though. And it was a good idea to get out of that room. Lily had hardly discouraged him and while he had made the move to kiss her - which he had known even was ill-advised - she had made the move to show him affection. He wasn't a monk. Having to look upon lovely Lily and live alongside Lily and pretend to be married to Lily - well, it was bound to happen, he growled privately as he stomped from the inn, ignoring the innkeeper's puzzled look.
None of this mattered! Not him, not Lily, not Kilt Faris's feelings. All that mattered was that Clovis was dead. Stabbed, abandoned...murdered. Why? That's what mattered. Who had killed him and for what reason? What had Clovis stumbled into or upon?
He found Deren in the bakery, where he had said he would be for the rest of the day. He was covered in flour, pushing loaves into the clay oven. "I need to see where he died," Kirin said, before Deren could even open his mouth.
Deren looked around. "I can't leave the bakery. These are loaves for to night's meals in the inn."
"Is there anyone else who could show me?" Kirin appealed.
Deren regarded him for a moment before sighing and nodding. "I'll ask young Tod to take you. Roddy's his friend. He was helping to look for him."
"Thank you."
"Wait here," Deren said and disappeared out the back.
Kirin strolled to the doorway and looked across the street. The barn would have to be rebuilt. To its left he saw the Widow Kenyan's cottage that Deren had pointed out earlier. He frowned, cocking his head to one side. The cottage's roof looked scorched, too, and next to it the trees looked damaged. What had occurred?
Deren returned. "Tod says he'll take you for a couple of trents."
Kirin nodded. "It's the least I can pay," he agreed. "Have you noticed that the Widow Kenyan's cottage is scorched?"
Deren was back to banging out hot loaves. "Yes. It was damaged in the fire."
"How? Nothing else around the barn is damaged. Why and how would the fire choose that cottage?"
The baker shrugged. "I don't really know. Haven't thought about it."
"Well, look at it."
Deren stopped to look out the window. "The trees are damaged too," he observed.
"I know. So they caught fire and they somehow ignited the cottage roof? That doesn't make sense. The barn is too far away."
"Embers, perhaps?" the man said, sounding increasingly less interested.
"But...oh, it doesn't matter," Kirin said as a child ran in through the door. "You must be Tod."
"Got my trents?"
"I do," Kirin said seriously, reaching into his pocket and fishing out one of the last of his coins. He flipped it to Tod, who caught and pocketed the coin with dexterity.
"Come on then, sir. I have to be back to bring the cows in or me da will whip me."
"Lead the way," Kirin said, looking over his shoulder and nodding a farewell. "If my wife's looking for me, let her know where I am, will you?"
The man nodded but frowned as if to say why didn't you? Without looking back, Kirin left Green Herbery and the memory of kissing Lily behind.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Greven and Piven were approaching Berch. They'd walked solidly most of the day with Greven deliberately hanging back. He didn't want to talk to Piven...couldn't. His hand throbbed. Hand! He sneered inwardly. He could still feel it. It was as though he were still whole and yet the intense pain told him differently. Piven had promised that to night they would brew a strong painkiller but there had been no time to stop during daylight. They had needed to put distance between themselves and the murdered man.
Piven dropped back to walk next to Greven. "We'll get help for you at Berch."
"I don't need help. I know as much about healing as anyone in that town."
Piven nodded. "Then we'll push on to the coast."
"Why?"
"We can stay out of sight for a while."
"What are we doing? What in Lo's name are you doing?"
"I'm not sure yet. I'm following Vyk."
Greven had been so lost in his thoughts and the pain that he hadn't realized that the raven was still traveling with them. He looked around, and found it watching them from a tree ahead. "Lo curse the creature! How does it always find us?"
"He means us no harm."
"Where does this end, Piven? In your strange mind, where does this reckless behavior lead you?"
Piven frowned, considered the question seriously. Finally he blew his cheeks out. "To the throne,