Though the day had been comfortably cool, I still felt sweaty, dirty, tired, and sore by the time we rode our horses into Sora. I'd never ridden a horse for more than a couple hours at a time; me and my legs were eager to get down and walk on our own two feet for a bit.

Sora was much smaller than the village by the Tower. The inn—though small compared to what I was used to—was by far the largest structure there, with just a handful of small houses and some farms making good use of the strips of arable land on either side of the road.

We dismounted at the inn, handed our horses to a couple of stable boys, and made our way inside. It was quiet, with only a few farmers or shepherds seated at some tables, having a drink or two with friends to close out the evening. The innkeeper bustled out from the kitchen to greet us, wiping his hands on his dirty white apron.

His was a kind, lined face, but his smile was businesslike. "Welcome, welcome," he said, his words clipped and brisk. "I'm Owain, keeper of this establishment. Five of you for the night?"

"Yes, thank you," Cari said. "We have horses as well; your stable boys were good enough to take them for us."

"Very good, very good." He gestured to one of the tables. "Have a seat, then. I've got some stew in a pot, and some ale to help it go down. After you've had a bite, I'll show you to your rooms."

We all sat down at a table, and I looked around as the innkeeper—Owain—hurried back into the kitchen to fetch our food. I tried to imagine this small space filled with merchants, guards, and passengers. "It must have been pretty tight in here with that caravan," I said.

Heilyn chuckled. "Indeed. There is a reason they generally tend to skip this town."

I glanced at a nearby table with some farmers, and considered seeing if they might have seen anyone that looked like my father. A stab of anxiety shot through me at the thought of approaching them, but I was sure no one else would do it. I steeled myself. "I'm...going to take a minute and see what those men remember of that group."

"Hang on," Tomi said as I started to stand. "I don't like the idea of you speaking so freely with these folk."

Cari rolled her eyes, obviously feeling that Tomi was overreacting. "I'll go with him," she said. "Unless you distrust me, as well?"

Tomi scowled. "Cari, I don't want you mixed up with—"

"Oh, Tomi," she laughed. "You're so cute when you worry about me."

Tomi's scowl deepened as the rest of us laughed, but he only shrugged. "Fine. Suit yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Cari got up and went with me to the next table, where three farmers were seated. They were dressed in heavy working clothes, worn but sturdy, and were talking quietly. I looked to Cari, hoping she might take the lead, but she just gestured for me to speak.

I sat down at the table and tried to look friendly. "Uh, hey," I said. "I'm Reinold. We're...uh...just passing through."

The farmer nearest to me chuckled. "I probably could have guessed that, lad," he said.

I looked helplessly at Cari, but she only smiled and nodded for me to keep talking. Or maybe for me to keep digging myself deeper. Taking a breath, I forged on.

I recalled Heilyn's words to the troubadours, and used the same story. "We're trying to find a man that we sold something to," I said. "Only we sold him the wrong thing, and we're trying to make it right. He probably came through here yesterday, with a long canvas-wrapped bundle?"

The farmers looked at each other before shrugging. "Doesn't ring a bell, lad," said another of them. "But then, none of us were actually here last night."

That took all the wind out of me. If they weren't here, they wouldn't have seen any sign of my father, either. Frustrated, I thanked them for their time and returned with Cari to our table.

The innkeeper had brought bowls of stew and some bread, as well as ale to drink, and I set to. Tomi paused from eating, starting to ask Cari a question.

She stopped him with a hand on his arm. "We just asked about the man with the long bundle," she said, and glanced at Heilyn. "The one we sold the wrong item, too."

Tomi closed his mouth and narrowed his eyes at me, but nodded and returned to his food.

"Anything?" asked Heilyn.

I shook my head. "No," I said. "They said none of them were actually here last night, and so they had nothing useful to share."

"Well," said Heilyn with a grin. "Not to worry. We'll make a proper spy out of you yet."

Spy? Heilyn was nice enough, but he rarely made much sense to me.

We ate in silence, each of us absorbed in our thoughts. Had my father been here last night? I wanted desperately to ask, but I was reluctant to ask while Tomi was there. His hostility was like a flame that burned me whenever he glanced my way.

The innkeeper came back about halfway through our meal, to check on us as he made his rounds of the tables. "I've got some fresh berries," he said, "with some cream. Only a silver piece for the five of you. I'll bring some out."

I raised my hand to get his attention, thinking I might as well since Tomi was unlikely to ever leave me alone with the man, but Tomi shook his head fiercely. "Not now, Reinold," he said. Then, turning to the innkeeper, he added, "and no, thank you. When we're done here we'd like to be shown to our room."

