After a few more words with the woman, and an exchange of coin, Gordon finally joined them and they were able to return to the road.
Unlike through the majority of their travels yesterday, the wide road leading to Mullhind was sparsely populated. A few carts creaked their merry way, mostly leading north, away from the capital. None appeared to carry any wares that might’ve come from a festival.
Gordon twisted in the saddle, eyeing all of them over his shoulder. “Once we turn off the intersection, we’ll be keeping to the road as much as we’re able. Naebody leaves the camp for long, nae alone.” He waggled a finger at Hamish and Darshan. “Especially nae for hours on end.”
Darshan snorted. “And I thought we had nothing to fear from brigands.”
“It’s nae them I’m worried about. Bears are my greater concern. The closer we get to the mountain, the more likely we are to find some. And I’d rather nae disturb them.”
Darshan rolled his eyes. He’d never seen a bear, not a living one anyway. The Udynean landscape—at least the southern part he was personally more familiar with—was rather devoid of such predators. Where the jungles of places like Obuzan had slinky spotted cats lurking in the canopies, and the southern lands worried over jackals and wild dogs, the untamed lands of Udynea belonged to the tigers.
“I dinnae think you comprehend how dangerous it can be out here.”
Darshan smirked. “To be fair, I am used to being the most dangerous thing in the vicinity.” His magic could frighten off the biggest of creatures. He had proven that in his late teens when frightening off a curious tiger from the family’s country estate near the twin lakes when one had slunk into the gardens. True, the beast had been more interested in going after the herd of spiral-horned deer that grazed there, but his young half-sister, Nita, quite likely would’ve died attempting the same thing had he not acted.
A sigh escaped him at the memory. Dear Nini. He often believed she would’ve been much like Anjali had she the chance to grow up. To think, he had saved her from a potential tiger mauling only for her to fall prey to their half-sister, Onella. Unfortunate timing, the council had eventually ruled. That’d been a decade ago. He still didn’t believe a sturdy bridge could just collapse without warning, especially at the precise time for Nita to cross it during her usual morning ride.
But having faced a hungry tiger, he rather doubted a bear posed much of a threat. Granted, bears were bigger—much bigger if the stuffed examples in the palace study were to be believed as the norm. But even if something so big and clunky managed to land the first blow, he’d a moderate chance of having enough wits about him to protect himself and the others until the so-called danger left.
Frowning, Gordon opened his mouth.
“Rabbit!” Zurron blurted before the man could speak. The elf pointed at the road ahead even as he scrambled for his bow.
The guard’s cry set off a flurry of activity. Like Zurron, the rest of the men went for their bows. They urged their horses forward, shuffling Darshan to the rear whilst spreading out across the road’s width.
Darshan craned his neck to see beyond their shoulders and flailing arms. Sure enough, one of the fluffy-tailed creatures was bounding up the road in a haphazard zigzag pattern, likely flushed out from the underbrush by the noise.
Several arrows flew through the air, skimming across the ground or digging point-first into the dirt. Unscathed, their prey continued bounding ahead of them.
“Got it!” Hamish cried, loosing his arrow.
The rabbit abruptly changed direction, bounding right over the arrows the rest of the men had fired before racing in the opposite direction. The erratic path it took stopping only once Hamish’s arrow hit. It dropped like a windfallen apple.
Odd. He could’ve sworn that arrow had veered off its natural arc, twitching along with the rabbit’s zigzagging movements. By all rights, the man should’ve missed.
The guards congratulated Hamish’s speed as they collected both the rabbit and their arrows.
Darshan gnawed on the inside of his lip as Hamish plucked the arrow from the animal’s heart. First the fluke of Gordon being inside his shield back at the castle—an act that he couldn’t quite be certain had also happened last night when his backside was walloped—now this?
Could it be that the royal line had magic in its blood? None of the empire’s usual sources had dug up any such possibility. Still, it would be foolish to not consider it before a proper test. But how to go about that? All the tests he knew of were done on infants, whose abilities responded on an instinctual level, and usually only to determine spellsters from Nulled Ones.
To attempt the same examination on a grown man?
His lover could very well have learnt to suppress any abilities without knowing. Darshan couldn’t exactly outright ask Hamish for the same reason, not even in private. Never mind the risk of offending the man should his querying prove false.
“—nae halting to cook one measly rabbit,” Gordon was saying, his hands raised placatingly towards the guards. “We wasted too much time at Old Willie’s. If we’re lucky, we might be able to add a few more to the pot for a decent supper.” He nodded at his brother. “String it up for now.”
Hamish tied the rabbit to his saddle, letting it hang down one side of the mare’s shoulder, and mounted his horse. “Supper? Dinnae we usually wind up sharing the farmhouse’s fare?”
“I dinnae think we’ll make it to the guard tower before dark never mind a farmhouse. Maybe if someone hadnae taken so long or had chosen to wear suitable clothes for the journey.” Gordon shot Darshan a meaningful look.
Darshan returned the expression with
