Blood for her Crown

Chapter Thirteen

Aderah

It was exhausting.

Since Grace and Jamie came after her and Ciden, it had been awkward: Ciden avoided eye contact with everyone; Jamie didn't talk, but only glanced at Ciden every five seconds; Grace seemed to be a little helpless regarding Jamie; and Aderah herself was kind of lost in this situation.

For countless minutes, the only sounds were the thuds of the horses' hooves on the ground as they were making their way along the houses of this rather big village. Grace had said she knew of a place here they could go to.

It seemed Grace didn't enjoy this silence any more than she did when her black mare came up next to Aderah. "I'm not used to silence when Jamie is around," she started. "You could almost think he's incapable of being quiet, but this..." She was concerned.

"I guess I don't have to ask if he's alright, then?"

Grace looked back at Jamie, who was a few feet behind them. Aderah turned around, too, and saw him stroking the neck of his horse while staring absently at the ground.

"He will be."

She certainly hoped so.

Grace inquired after a minute of silence, "We're going to stay here for a while, maybe three days. Meanwhile, you can look for a place to live. Jamie and I need to talk to someone, who might be willing to help us out when Ciden is gone."

"Why is it so important to you to find a replacement for Ciden? I have no idea what you're planning, but..."

"Ciden is irreplaceable. I needed him for a specific reason."

"So you're giving up? You're just going to let him go?"

Grace sighed and replied, "I suppose I'll have to. I tried to convince him to stay. That was all I could do."

"Would it be-" Aderah paused. She'd been thinking about it since yesterday and overthinking it a million times since then. She didn't want to appear foolish in front of Grace, but she needed to ask. "Would it help if I stayed with you a little longer? If something happened to you, if the poison shows any more side effects, I could help you."

Grace gave her her natural drilling stare before returning her gaze to Jamie. "I can't make that decision on my own. I'd  have to ask Jamie, but...yes, you might be helpful."

Before Aderah could thank her, Grace hurried her horse forward to a row of old houses with partially broken windows and holes in the roofs. She led the four of them down the alley to one of the last houses, which was hidden by shadows and ivy. It was one of the few houses that still looked like someone's home.

Jysra came to a halt right in front of the door, and Grace dismounted. Aderah and their comopanions remained in the saddles, waiting for Grace to explain on her own because none of them dared to speak in their surroundings.
Grace knocked on the door after tying Jysra to a stake next to it.

For a solid minute, no one answered the door, but then it was opened. The person stayed out of view from any of them except Grace.  They talked, or rather discussed, for maybe three minutes. Aderah looked back at Jamie, trying to figure out if he knew who Grace was speaking to, but Jamie appeared just as perplexed as she was.