Mark of Love (Love Mark #3) - Linda Kage Page 0,87
of disguise fluttered out an unconcerned hand. “They have apparently concocted a magical potion, or ritual, or something that will help them accurately track down and find the rest of the Graykey clan. All they need to complete the process is the blood from one live Graykey.”
“Wait. So we could find the rest of your family with a sample of your blood?” I asked Quilla with a certain amount of hope in my voice. “Like, say, Qualmer?”
She sent me a scowl.
Melaina answered, “Yes, but we’ve no interest in finding my evil son. Besides, from what we’ve heard, the extraction process is brutally intensive and painful, plus we believe the blood donor dies during the procedure.”
“Oh.” Well, that was a different story, then. I winced toward Quilla, silently apologizing for even considering the idea of putting her through that.
She rolled her eyes with a glare—telling me I was not forgiven—and trotted ahead of us.
“So you pretended to be a High Cliff knight who’d just captured a Graykey and was taking her in to turn her over to the king, to get through the canyon pass, didn’t you?” I asked her aunt.
Melaina nodded and sent me an admiring glance. “Well now, I guess you can be smart after all.”
I shook my head, hissing out a curse. “That was dangerous, Melaina. They could’ve checked you for a glamour anyway and caught on to your ruse when they realized you weren’t a High Cliff knight after all.”
“But they didn’t.”
“What if the same guards are at the entrances this time too? Or smarter guards are on duty, because seriously, why didn’t they question the fact that you were going north through the pass, out of High Cliff? Not toward the capitol where the king is?”
“Oh, they did ask,” Melaina assured me. “But I just told them the procedure was taking place in Far Shore.” When I merely gaped at her, she shrugged. “What? For all we know, maybe the procedure does take place in Far Shore.”
“Well, it’s way too risky of a plan to put Quilla through a second time.”
“As if you have a say in the matter.” She sniffed and faced forward, prepared to ignore me again.
My eyebrows lifted. “She’s my mate,” I said, “so I’m putting in my say, anyway. And I say she’s not doing it. It’s too dangerous.”
Stopping her horse’s canter, she whirled in the saddle, eyes flickering with rage. “Then what do you suggest we do, oh wise and mighty one? Because we are going to the village of Tyler, whether you like it or not.”
I glanced forward to where Quilla was riding on ahead without us. Beyond her, I could make out the ferry station in the distance. Turning back to Melaina, I said, “There are two ferries at this station, aren’t there? One that merely crosses the river to get to the pass and another that goes downstream to Moore?”
Melaina nodded. “Yes. So?”
“So I say we take the ferry going to Moore. Then we can double back up toward Tyler, avoiding the armed checking station at the canyon. Besides, they charge an inordinate amount of coin at the toll to get through the pass. It’d be cheaper this way, and we could probably afford to stay in an inn or two along the way if we went through Moore.”
I knew the idea of room and board would appeal to her.
And what do you know, one of her eyebrows perked up with interest. But then she sighed and shook her head. “No, that would be going too far out of the way and take us twice as long to get there.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I sneered with a roll of my eyes. “I didn’t realize we were in such a hurry after it took us nearly until midday before we even broke camp this morning. Who the hell cares if it takes longer? Quilla will be safer this way.”
“Quilla can take care of herself.”
“Yes, I know. I’ve seen her do so. But why needlessly put her at risk? Quilla should be protected.”
“Quilla can talk for herself, you know,” Quilla spoke up, suddenly before us.
I jumped, not realizing she’d come back to check on us.
“The prisoner disguise thing at the canyon pass is a bad idea,” I blurted to her. “I don’t want you to do it.”
“Too bad you don’t have a choice in the matter, then,” she told me smarmily before sending her aunt an icy glance. “The ferry station approaches. We all need disguises before getting on the boat.”