washcloth across his forehead. “You shouldn’t try to get up yet.”
After a few moments of trying to calm the crushing pain in his head, Silas began to understand his surroundings a bit more. He had not been dreaming. Lorcan had really tried to kill him. And it wasn’t sunrise either. He could see through the window that the dim light outside was the setting sun. How long had he been out?
“We were getting a little worried about you,” Inga said. “You got a pretty good dose of Lorcan’s fury.”
“He tried to kill me,” Silas said.
Inga shook her head. “No, no. He wouldn’t try to kill you. He was just trying to see if you could handle yourself. Mostly, he doesn’t want you to go.”
Silas was still confused by why there was so much hatred directed toward him. He had done nothing, but shown up. “Why doesn’t he want me to go?”
“Frankly, I don’t want you to go either,” she said dabbing a small cut above Silas’ eye. “I think there is a better way than to bring in a new person. A job like this takes a trained professional. We’ve been doing this kind of work for a while.”
“You aren’t that much older than me,” Silas said.
Inga smiled; her teeth shone straight and white. Silas felt like he would burst just being so close to her, much less receiving all this attention.
“I am twenty,” she said. “But I’ve been in Marenon nearly my whole life. I know how to fight, and I know how to use magic. These are two things that a person must know if they are to survive a job like this.”
“Then why is Alric going through all the trouble of hiring an untrained person like me instead of getting somebody who knows what they’re doing?”
“We’re on a tight deadline,” she said. “Alric doesn’t have enough time to look, so he went to the place where only the strongest survive.”
“The gauntlet,” Silas said, staring at the ceiling as the realization dawned on him.
Inga nodded.
“Did you ever have to go through the gauntlet?” Silas asked her.
“I came here when I was six years old. The gauntlet has only been around for three years since the new king.”
“I’d like to meet this king and give him a piece of my mind,” Silas said.
“I think a lot of us would,” she answered.
Silas let his eyes travel to Inga’s. She met his gaze with a lingering look that overwhelmed him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to break it, but he did after a few seconds. Inga seemed to feel the same as she too turned away quickly.
“Where did you learn to fight?” she asked, seemingly trying to distract from the awkward moment.
“My grandfather taught me.”
“The one you want us to help you find?”
“That’s right,” he answered. Silas didn’t even know if his grandfather was in Marenon. “He would have survived the gauntlet.”
Inga nodded. “If there’s anyone that can help you find him it’s us, especially Alric. He was pretty angry when he found out what Lorcan did to you.”
Silas tried to sit up. “Really?”
“Yeah. He yelled at Lorcan for about an hour. I have never seen him so angry. Alric’s convinced you won’t come with us now and he’s not sure what to do.”
Silas said nothing. After the morning’s events, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go with them. How could he trust them after what had just been done to him? Coffman had just watched while Lorcan nearly did him in. In fact, Silas could remember Inga just standing there watching too.
“Why didn’t you stop Lorcan?”
She looked up, wide-eyed. “I had no idea he was going to do that. I thought the two of you were training! And I didn’t know he got you out of bed the way he did.”
Silas looked away. There was no way to be sure she was being truthful. This was a rough group and they were all mostly interested in the money anyway. Silas knew he would not be able to trust them, but he didn’t see any better way to find his grandfather. Silas knew no one would know Marenon better than they would. He had no choice, but to give them a chance.
Silas began to move from the bed, tossing the covers off of him. Inga tried to stop him, but he ignored her requests. His head pounded with each step down the hallway and the room spun around him as he staggered toward the staircase. When he came to the