Solace Lost by Michael Sliter

Author:Michael Sliter [Sliter, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780999802106
Published: 2018-04-10T04:00:00+00:00

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“My dear lady, you certainly took your time,” said Cryden, standing outside of the inn and saddling his horse.

“You know how women are,” Merigold replied dryly. “Where’s my horse?”

“Given that I did not know I would be sharing your so-far sterling company when I left, I only thought to bring the one. Silly me,” Crydon said, sardonically. “We will have to ride double to Enowl, and plan on doing a good deal of walking. Sargon will need a break. You first.”

Merigold tied her pack to the saddle and pulled herself onto the beast, feeling uncomfortable. She had only ridden a horse a handful of times, and they always made her feel uneasy. They had those sad eyes that seemed to say, “Don’t sit on my back.” And they had those teeth that seemed to say, “If you ride on my back, you will lose a finger.”

“Just a moment, my dear lady. I seem to have forgotten something.” Cryden walked back into the Duckling and was gone for a long moment. Meri smelled something odd during this time. Was it… liquor? Had Cryden stopped in for one last shot of distilled rum, and instead spilled the bottle? The odor was so strong…

Cryden emerged minutes later, a pipe to his mouth, hands cupped around the instrument while he attempted to light it in the increasingly windy afternoon. He shook the match out and took a couple of puffs at the pipe then, closing his eyes and leaning against the building. The smell of kerena wafted over to Meri, stinging her nose. She had already begun to become impatient when Cryden tossed his lit pipe into the Duckling.

There was a near instant inferno as the spilled casks of rum ignited, flames engulfing the floors in the common room and the kitchen. Merigold dismounted in a single move, running toward the Duckling and The Boat as Cryden strode toward her.

“What did you do? What is wrong with you? This is my home!” she shouted at Cryden as she tried to run past, heading toward the well. He intercepted her.

“Don’t touch me! Don’t ever touch me!” she shouted, swinging hard at his face. With relative ease, he knocked her fist aside and grabbed her shoulders with much more strength than she would have expected from his frame, dragging her away from the burning building.

“Listen to me! Do you want these bodies, the people you care about, to be defiled by animals? Do you want your home to be claimed by squatters, assuming that it isn’t claimed by the duchy? No, this is the only way. Let this pyre give some dignity to the deaths of these simple people, to the death of your home.”

Merigold pulled away from Cryden angrily, straightening her blouse. She watched the fire rage throughout the Duckling for several minutes, the flames reflecting in her damp eyes. She could feel the heat on her face, especially as the fire took hold on the second floor, roaring yellow and orange with the glow visible in each window, black-as-night smoke billowing thickly from the roof.

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