generally all of them had been fresh bodies. Even after large battles, most of the dead were carted away as soon as possible, unless they were retreating, in which case the enemy was left with the chore.
Either way, he’d rarely seen bodies more than a day old, and he’d never had the chance to examine them closely. The first thing he noticed was that the men’s skin tone had changed, becoming pale and faintly bluish, at least on the parts he could see initially. He turned one of the crossbowmen over before rifling through the man’s pockets and was surprised the see that the skin on the other side had turned a dark purple. Gravity had caused the blood to pool on the downward-facing surfaces, making them darken, while the upper side of the body was pale.
One of the men had been nibbled on by something small, and all of them were beginning to attract ants and other small insects.
From the crossbowmen, he found little of note. Small weapons, a smattering of coins, their crossbows and ammunition—he collected these and stored them away. None of the weaponry was particularly unique, so it wouldn’t provide any clues to their identity, but it was worth a bit of money. Sure, maybe he was one of the richest men in the kingdom, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave valuable equipment to rot on the ground.
As an afterthought, he took their boots as well. Most of them were in decent condition and would fetch a decent price from a reseller. Selene would be aghast if she saw me right now, he thought with a chuckle.
He spent more time on the sorcerer. The man’s clothing was deceptively plain, but the fabric was of high quality, though he didn’t find any embroidery or other marks that might steer him in the direction of who had made the clothes. The man’s personal belongings were likewise ambiguous, a simple gold ring, a small knife, and a purse filled with only seven gold marks and a few silver clima. He had to have been paid a lot more, but he wasn’t stupid enough to bring it with him, Will noted.
Though it seemed disrespectful to the dead, seeing King Lognion strip Darla down to bare skin had taught him a lesson. Sometimes people carried marks on their bodies that might provide useful information. Will carefully cut away the sorcerer’s clothing and pulled off his boots, looking for scars, birthmarks, or even better, a unique tattoo. He found nothing worth mentioning, though.
“That was a waste of time,” Will said quietly. He stored the coins and the ring but stopped before putting the boots in his limnthal, giving them a second look. The boots were probably the most expensive item the nobleman had been wearing, tall riding boots made from rich leather that had been dyed black. They showed all the signs of having been long worn and well loved. The uppers were scuffed but had been recently polished, while the piping seemed somewhat newer.
A richer nobleman would have replaced them before they were that worn, but this man had had them repaired, probably several times, not to mention resoling them. Will turned the boot he held over and looked at the bottom. The sole was definitely newer, with a small heel and no sign of wear in the sheltered part of the instep.
Then he spotted it. The crafter’s mark, or in this case, the sign of the cobbler who had resoled the boot. To Will’s surprise, it seemed familiar. A slow smile spread across his face. As old as the boots were, they had probably been resoled several times, and the cobbler might very well remember them—and their owner.
He stored the boots in his limnthal, and after using the grave-digging spell to bury the bodies, began his return trip to Cerria. He had a friend he wanted to talk to at Wurthaven.
***
Seth stared at him in surprise. “Why would I do that?”
“Your father is a cobbler. I thought you could help me find the owner,” said Will innocently.
“Then ask him,” growled his seldom-seen acquaintance. “I’m just a student trying to get by.”
“You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?”
Seth jerked back from the doorway as though he had been burned. “No! Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of being mad at you.”
Will winced. “That hurts even more. Just because I’m married to the king’s daughter doesn’t mean you need to be afraid of me. Even if you told me to piss