I swallowed my next remark, hiding my blush with a bow. “We will depart at once.”
He dismissed me with the wave of a hand.
I counted my steps as I retreated to the door. Mustn’t look too eager to escape.
When I was out in the hall, I heaved a sigh of relief, then focused my thoughts on the task ahead. Silgard was the largest city in the Ebon Province. Hunting in such a populous location might prove difficult, especially if the vampire had human servants living within the city walls. The vampire could have any number of well-guarded hiding places.
I walked down the final set of stairs, reaching the main entry, then stepped outside. I needed to gather my belongings, but first I had to find Steifan to ensure he’d be ready to depart. I almost hated to take him into more danger, though he usually fared better than I… which I was sure was just pure dumb luck.
I had only taken a few steps down the stone walkway when a shadow crossed my path. A tall, female shadow. I lifted my eyes, already knowing who it was.
Isolde braced her hands on her hips. She wore a plain cream colored shirt and dark breeches, no armor, so she wasn’t going anywhere outside the castle. Her black hair hung in a dark ponytail, leaving her severe features unadorned.
She looked at me as she might a stain on her clean shirt. “What did the Potentate want with you?”
I crossed my arms, jutting my hip out to one side. “And what business is that of yours?”
Her eyes narrowed to mere slits. “You know why—”
I lifted a hand to cut her off. “It’s nothing that concerns you or Markus. Simply a mission in Silgard.”
Her brows lifted. “In Silgard? And the Potentate is sending you?”
I couldn’t help my slightly mocking smile. Isolde was my senior, if anyone got to go to Silgard, it honestly should have been her. That thought alone stopped me. Why had the Potentate chosen me? Steifan made sense, he would know how to charm the dukes and duchesses, but so would Isolde. Finally, I shrugged in reply, not knowing what else to say.
She didn’t seem to notice my sudden worry. With a flick of her ponytail, she gave me a final glare, then turned and walked off.
I glanced at the hilt of the Seeing Sword peeking over my shoulder. “You could’ve warned me an enemy was nearby,” I scoffed, then started walking.
I pushed thoughts of the Potentate and Isolde from my mind. There would be real enemies on the road. And come nightfall, there would probably be vampires. I hoped it wouldn’t be anyone I knew.
I searched through my weapons trunk, ensuring I had everything I might need. I already wore my armor and my sword, and had packed two spare sets of clothing. I hoped the mission would take no more than a week, but there really was no saying. It would take several days to ride to Silgard, and hunting the vampire might take more than one night. If it was killing high-ranking nobles whose deaths would be immediately noticed, it was either extremely intelligent, or extremely stupid. If we killed it in one night it was just stupid, and probably new dead. But if the creature eluded us it was older dead, perhaps even ancient and another proponent of Karpov’s new order.
I lifted my head at a knock on the door. I’d be leaving soon, so I hadn’t locked it. It opened before I could invite the knocker inside. Steifan was the first to enter, followed closely by Tholdri. Steifan was expected, and Tholdri, well I supposed I expected him too, even though he had no reason to delay our mission.
Watching me still kneeling by my trunk, Tholdri walked across the small room and sat on my cream coverlet. He raked a hand through his impressive golden locks, then aimed his speculative gaze at me.
“Don’t look at me like that,” I sniffed. “The Potentate gave me a mission, and it has nothing to do with Asher.”
Tholdri lifted a brow. “How did you know that’s what I was thinking?”
Steifan leaned against the wall near the closed door, watching us.
Clutching two spare daggers and a bundle of crossbow bolts, I stood. “Because you’ve asked me about him every single time I’ve left the castle.”
He shrugged, giving me a charming smile that would melt lesser women in their boots. “You can’t blame me for worrying, Lyss.”
I set the weapons on my bed beside him. “I most certainly can. Now is there anything else? I want to put good distance between us and the castle before dark.”
“Eager to be away from the Potentate’s watchful eye?” he asked.
I shook my head, though in truth that was part of it. “The duchess cannot be given her rites until we examine her. It’s warm enough in the South that she will be growing riper by the day. I would not delay our arrival.”
I walked across the room to my stuffed saddlebags, wondering how I would fit any more weapons within.
I could feel Tholdri’s eyes on my back. “Don’t you think it’s odd that the Potentate is sending you away so quickly after we told him of the vampire war? You would think he would want one of his best hunters close at hand.”
“He has you, and Markus and Isolde. Someone has to go to Silgard.”
He stood and moved in front of me, preventing me from avoiding his gaze. “And if you see Asher along the way?”
I did better than meeting his gaze, I affixed him with an icy glare. “Then I ignore him. Unless he has news on the vampire situation, I have no use of him.”
“I’ll be with her,” Steifan said from behind my back.
Tholdri and I both looked at him, but Tholdri beat me to saying what we’d both been thinking. “And what difference does that make? She’s going to do as she wishes regardless.”
Steifan shrugged.