When the innkeeper had left, Tomi leaned across the table and hissed at me. "No more questions from you!" He said in a low voice. "You're only here because Mair thought you might be valuable. I have yet to see any evidence of that. You will speak to no one who is not seated at this table. Do you understand?"

"But—"

"Do you understand?"

I closed my mouth and nodded, then turned back to my stew. It tasted good enough, but I suddenly had no appetite.

Once Tomi was focused on his own meal, Heilyn leaned close to me and chuckled. "Poor Tomi," he said. "He's made a vow to bring your father in, and he can't quite see how to fulfill it. I'll tell you what, though, Reinold. Tell me your questions, and I'll see that they get asked."

I eyed the large man dubiously, but couldn't see any other way to accomplish my ends. So I shrugged. "Thanks, Heilyn. I'm just curious to know if anyone saw my father, is all. He's a big man. He'd be hard to miss."

"He might have been in disguise."

"True, but the kind of spell that would make a big man like my father look like a smaller man has many limitations. It would take considerable effort to maintain the spell overnight, especially in a crowded sleeping room. I think it's unlikely that any sort of masking spell would be kept up that long."

Heilyn nodded. "That's fair. All right, I'll ask. Anything else?"

I considered for a moment, then shook my head. "Nothing specific."

Heilyn leaned back on the bench, which groaned in protest. "Good, good. I have a few ideas as well."

A quarter of an hour later we were in our room. There were three small beds crammed into the space, and Cari and Tomi claimed one, and Mair claimed another one. I looked at Heilyn's enormous bulk and offered to sleep on the floor. He laughed as if I'd said the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard, but didn't argue with me.

Instead, he turned to Cari and Tomi. "I think I'll go look around a bit," he said. "We should find out all we can while we're here."

Tomi shrugged. "I guess this is the sort of thing we brought you for," he said. "Though what you expect to find in this speck of a place, I can't imagine."

Heilyn smirked. "No," he said. "You can't." And then, while Tomi struggled to figure out whether he'd been insulted, the large man slipped quietly from the room.

I doubted I'd be able to sleep, what with all the worries about my father spinning through my head, but the long day in the saddle was enough to pull me under quickly.

The next thing I remembered was Heilyn shaking me gently awake. It was still dark, but the others were all up and getting ready by the light of a single candle. "What time is it?" I asked groggily.

"About an hour before dawn," said Heilyn. "Come, get ready. Tomi wants to get an early start."

I got up, and remembered Heilyn's excursion from the night before. "Did you learn anything?" I asked him.

He glanced at Tomi, who was looking at a map with Cari and gesturing animatedly. "Actually, yes," he said. "I told the others when I got in last night. Nothing useful for your question—no one remembers seeing a large fellow. But the innkeeper remembered the fellow with the large parcel. Said he'd complained of a headache, and asked about an herbalist, so the innkeeper sent him to Mrs. Morgan, next door. I followed the trail there and spoke with Mrs. Morgan, who remembers the man vividly because he argued with her over the price of her remedy. Ultimately, he paid her asking price, but not gladly."

"A headache?" I asked. "That's...interesting."

"Does it mean something to you?" asked Heilyn, seeing the thoughtful expression on my face.

"Maybe," I said. "Olwynna will try to communicate with whoever carries her. She doesn't talk, per se. It's more like she expresses how she's feeling. It's effortless if you're keyed to her, but if you aren't, her sendings may very well cause discomfort. Headaches, even."

"And you're keyed to her, I imagine?"

"Yes," I said. "And so is my father. If the headaches were from Olwynna's sendings, then the man is not my father, disguise or no."

Heilyn nodded thoughtfully. "That is interesting." He looked to Tomi. "Hey, Tomi, Cari," he said, getting their attention. "I think you should hear what the boy has to say."

Tomi listened skeptically as I repeated what I'd told Heilyn. When I was done, he rolled his eyes. "Well, that's convenient. Of course you'd want to draw suspicion away from Kondrack."

Mair snorted. "Sentient weapons are hardly common, but there's plenty of literature about them. What Reinold says is not only plausible, but it has precedent."

Tomi sneered at her. "You would say that," he said. "You're practically on his side."

Mair bristled, but Cari interceded before things got out of hand. "Regardless," she said. "This is useful information. It doesn't prove anything, but it suggests that, at the very least, the parcel is the sword."

We were all silent for a moment, considering. Tomi looked frustrated for some reason, but only looked to Heilyn. Finally, Heilyn nodded. "Okay, let's get going," he said. "With any luck, we'll be in Cumae by tonight."

———

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