The Prince's Mark

Chapter Twenty Seven

The next morning, Tracou spent some time staring at the ceiling of the inn in Dorssur. This building had once been something far more prestigious than an inn because the ceiling, while faded, had once been lavished with bright, colorful animals. In the center stood a stag staring directly at him. Its antlers were so big that Tracou thought, if he had to carry them, he wouldn't be able to lift them. Tracou had never heard of a stag with antlers that large and seeing its depiction made him uncomfortable. He was so far away from home that even the animals were foreign.

But he wasn't laying awake just to contemplate the picture above him—he had bigger things to worry about. What Ina had said to him last night had wormed into his head and made a home there. What did he hope to accomplish when it came to Pendaer? If he could have his way, he wanted Pendaer to pay for what he had done to him. That, unfortunately, had to wait. He had to deal with Pendaer until they found Mirthal and who knew how long that would take?

Yelling at Pendaer when the mood struck him would make everything take longer. That, at least, was certain.

With a grunt, Tracou sat up. Until they found Mirthal, Tracou would try not to fan any Pendaer related fires. Then, once Mirthal was safe, Tracou could do whatever he wanted.

Tracou got out of bed, satisfied with his decision. Try was a gentle word, after all.

After waking Ina up, the two of them got ready and headed toward the stables. They brought some bread from their supply since keeping the food in the stables with Pendaer seemed like a bad idea. This would allow them to feed the pigeon, as well.

The horses, both those they had brought along and others that belonged to Winleans, looked expectantly at Tracou and Ina as they entered. They were hungry, meaning that no stable boy had entered yet.

As they walked inside, Tracou spotted a pair of feet sticking out from one of the stables.

Pendaer still slept. He had chosen to sleep near his horse, which lay dutifully next to him. If a Winlean had walked in here before Tracou and Ina, they would have caught him. What was he thinking?

Ina opened the stable door and knocked on it, startling Pendaer awake. He jerked upright with a shuddering gasp. Slowly, he stood up, glancing around him as though he had no idea where he was. Bits of straw stuck out of his hair.

A smirk pulled at Tracou's lips, but he bit his cheek to keep it at bay.

"Are you hungry?" Ina asked, handing him a bit of bread.

Pendaer took it, frowning, and took as big of a bite as he possibly could.

Now what? Tracou didn't want to stick around watching Pendaer chew. Sighing lightly, Tracou looked around the stables again.

"Guess I'll find a rat," Tracou said to Ina.

Pendaer flinched at this, which drew Tracou's attention, but Pendaer faced away from him. So he was ignoring him. That suited Tracou just fine. The lack of his wand was going to be a festering sore spot for him no matter what and the less he had to talk to Pendaer, the better.

Ina nodded to Tracou, her eyes glittering. "Yeah, you should look around."

There was a glint in Ina's eye Tracou had never seen before. He didn't move for a few moments, trying to figure out what it was, but gave up. The sooner he found a rat, the sooner he and Pendaer could start yelling again.

Truth be told, Tracou wasn't sure how he was going to catch a rat. He wasn't especially nimble. And, even aside from his lack of skill, he didn't know where a rat would be in a stable like this. When he had seen rats, they usually had been in places where food was stored or in long grass.