Brightly Woven(54)

“It’s where they’ve put the lower-ranked wizards and the humans that were conscripted to help fortify the castle,” he said. “The humans will be sent home before the fight begins, whether they like it or not.”

The freezing rain started the moment our wagon wheels touched the bridge. We joined an endless line of people making their way into the city, their carts and trunks dragging sullenly behind them.

I leaned between North and Owain, trying to get a better view of what was ahead, as North moved quickly, untying his cloaks and stuffing them inside his bag.

“What are you doing?” I asked, startled.

“I have to be a man in this city,” North said as we rolled through the elaborately carved gate. Astraea’s stone face watched us impassively from the top of the arch, sending a tremor through me. North kept his head down, but I didn’t understand why until one of the guards, an impossibly large man, stopped us.

“Man or wizard?” the guard asked.

“Man,” Owain said. “Here to volunteer.”

The guard snorted, then turned to North.

“Man, of course,” North said. “Harrington Marshall.”

The guard gave me an appraising look.

“My wife, Sarah,” North ground out. The guard merely clucked his tongue in annoyance. Another guard came around the back of the wagon, lifting the flap to look inside. Seeing it was empty save for our bags, he signaled to the guard up front.

“Head in, then.” The guard stepped out of the horses’ way. “Curfew starts in an hour.”

“What was all that about?” I whispered once we were past.

“They would have made me sign the Wizard Registry,” North said. “It doesn’t matter that I’m unranked. They want to keep track of all the wizards going in and out of the city, and I don’t want to alert people to my presence just yet.”

We didn’t have to fight any crowds once inside, though the rain did seem to be coming down harder than before. I caught my first real glimpse of the royal palace through a heavy downpour.

After the horses were boarded for the night and Owain gave Vesta a very long, tearful promise to return in the morning, North led us to the Good Queen. I was so miserably wet and cold that I didn’t bother to see if there were any other taverns to choose from.

It was painfully obvious that there was something wrong with North. He kept his head down during the entire meal and barely spoke.

“Are you going to meet with the Sorceress Imperial tomorrow?” I asked.

“I was hoping to look for her tonight,” North said, his finger tapping against his knife. “But tomorrow seems a little more realistic.”

“And what about Oliver?” I asked. “He’s a member of the Guard, isn’t he? Could you talk to him about this?”

North sat perfectly still as the group of men behind him roared over some unheard joke.

“Of course I can talk to him about it,” North said, “but I don’t particularly enjoy the thought of his laughing in my face.”

“In any case, you two will have to manage without me,” Owain said. “I’ll be down in the undercroft of the castle, helping to secure the gates.”

“Lovely,” North muttered. “Down there with the rats.”

“North,” I gasped.

“What are you implying by that, lad?” Owain asked severely.

“It’s exactly what I told you before,” North said, leaning across the table. “The Guard isn’t going to look on you as anything but that. You should have stayed out of this like I told you. It might have saved you some loss of pride, at least.”

“Don’t confuse how folks feel about me with how they feel about you,” Owain said. “I’ll do everything I can to help protect my country, whether I have to knock in a few wizard skulls or not.”

North leaned back in his seat, a dark expression crossing his features. Owain’s hand dropped to the hilt of his sword.

“That’s enough out of both of you,” I said. “It’s obvious we need to rest if we’re already at the point of drawing blood.”

“Fine,” North said, pushing back his chair. “I’ll go check the availability of rooms—”

The sword thrust down so quickly, I didn’t have time to even gasp. The blade cut straight through North’s bag, pinning it to the floor.

North fell back into his seat, looking annoyed but unsurprised. The dark-haired man sitting directly behind him, proudly wearing his black leather armor, leaned back in his seat with an infuriating smile on his face.

“I think,” he said, “you’d best come with me instead.”

North pulled the sword up from the floor, tossing it back to the other man in disgust, and examined his torn bag. “That was completely unnecessary!” he said. Owain’s hand had returned to his own sword.

“You have a lot of nerve coming here,” the other man—wizard—said. “It’s unfortunate for you that I know this is the only rathole you stay in.”

North clucked his tongue thoughtfully. “So I suppose you’re here to arrest me, then, for evading the registry? It’s a little sad they’ve forced you to stoop to this—I’m sure you have far more important things to do with your time. Drinking wine with the court, for example, or writing pretty letters. However did you fit me into your day?”