Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 16

They rode for hours before Ty finally suggested that they take a break.  Ildri was happy to get off the horse.  Ty helped her down and she felt disoriented for a few seconds.

"Here," he said, giving her a piece of bread.

Ildri took the bread and carried it over to a tree, where she sat down.  Ty was taking care of the horses before eating anything himself.  For as much as he could be overbearing and bossy, he was kind to the animals.  The horses and Farrel all seemed to be quite taken with him.

As if knowing that she had been thinking of him, Farrel turned and looked over at Ildri.  There was something uncanny about the wolf and it was not only that he did not seem to like her.  Or perhaps it was all in her imagination.  After all, there was no reason for his pet to dislike her.  She had never done anything to him.

His golden, intelligent looking eyes continued to bore into her.  She watched as he walked closer to her.  He looked menacing.  She swallowed deeply past the nervous tension that was gathering in her throat.

"Farrel.  What are you doing?" Ty asked from over by the horses.

Immediately the wolf abandoned its aggressive posture and made his way back over to Ty.  Ildri watched him as he walked away.  His tail was between his legs but even that humble pose made him look resentful rather than remorseful.

She did not know what the half wolf's problem was.

When Ty finished, he came and sat beside Ildri.  She looked at him from the corner of her eye.  His red hair seemed to be darkening and she could just see the faint trace of a scar across the side of his face.  She had thought it a feature of his first disguise, but was the scar something that marred his true face?  Was it the real reason that he hid behind all his disguises?

She was probably reading too much into it.  She looked down at her own hands.  They seemed to be losing age, but they retained the lined and veined appearance of someone four times her own age.  She wondered how bad her face still looked.

"How will they know who we are in the capital if we don't look like ourselves?"

Ty nodded towards her saddle and the bags tied to it.  "I've a potion which will remove the lingering effects quickly."

Ildri was not surprised.  He did not seem like the sort to leave things to chance or to wait around for something to wear off.  She only knew him for a few days but she suspected he would pick the most expedient choice available.  He was probably ready for anything.

She felt a grudging admiration for him, then realized what she was thinking.  Was she insane?

"We'll travel until nightfall.  I have a place that we can stay tonight."

"Really?  Where?" she asked, hoping that the place involved a bed instead of the uncomfortable ground.

"Just with an old friend."

"Oh."

"Her name is Maxine and I'm certain she'll put us up for the night.  She's not expecting us, so I don't know what state we'll find her in.  Try not look surprised at whatever we find."

It seemed a strange warning.  "What do you think that we might find?" Ildri asked cautiously.

"I can't say.  She's a bit eccentric but she's quite brilliant, really.  I think you'll like her."

Ty certainly liked her, Ildri could tell by the look on his face.  She wondered what Maxine was to Ty and she felt an uncomfortable uneasy feeling.  She pushed it aside.

But at least there would be a proper shelter.  She had only been lucky that it had not yet rained while she was sleeping outside.  "Will there be a bed?" she asked hopefully.