Silver and Shadow by Melissa McShane

Author:Melissa McShane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Night Harbor Publishing

Chapter

Eleven

The smell of the poison gas clung to Ginnevra’s clothes and skin. She’d never been so grateful for the protection of the coif that kept her hair free of the stink. Grimacing, she changed into a fresh shirt, hose, and breeches and gathered up her smelly clothing. There was a woman in the village who’d washed Ginnevra’s clothes before; that was as good a place as any for her to start asking questions.

Eodan had declined to go with her, saying, “You’re the paladin, and I think it would look strange for your brother to be the one asking questions. Besides, I need a bath.” Ginnevra hadn’t thought he looked or smelled grimy, but she recalled his wolf’s matted fur and realized what he meant.

She walked wide of the farmers’ fields, not wanting to disturb them as well as being unwilling to engage in conversation. Now that she knew some of the villagers were hiding an enormous secret, she wanted more than ever to control the conversations she had with them. She cursed herself once more for being so careless about this mission, then pushed those thoughts aside. Dwelling on the past was pointless. If she wanted to solve this mystery, she needed to focus on the present.

The afternoon sun beat down on her unprotected head, relaxing her despite herself. She loved the heat of summer, the way it made everything smell warm and welcoming, and today felt like a taste of that rather than late spring. The tall grasses, already dry and yellowing, bent and broke beneath her feet as she trod the fallow space between fields and forest. Now that she didn’t need to be stealthy, she liked the noise she made, the rustling, whispering sound like a roomful of worshippers. Celebrating the new moon hadn’t been the same without her friends. Well, next month she would likely be with them again.

The thought of returning to her company filled her with a disquiet she couldn’t understand. She missed her sister paladins, of course, and missed their camaraderie, but it was nice, being on her own, and she found herself reluctant to give that up. No doubt she’d feel differently once this problem was solved.

The handful of cottages that made up the village were scattered rather than being neatly arranged in rows the way a larger town would be. There were six or seven of them lined up along the road, with the tavern farthest to the west, but the rest of the little buildings looked like a scattering of beads from a broken necklace, lying wherever someone had thought looked like a good place to build. Except for the tavern, which had a roof shingled with slate that must have come from far away, the cottages all looked the same: squarish or oblong construction, thatched roofs, small windows cut into the walls at random and covered with oiled paper. The spaces between the timbers of the frames were filled with wattle and daub, which meant the houses were at least fifty years old, probably older.

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