He carried Arken’s finished armor along with Cero’s set. He didn’t divulge what else he had been up to, but instead grabbed his pack and announced that they would be leaving town right away. No one asked any questions until they had left the last buildings behind and taken the northern road.
“What is the plan?” Torroth asked as he fell into step with Urake.
“We are going to throw a hammer into Reigns’ plans. Starting with the shipyards.” Urake still seemed upset about the recent events.
“What is our cover story?” Cero asked as he shifted his pack. Urake saw a little green snout peeking out of the flap on the top before Bani did his disappearing trick.
“A band of peddlers. We will be picking up a couple wagons of supplies at Cercha, then we will go to Shienhin and sell our wares. While we are there, we need to collect all the information that we can about the war. If we can, we need to find out all that there is to be learned about the imposter princess that Reigns has parading around. After that, we will scout out the shipyards and see what can be done about the fleet.”
“A fake princess. Em’risi is pretty unique looking so he must have had to search hard to find someone resembling her.” Torroth remarked offhandedly.
“That is an understatement. I have only seen a small handful of people with anything resembling that shade of purple in their eyes.” Urake laughed as he noticed the faint color on Torroth’s neck. He decided against commenting further as Torroth dropped back to where Inadar was walking.
“Inadar, what are you thinking?” Inadar hardly glanced up from examining the road a few feet ahead of her at the question. When she did answer, she was looking at Cero’s back.
“Not much really. He isn’t enslaving Bani like I thought.” Torroth paused for a second as he himself examined Cero’s back.
“How do you know that?”
“We sort of had a fight. More of a dual actually, but neither of us can remember what actually happened. Urake was pretty upset though. Anyway, I asked Bani and he got upset that I might think anyone could control him.”
“You asked him?” Torroth inquisitively asked. He didn’t ask what Inadar meant about a fight.
“Well, not talked like you can with Setur or Iradaemi. Talking with Bani is more like exchanging images and emotions. He is different from the dragons at home.”
“How so?”
“Well, Iradaemi told me that hatchlings can’t fly until they are ten winters old. I have seen Bani glide and he is barely a week old. I bet he could fly in a few more weeks at the most.”
“Well I don’t know. He looks like a dragon to me. Now that you aren’t worried about Bani, what is keeping us from leaving?” Torroth asked the last part after he had glanced around to ensure that no one was within hearing distance.
“I am nearly sure that Cero is the other Dragon Lord and I know that Urake has a Soul Forged blade. I think this is where I am supposed to be.”
“Inadar, they are dangerous. To many Gifted people together could draw attention. Not to mention that Urake is a hunted criminal. We need to leave before we get caught up too far in this mess.”
“This is why we left Dragon’s Hamlet. I can’t just run off now. I have to follow this through. Are you having second thoughts?”
“No… well I suppose I am. I don’t want to be on the run for my entire life. I am a blacksmith, not a soldier.”
“Why did you come with me if you didn’t want to?” Inadar looked up into Torroth’s conflicted face.
“I was ordered to protect you by dragons. I couldn’t exactly argue with them.” Torroth’s frustration was boiling near the surface.
“I would have argued with them if I had known.” Inadar looked hurt by Torroth’s confession, but she was still supportive and to his relief, didn’t seem to hold it against him.
“You are their prodigy or something. You could have gotten away with anything when it came to the dragons. Now I am oath bound to protect you and it won’t be said that I broke an oath.”
“I release you.”
“You what?”
“I release you from your oath. You don’t have to stay with me if you don’t want to.” Inadar choked and hurriedly looked the other direction to hide a traitorous tear.
“I can’t leave you with these people. We owe them nothing. They are fighting a losing battle