The Seer by Rowan McAllister (reading comprehension books .TXT) 📕

meet you as soon as I can.” With one last small smile for Shura, the mistress nudged her mare toward town.

When she was far enough away not to hear them, Daks turned to Shura and asked, “Are you sure we should trust her?”

Instead of immediately jumping to her defense, as Ravi half expected given some of the flirting he’d witnessed over the last couple of days, Shura shrugged and pursed her lips, gazing in the direction the mistress had gone. “I don’t know. But our options are somewhat limited at present. If we can get across to Samebar cleanly and quietly, I’d much prefer it to trying to steal a boat and supplies under the noses of pain priests. Ordinary men might not be able to do much, even if we’re spotted crossing in the dark of night, but a stone-wielder could use their magic to sink us or force our boat back to Rassa with little effort, particularly if they’re warned of our presence in time to prepare.”

She shot a glance at Ravi, but was much less subtle about it than Daks had been, and Ravi flinched and turned away.

Yeah, he knew he was the problem. He always knew it. The thought of being the reason some poor villager was taken as an offering and tortured to recharge a pain priest’s stone made him almost as queasy as the fear of being captured by the Brotherhood.

Daks swung off the saddle behind him, then reached up and offered him a hand. “Come on. We’ll need to cut through the woods, and Fara may be a little while. We might as well give the horses—and our asses—a break and walk the rest of the way.”

This time, Ravi took it and allowed Daks to help him down. Shura dismounted as well, and Daks led them across the road and into the woods on the other side.

None of them bothered to talk much during their trek. Picking their way through the underbrush required a bit of attention, and Ravi needed to save his breath. He was used to working long hours, running errands, stacking crates, and any other odd jobs he could get in Rassat, but this was a whole different level of exertion, and the constant anxiety and fear didn’t help.

When Daks finally stopped, the woods around them didn’t appear any different from what they’d been struggling through, and he gave the man a questioning look.

“The green is over there.” Daks pointed to a slightly brighter area off to his right.

Feeling completely out of his depth, Ravi simply nodded and slumped onto a fallen log. The other two settled farther up the log while the horses were left to graze nearby.

After only a short rest, the silence began to feel oppressive. The only sounds around him were the occasional trill of birdsong and rustle of branches in the breeze.

“Do you still feel them?” he asked Daks, cocking his chin toward the town.

“Yes. Members of the Thirty-Six are hard to miss. The relics they wear are quite… loud, for lack of a better word, very distinctive, especially when charged.”

He’d said that last with a grimace, and Ravi worried his lip as he studied the man. Daks might be an impulsive brute, but he knew a hell of a lot more about magic than Ravi did. The scholar in him longed to pummel the man with questions, draw out everything he knew, and write it down in a journal, but he bit the words back. He’d have plenty of time to learn from actual wizards when he reached Samebar.

“Will Mistress Sabin be able to find us here?” Ravi asked instead.

Both of his traveling companions were staring at him now, and he squirmed.

“She should have no trouble,” Daks replied kindly. “The festival green isn’t hard to find. Anyone in town should be able to point her in the right direction. I’ve kept back a bit because the big guy over there stands out like a sore thumb.” Daks nodded in the direction of the white stallion, who gazed placidly back at them. “But I should be able to see her when she makes it to the tree line.”

“What if she doesn’t come back?”

Shura’s jaw hardened, and Ravi winced.

“If she doesn’t come, we’ll wait until dark, and I’ll make a foray into town to explore our options,” Daks replied evenly. Shura opened her mouth, but Daks shook his head at her and placed a hand on her arm. “I’m less—what was the word she used—distinctive than you are… or at least I can be when I want to. If anyone could have possibly sent word up from Urmat, they’ll be looking for you. I’m just a unsavory dark-haired type they may have caught a glimpse of in a dark alley. They were following you, and the farther we get from Rassat, the more attention you will draw.”

She sniffed but didn’t argue with him.

“You’d steal a boat, with members of the Thirty-Six around?” Ravi asked nervously.

Daks grimaced. “Not if we don’t have to. As Shura said, we risk magical attack even if we manage to get a boat big enough for all of us to go at once. I’d rather find someone amenable to a trade, someone with no great love for the Brotherhood, or with no great love for law and order in general… though I’m not sure Fara was the right person to send on such a mission.”

“She will get us information, and we can go from there,” Shura huffed, as if they’d had this conversation already, and Daks grunted noncommittally.

Chapter Seven

DAKS CRACKED his neck and rolled his shoulders as he resisted the urge to get up and pace the clearing. They were all anxious. He didn’t need to make it worse by prowling like a caged animal, but he sure as hells wanted to. Sitting on his ass while he left his fate to a stranger went contrary to everything he was.

He glanced pensively over at Ravi, huddled beneath his ratty cloak, the