“I’m not sure yet. Hopefully, less than three days, but possibly as long as five.”
Alifair would explode if they didn’t talk about Bosse soon. It was good to know Krol would be leaving, but having the guards beef up security might get in her way. She still had a plan once she found Rez, but moving around the castle on her own was going to get risky.
Shouting erupted outside.
Krol and his men turned toward the giant double doors made of thick wood beams joined together and hung on iron hinges.
The doors swung open. The two guards pulling them open hid behind the doors.
Krol’s creature came striding in, head held high. How had it known what time it was since nobody around this place wore a watch?
Alifair would never get that abominable image out of her brain.
Standing, Krol walked over to meet his four-legged bird creature, the Lammogo.
When he reached his new pet, it sat like a dog and fixed its eagle-like eyes on him. He asked, “Is the wolf shifter still running?”
The bird’s head dropped low and came back up.
“Are the hunters still on his trail?” He got the same response to this question and then asked, “Do you think the wolf will escape the hunters?”
Turning its head from side to side, the bird made it clear what it believed.
Alifair’s heart thudded with disappointment.
Krol laughed. “Very good. Wait here, and I’ll be ready to leave in a few minutes.” He crossed to the staircase and went to the upper level Alifair itched to search.
She’d gotten a little news on Bosse but wished for a hunter to return to tell them Bosse had vanished.
The other two women started for the table because once Krol stood, everyone knew the meal was over, and they were dismissed. Alifair joined the women in clearing the table left in a mess by guards standing to leave.
Every one of Krol’s mighty guards gave the Lammogo a wide berth and departed the hall through the open doors.
She had carried one tray into the kitchen and then returned to gather more plates and forks from the table. As she bent over to reach for another dish to add to her stack, she paused at the sound of Krol’s boots pounding down the stairs. “Guards!”
The first guard who rushed inside called out, “Your wagon is ready, sir.”
Wagon? Alifair couldn’t believe the man did not have a modern vehicle. No mobile phones, sure, but no powered vehicle? She had lost her mobile phone the night they captured her, but she’d since learned there was no reception here. There was no reason for even Krol to have one, she supposed.
It felt like she’d fallen into a hole and traveled back hundreds of years in time. Or more like getting cast in a horror movie that wouldn’t end.
She watched as Krol headed for the door. His bird creature stood and followed him outside.
Finally, Krol would be out of her way. She had searched almost all the downstairs and below, which had required patience she’d never thought she possessed. If she were caught in the wrong location, she and Rez would both lose. Now that Bosse was gone and hopefully outrunning his trackers, she could focus only on Rez.
For the first time since being here, she felt energized at finding Rez. If only she could dream about her clanswoman. Her vivid dream of finding Bosse in a cave had been more real than her other projective dreams. Very real.
She had to get her mind off that wolf shifter and think about her duty.
When the double doors were pulled closed, Alifair lifted her gaze to scout the area.
Eriko came striding in and addressed one of the lower guards. “Krol has put out word that we’re hiring new guards. Some may arrive soon. He wants fresh blood in our security and some to hunt game for the kitchen. Also, I will begin interrogating our guards later today. The servants will be next. I intend to find the person who helped the wolf shifter escape.”
Not all guards watched over the cage area. The one speaking with Eriko had a short, squat body with bushy red hair that matched his eyebrows and had been down there.
He told Eriko, “I assure you it was not me. I couldn’t stand that animal.”
She bit her tongue to keep from yelling at him that Bosse was not just an animal.
