She pins him with a gaze so hard, I shrink back. Penrith doesn’t flinch.
The dragon opens her great wings and takes to thesky. It isn’t until she disappears into the clouds that Penrith turns to us. “I’ll take the first watch. You two get some sleep.”
Galinor agrees, and we lay our bedrolls on the cold, stone ground. I toss and turn and shiver. I’m sure I won’t sleep at all tonight.
I wake,unsure what’s roused me. I glance across the tent. Galinor is asleep, and the night is still black. Not yet time for our watch, I close my eyes and try to find sleep again. I ache with the cold. I don’t know how I fell asleep at all; I have no idea how I will find it again.
I stretch my toes, trying to warm them, and then I freeze. Voices drift through the tent.
“I checked on them myself. They’re both asleep,” Penrith says.
“Did you give them the draught?”
Penrith laughs. “It was in the mead. Since I drank it as well, they never thought to check it.”
I suck in a gasp.
“Lucky you’re immune to the stuff,” the second voice says.
“Drink it enough, and it stops working.”
There’s the sound of footsteps, and I believe the men have sat down in front of the fire. Now that my eyes have adjusted, I can faintly see two silhouettes through the canvas.
“Do you think Peter knew he sent us a prince?” Penrith asks.
“Peter is a fool,” the visitor says. “He saw their clothing and guessed at wealth—nothing else.”
His voice is familiar.
I stretch over and shake Galinor. He doesn’t wake.
The men continue to discuss their luck. We don’t have much time. If they’re planning to rob us, I doubt they’ll leave us alive.
I jump back to my bedroll and close my eyes when I hear the men rise. For now, it’s probably best to appear asleep.
“I want the girl,” Penrith says.
They pause outside the tent, and the second man answers, “If you keep the girl, you’ll get no share in the gold.”
“They’ll be more gold. I want her.”
“What will you do with her? Take her as your wife?”
Penrith snorts. “Not likely.”
They enter the tent, and the firelight glows through my eyelids.
“I didn’t think the draught worked on her at first. She tossed and turned for a good hour before she finally fell asleep.” There’s an odd strain of admiration in his voice.
“You’d keep her alive even though she could be your death?”
It sounds as if they’ve turned away, and I chance a peek. As I suspected, it’s the barman.
Penrith is quiet for a moment. “I don’t think we should kill him either.”
“What?” The barman quietly hisses. “Leave him alive? Are you insane? Did you see how close he was to killingthat fool Maynard for touching her? He’ll run you through without so much as a regret.”
They leave the tent, and I can finally breathe again.
