hands, so they’d helped him search for stones. That said, he was building a snowflake pattern, as it was large enough to carry their whole group, and that took 35 stones per stepping stone. According to Grae’s calculations, it took 1,400 stones to build a path. And that was only one direction! He’d build another, smaller path near Sateren that would lead back to the village at her request.
In this cold earth, digging up rocks had not been the most pleasant of jobs.
But Grae had finished it, and Siobhan took full advantage of that the next morning so that she didn’t have to travel three hours just to reach Sateren. She rose leisurely, had a calm and unhurried breakfast, not in the least bit worried about getting an early start.
From the rafters above her head, Rune cleared his throat. “Ah, ya do remember the meeti’n is at noon?”
“I do,” she responded calmly, tugging on her boots. “Worried we’ll be late?”
“A mite.”
“Don’t be. Grae will take us.”
“Ah, ya mean by path?”
“Yes.”
There was a ruminative silence for a second. “If ya had a path made toward the city, why did Fei and me go the long way?”
“Grae didn’t actually finish it until yesterday before dinner,” she explained. “You were on your way back by then.”
“Ehh.”
Siobhan got to her feet and then bent long enough to scoop a cleaning rag off the side of the wash bucket. Without looking, she tossed the rag up toward the rafters. Rune handily caught it. “While you’re up there,” she informed him dryly, “you might as well put your time to use.”
Rune chuckled. “Yes ma’am.”
Judging it about time to leave, she went out onto the porch, calling people as she moved. “Wolf, Fei, Grae, you ready?”
“Waiting on you,” Grae responded wryly, standing on the road leading out of the village. He did indeed look ready, as he had a flask of water hanging from one shoulder, a book tucked under his other arm. He planned to just sit and wait for them, eh? Well, not a bad thought. If something went wrong, and they needed to retreat in a hurry, she’d prefer to have him standing by.
Wolf and Fei just looked ready for a fight. Well, Wolf always looked ready for a fight, but even Fei seemed to expect trouble of some sort. They both had weapons bristling from every limb. In this northern city, Wolf and Rune would stand out the least, as they clearly hailed from here. Or near here. It would be Siobhan and Fei, with their unusual coloring, who would attract unwanted attention. Maybe she should reconsider having just her twin swords….
As she cleared the door, she felt the floorboards vibrate under Rune’s landing. He followed her out without a word.
They all trooped out to the path. In deference to his need for fresh water, Grae had not built his path near the village’s front entrance, but at the very back, near a spring that fed into Drahn Lake. Siobhan actually blessed that decision, as it prevented unwanted gawking by the villagers.
Grae took them through the path with only a brief warning to Rune of “Step only where I do” and to the outskirts of Sateren without mishap.
Siobhan stood staring at the front gates of the city with a vague sense of foreboding. Even though this whole thing was her idea, she didn’t care for it one bit. “Grae,” she murmured for his ears alone, “If we’re not out in three hours, send a message to Blackstone and tell them everything.”
He gave her an alarmed look. “You expect trouble?”
“Call it woman’s intuition.”
“Siobhan, your woman’s intuition is scarily accurate.”
She grimaced. “Don’t I know it.” Patting him on the shoulder in reassurance, she moved past. “Alright, Rune, lead me.”
Her assassin did exactly that, taking the front position and guiding them into the city.
Sateren strongly reminded her of Goldschmidt in some ways. The men guarding the main gate asked her the same questions, and recorded their passing in a very similar fashion. The cramped stores and buildings just inside the gate were the same, all of them offering foods and services that a traveler might be in need of. The din of noise from people going every direction, the overripe smell of too many people living in too small a space, all of it was similar. If not for the tall, sloping roofs and the grey stone everywhere, she might have thought Grae had taken her to the wrong place.