Kaedwyn and her friends had made plans to part with the caravan at a town called Dover about a day's journey from the Peaks.
She felt confident in her new disguise.
Allie had washed the rest of the black dye out of Kaedwyn's hair and then used the henna mixture she'd purchased to tint it color closer to flame then her natural auburn. She'd given Kaedwyn's eyebrows the same treatment. With the rest of the henna, she'd tattooed freckles all over Kaedwyn's face and shoulders.
Then she'd hidden Kaedwyn's beads, the main mark of her Telare heritage, within a thick braid. Allie had finished it off with wrapping a kerchief over it, like she did with her own hair.
From a distance, Kaedwyn didn't think anyone would be able to recognize her. Allie had clearly known what she was doing.
A group of riders approached their caravan, wearing greenish colored uniforms. Kaedwyn tensed for a moment, wondering if it might be her pursuers. Beside her, Allie also tensed.
It's kind of sweet that she's worried for me, Kaedwyn thought.
"We're going to have to ask you to halt for a moment and let us search your caravan." a dark-haired young man leading the riders ordered. Kaedwyn noticed that he wasn't wearing a uniform like the others.
"What's all this? On whose authority?" Mr. Hexing demanded.
"By order of the king and the duke of Malachite." The man said, flashing Hexing two seals. She recognized the emblem on one from the Zirconian flag. "I am Salazar Malachite."
"Fine then." Hexing said. He didn't look happy about it. "If I find any damaged goods after your search I shall be billing their expenses to the dukedom."
"Fair enough." Salazar Malachite said.
They stopped all the wagons, and the Malachite group ordered everyone out.
Salazar Malachite and another young man with light brown hair wandered through the crowd, examining everyone's faces as Salazar's men searched through the wagons.
They're looking for a person, Kaedwyn realized. The missing Malachite girl, maybe?
She exchanged a glance with Allie, who seemed to have had the same thought. Allie shrugged.
Malachite stopped in front of Allie and gave her a long stare. Kaedwyn resisted the urge to pull the other girl behind her. On Allie's other side, stood Toby, who looked equally uncomfortable.
Finally, Malachite shook his head and moved on.
"Looks like Dill was wrong about which of us was the missing Malachite," Kaedwyn whispered jokingly.
Allie gave her a weak smile.
Presently, all of the Malachite lackeys exited the wagons, and re-mounted their horses.
"We apologize for the inconvenience." The brown haired boy said. "Have a safe journey, good sir."
Mr. Hexing watched them depart, glaring at their backs.
Finally, they all climbed back in their wagons and kept going.
"He was creepy." Toby said, rubbing his arms.
"I didn't like the way he stared at me." Allie said.
"Neither did I." Kaedwyn said. "I'm starting to see why the young lady doesn't want to be found."
"Do you think that's who they were looking for?" Allie asked. "I noticed that they paid more attention to the women than the men."
"Maybe." Toby said. "Good luck to Miss Sedine in her endeavor to keep avoiding them."
YOU ARE READING
Weaver's Curse
AdventureIndeara Vef can't remember anything. Quite literally. Everything before she woke up in the middle of nowhere is a blank slate. Perhaps the Weavers will provide a clue about her foggy past. Kaedwyn Telare-ess is on the run and has been since her bani...
