The Wizard's Misery The Chronicles of the Midlands Book One

Chapter Twenty Eight

They rode on for a while as the sun continued to climb further up into the sky and Celine watched as the few fluffy clouds hovering over them were blown away by the cool wind. She pulled the blanket more tightly around herself as she was shivering and Brandon noticed that she was cold. "I'm going to stop and get you another blanket," he told her as he reined in the horses and the coach came rolling to a stop.

"I'll be right back," he told her as he hopped down and went inside the coach, returning a few moments later with a blanket.

When he returned, he draped the blanket across her and then sat down. "Is that better?" he asked her smiling.

"Yes, thank you," she said gratefully. "The weather is starting to get really chilly now."

"When we get to Deep Run, I'm going to get you another cloak and a pair of pants because we'll be riding horses to Halfaway since it's faster," he explained and then gave her a mischievous smile . "It seems that buying you cloaks is becoming a habit," he said chuckling as she blushed again.

"I'm sorry that you have to keep spending money on me," she said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," he told her. "I'm the one who owns the courier network and the men I have working for me just manage it. So, I have a bit of money."

"You own the courier network? Do you also own the inns?" she asked surprised.

"I own some of the inns and I contract with the ones I don't own. But, all the inns I contract with are owned by resistance members. That's been the problem with Halfaway. Mrs. Horsley isn't a part of the resistance and like I told you, I don't want to take away her livelihood by building another inn," he explained.

"I thought you said you were in the Western Wastes until recently. How did you get the money to buy the inns and the courier network?" she asked him suspiciously.

"My father was a wealthy man and I used my allowance to start the courier network before I left as a way to get messages around for the resistance," he explained. "But, it was a legitimate business and it just happened that delivering messages and packages was very lucrative. So, I was making money the entire time I was in the Wastes and when I came back, I had enough to buy a few inns and enrich the network and the surveillance we do in the taverns."

"That's quite an accomplishment for a fourteen year old!" she said exclaimed impressed. "You must be very smart."

"Actually, I'm more determined to put an end to Maledictor than I am smart," he told her. "The courier business was just a stroke of luck."

"He must be pretty wealthy to own the courier network and some inns," she thought sadly. "Someone like that would never be interested in a poor, farmer's daughter like me," she mused, realizing that she was starting to have feelings for him that weren't going to be reciprocated. "You must be pretty wealthy then," she said softly, sounding a little disappointed.

"Not really. Most of my money goes to funding the resistance," he explained. "But, why do you sound sad?" he asked curiously, looking at her and trying to figure out what was the matter. He noticed that she was blushing again and he wonder why.

"I was just thinking about something," she told him without meeting his eye.

"Oh, I never knew that beautiful, fierce, brave, patriotic warrior women were also bashful," he teased with a playful smile on his face.

"I'm not usually like this," she told him, her face becoming even more red with his teasing. "I'm not used to being teased like this, I guess," she confessed and he chuckled.

"I'll stop teasing you," he replied. "For now anyway," he added chuckling again.

"Thank you," she told him gratefully as she gave him a shy smile.