Elven Legacy

Chapter 72

Dharkan

He ran a hand down the tall black stallion's head, between the eyes, and Strider seemed to snort in approval. Then Dharkan rubbed down the animal's neck and shoulder, double checking the girths and reins while he was at it.

His saber, Steelrose, was sheathed to his back, and his bag was strapped to Strider's saddle. Inside the bag, his coin purse and his flask were both missing – but hey, maybe it was just as well.

Everything else was still there – spare clothes, whetstone and oil, kerchief, waterskin, a few odds and ends – and now he also had clean bandages for when the current ones would need changing, a spare eye patch, and two vials of that sin drug Tessa fancied.

'Try to only take it only if you really need it, if you're in a lot of pain,' Beth had advised, and Kitera had translated. 'The stuff can be addictive.'

Presently, Kitera stood nearby next to her tall gray, Bolt, and saying goodbye to the pawn shop guy, Miko. They were in his tiny back-alley stables, and it stank of horse dung, dirty trough water and hay. There was nothing much the early morning wind could do to help. Sometimes Dharkan got wafts of Kitera's perfume, and the notes of jasmine, vanilla and orchids were like a beacon of hope through the alley's stench.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Miko told Kitera, with a glint in his beady eyes that Dharkan didn't much like.

"Wish I could say the same," Kitera said, or at least that was what Dharkan understood, with his limited but growing knowledge of the language.

The short man cackled a laugh, nodded, and let her go.

She hopped onto Bolt's saddle, grasping the reins with gloved hands, and Dharkan imitated her. The stitches in his leg tugged achingly in protest, but he managed.

Miko gave her one final piece of advice, gesturing about with a hand, after which Kitera nodded her thanks and spurred Bolt along. Dharkan gave her a questioning sidelong glance.

"He says to turn left on Wormwood Corner, then left again at the crossroads, and head down straight until we hit the coastal road to Quofu. Less Red Patrols there," she explained.

Dharkan nodded as they rode their mounts along the narrow passageway that led to Wormwood Corner.

"Not too bad a fellow, then," he conceded in a quiet voice.

Kitera shrugged. "I did win him a ton of money. Probably owes me more than what he gave me, but whatever. I'm just glad to be out of this shit hole."

"Gods know I am too," he grumbled.

Kitera gave him a small smile as they veered left into the packed dirt alley, lined up on either side with decrepit buildings of vine-claimed walls, flaking paint, and creepy doors in shadowy recesses. Two scraggly alley cats scurried past their horses with rasped mewls, and Kitera's smile faded into a grimace.

"Anyway," Kitera said, bringing Bolt closer beside Strider. "We should make it to Quofu in a day, depending how you feel. And from there, we ride back east to Pearjia – hopefully in a day, too."

"I feel fine," he said gruffly, even though his stitches screamed at him and his eye throbbed, as well as his whole head. And they were only at a trot.

"Okay," Kitera said briskly – she probably saw right through him. She usually did.

It was a relief to turn left into a broader street, leaving the worst of the smells behind. This one was mostly packed tenements, with some women outside hanging clothing and sheets onto clotheslines that looped like garlands from home to home.