young man a little older than Tamri held out a hand. He had a roguish smile and dark, unruly hair. “We didn’t get a chance to meet yet. I’m Taklin.”
“Tamri.” She didn’t take his hand.
The three other dragon riders finished knocking the dried Pendarkan mud off their boots at the door and joined them. They had just come from settling the dragons outside of town for the night, and they were in jovial moods. They nudged elbows and slapped backs in a way that seemed unnatural to Tamri. Pendarkans tended to be careful about whom they touched.
“Which one of you is Fenn?” Tamri asked.
A heavyset woman with thick red hair nodded. She was older and quieter than the others, seemingly the odd person out.
“Princess Selivia asked me to tell you she retired early,” Tamri said.
“She went to her room?” Taklin said. “Without supper?”
“Yeah, she and Heath kind of had an argument.”
“I’d better go up there,” Fenn said.
“Wait! Um . . .” Tamri shifted her feet as they all looked at her at once. “She said you’d find me somewhere to sleep.”
“We’ll take care of you,” said Taklin. “Don’t worry about her, Fenn. She’s with the dragon crew now.”
“Oh, I’m not joining the—”
“I know, I know.” Taklin grinned and slapped her on the back before she could duck out of the way. “You’re a Wielder. But when you ride with us, you’re on our crew.”
Fenn marched off toward the stairs, while the others swept Tamri up as if she really were one of them, calling out for food and drink. Before she knew it, she was crammed onto a bench beside a woman called Reya with wild brown hair and thick freckles. Across the table sat Taklin and Errol, a thin man with a smooshed nose and heavy-lidded eyes.
The babble of voices and laughter filled the common room. Tamri’s muscles ached from the day’s ride, and her stomach was growling, but she felt on edge among these strangers. A lifetime of wariness didn’t dissipate easily.
“I don’t have any money,” Tamri said when the innkeeper set a round of foaming tankards before them.
“Nonsense.” Taklin slapped a coin onto the rough table. “The first one’s on me. Besides, people love to buy drinks for dragon riders. You won’t have to pay for anything once we head out.”
“Out?”
Reya nudged her elbow, making Tamri stiffen. “We’ll give you the tour of the usual taverns.”
“This is the last town before Kurn Pass,” explained Taklin after taking a long drink from his tankard. “Anyone going to or from Trure, Pendark, or Soole needs a night of proper Fork Town carousing.”
Tamri glanced at the stairs leading to their inn’s upper rooms. “Will the princess and . . . Lord Heath . . . approve?”
“Did she call him Lord?” Taklin whistled through his teeth. “That must have been quite the quarrel.”
“Yes. Lord Samanar.”
The others winced.
“Even worse,” Taklin said. “Heath is damn proud of being chief dragon rider.”
“As he should be!” Errol pounded his tankard on the table, slopping ale onto his uniform sleeve.
“Aye,” Taklin said. “But he’s a minor nobleman, too, and he doesn’t like people to remember it. His family was on the wrong side of the attempted coup against the Amintelles. Plus, they’re not the most dignified of noble houses.”
Tamri perked up at the mention of an attempted coup. The Amintelles would be Selivia’s family, including her brother, King Sivarrion. Heath’s family had acted against them? Interesting. She began making a mental list of facts to send to Khrillin in her first report.
“Just don’t let on that you know all the stories,” Reya said with a laugh. “Especially the one about his mother and the butler.”
Across the table, Errol nodded soberly. “Heath broke my nose for asking if that butler story was true when we first started working with the dragons together.”
Reya snorted. “Serves you right.”
“I was just curious,” Errol said. “Didn’t know that was such a sensitive subject.”
“His mother?”
Errol shrugged. “I’m not a mind reader.”
“Heath’s all right,” Taklin said. “But the princess doesn’t usually poke him where it hurts.” He took a contemplative sip of ale. “I wonder what happened between them.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Reya leaned forward so she could see him past Tamri. “The princess is leaving to get married. A gold firestone says one of them tried to make a move.”
“You reckon that’s it?” Taklin said. “I thought they were only friends.”
“Yeah,” Errol said, scratching his smooshed nose, “and she’s been writing to her Soolen lord for ages.”
“Doesn’t mean they don’t feel something for each other,” Reya said. “Heath was the first volunteer when the princess started this whole dragon-riding lark. None of us would have had the guts to join if he hadn’t stepped up. They’ve been through a lot together.”
“I always thought he was too tough for feelings,” Errol said.
“Do you know any reason he’d be worried about the princess’s safety in Fork Town?” Tamri asked. She doubted Khrillin cared whether a minor nobleman had feelings for the princess, unrequited or otherwise. But Heath didn’t seem to believe in the friendship between Vertigon and Pendark any more than Khrillin did. “He was carrying that glowing stick of his like they were about to be attacked from all sides.”