Starsinger

Mercenary

Aaron poked Jace with his toe. "Wake up."

"Mmpf." Jace didn't move.

Aaron tore away his friend's blanket. "Now that's just cruel," Jace whined.

"No worse than you've done."

"Is this still payback?" Jace pulled on his tunic. "Honestly, Aaron. That was almost a year ago. Forgiveness is a virtue."

"You blew a trumpet in my ear." Aaron said sourly, brushing through the tent flap.

"But you should have seen your face."

Sapphire was scuffing out the remains of the night's fire while Raelyn and Delia broke down their tent. The scout looked up as Aaron approached, handing him a green apple and a slice of hard cheese. He bit into the apple and the tartness curled under his lips.

"We're packed," Delia said. Jace turned towards her voice, then quickly looked away. Without a word he disappeared back into his tent to fold their bedrolls.

Delia shrugged. "Perhaps I smell."

"Like wildflowers and dew drops." Raelyn draped her arm around Delia's shoulders. "I would know. That's how I always smell."

Sapphire cut the rope they'd used to string up the cookpot and the hilt of the Firesly dagger caught Raelyn's eye. With a tight smile, the princess steered Delia away from the smoking ashes of the fire. Sapphire clenched her jaw. Aaron swallowed his frustration. One step forward, two steps back.

"I hear the wagon." Delia called suddenly.

"Uri and Maya?" Jace slid the packed tent over his shoulder and peered into the trees. The refugees had left them the day before, continuing south towards their liege's castle. "They headed in the opposite direction. How could they have caught up with us?"

"They could've taken a wrong turn," Aaron said.

"There's the ox," said Raelyn.

Sapphire frowned. "Something's not right."

"Where's Chelsa?" Delia asked.

Then the cart rounded the bend in the road and Aaron froze. Men. There were nearly half a dozen men riding in the wagon, Uri's wagon, and as many walking beside it. The ox's flanks were lathered from the strain. The mothers and their children were nowhere to be seen.

Aaron felt a ripple of fear down his spine. "Raelyn, get back."

Jace grabbed the princess's wrist and yanked her behind them. Sapphire pulled her hood up and stepped forward to form a line with the soldiers, fingering the daggers in her wristguards. Adrenaline pounded in Aaron's ears. They've already seen us. We have nowhere to run.

Delia blinked at them. "What's all this?"

The wagon riders jeered and whistled as they came into view. They were a motley crew, but Aaron could see the shine of weapons glimmering from their plain scabbards. Good steel. And lots of it. These were no common passersby.

A tall, lanky man swung over the edge of the wagon, his feet landing with a thud. He strode towards them, an easy smile on his long face, but with a hot, excited edge to it that made Aaron nervous.

"Hello, friends," he called. "What luck, to find fellow travelers in this empty old Wood."

Not as empty as I'd like. The man's accent didn't sound Crollish, hitting the vowels with more of a western slant than a southern one. Still, he wouldn't put it past Crolton to use hired guns. The men in the wagon were laughing, but they kept their eyes fixed on the travelers.