Silver Secrets

Chapter 5: Mel

Once I'm home, I take my time packing my bags. The last thing I want to do is keep Lieutenant Bedauri waiting, but I also don't want to be out in the middle of nowhere and realise I've forgotten something. Not that I own much anyway, but the things I do own are important.

I root around under my bed until I find my pack. I saved up and bought it a couple of years ago, when Gwen, me, and some of the other laundry girls spent a couple of nights camping up on the moor. I knew I'd need it again someday.

The first thing that goes in is Captain Holanan's dagger, right at the bottom where I'll hopefully forget about it. I don't even want to take it with me, but I reason that Holanan knows Lieutenant Bedauri better than I do. If it turns out I don't need it—as I'm sure it will—I'll throw it in a river or something.

Next I pull together every single mint leaf I own and stuff it into a cloth bundle. I'm really going to have to ration it, but hopefully this will be enough to keep me sane. I wish I had time for a cup of tea now, though.

The rest of my luggage is just clothes. Every piece of winter clothing I own goes into that bag, except for what I'm already wearing, until I can barely close the flap at the top. This is the worst possible time of year to be sent on a trip like this. Moon Bay winters can be harsh, but I know they will be nothing compared to what I'm going to face.

I almost leave it at that. I nearly leave my tiny dormitory without looking back, but then I stop. With my pack still on my back, I go over to the nightstand next to my bed and open the drawer. 

There's only one thing inside; a necklace. I don't think I've ever worn it. I was too afraid of losing it. I take it out and hold it up to the light. It's just a simple leather cord threaded through a carved wooden daisy, but it's much more than that. It's all I have left of my mother.

Not for the first time, I wonder how this managed to stay with me for eighteen years. My mother was wearing it when she arrived in Moon Bay, when she had me, and when she died a few days later. Through the years I spent in the orphanage and working in Castle Alderth's laundry rooms, I've always kept it safe. I learned pretty early that I had to keep it a secret, so it wouldn't get stolen.

I'm not leaving it behind now.

I pull my hair out of the way and struggle for a moment to fasten it around my neck. At last I manage it, and I'm finally ready to go and meet Lieutenant Bedauri

~

It takes me a while to find him. I hadn't imagined that the palace stables would be so big. The stalls at the front are occupied by snorting stallions of jet black—King Lysander's own mounts, I assume. I find Bedauri in a stall at the back of the building, adjusting the bridle of a tall dun mare.

I don't know what I had expected to find, but I definitely didn't expect him to be talking to the horse, murmuring softly as he fiddles with the bridle. I hover in the doorway, reluctant to disturb him, but he senses me immediately—I'm positive I didn't make a sound—and turns sharply. He raises his eyebrows when he sees me.

"Sorry I'm late," I say quickly.

 "You're not late," Bedauri says, turning back to the horse. "But you'll need to change before we go. You can't wear that."

I look down at my clothes. I'd tried to dress comfortably and warmly; long thick skirt, my most comfortable boots, rough wool cloak. "What's wrong with it?"

"You can't ride in a skirt. Not for weeks, like we'll have to. I borrowed some clothes from some of the women in the guard, though. They're in that stall." He nods to the empty stall next to us. "We'll leave as soon as you're ready."

 "Thanks," I say, a little surprised at how he's thought this through. I wonder if he knows I've never sat on a horse before, either. I set down my pack and wrench open the stable door.

It's clear this stall hasn't been used in a while, since the dust makes my eyes water as I shake out the bundle of clothes I find set on a crate. I have to admit that the brown trousers and green tunic are more practical than what I'd worn.

When I've changed, I go back into the stall where Bedauri is tightening the straps on the mare's saddle. He glances up and nods approvingly. "That's better. You're ready to go, then?" 

"I guess. Do you want any help?"

"I'm done. Your horse is in the other stall."

"Oh. Thank you." I pause in the doorway. "We're only borrowing them, aren't we? It's just I don't own a horse and..."

"The palace are using your wages to pay for her, as you're not going to be coming back for a while. You're getting a pretty good deal." He checks the saddle one final time. "You don't want to know what Mistil cost me."

I swallow. We're going to be away for a long time, then.

The horse I'll be riding stands there in her stall as if carved from granite, except for the twitch of an ear when I enter. She's not as big as Mistil, but slim and sleek. She's already saddled, and watches me standing there expectantly.

"What do you think?" says Lieutenant Bedauri from behind me.

"She's..." I struggle for words for a moment. "Nice."

Bedauri snorts, and I flush, realising how stupid that sounded. "She was working with the guard when I first joined. Wasn't particularly fast, but could carry on working long after all the other horses were knackered. They retired her a few years ago. She'll get you to Highhold."

"Does she have a name?" I reach out and run the back of my fingers over the horse's muzzle, and she blows a blast of hot air down my sleeve.

"Ember. Do you have your pack?"

I heft it up off the floor, and he secures it to the saddle before we lead the horses out into the yard.

Once we're outside, I brace my hands on Ember's saddle. After a few tries I manage to vault up onto her back, though luckily I do it while Bedauri's back is turned. Wearing a skirt for this would have been a terrible idea.

Bedauri leads the way to the winch, which is perfect because it means he can't see me wobbling and clinging to the reins as if my life depended on it. If Ember senses my fear, she doesn't react, happy to plod along behind Mistil. At least, for the time being. If she starts playing up, I wonder if she'll be easier to control than Perdiscio's mice. 

Our ride out of Moon Bay passes in silence. Even once we're on the main road out of the city, and Bedauri reins in his horse to ride beside me on the wide road, I can think of nothing to say. I hope the whole journey won't be like this. We can't ignore each other all the way to Highhold, surely?

The closer we get to the northern city gates, the thicker the crowd gets. We tower above most people on our horses, though there are carts and carriages and centaurs, too. I bite my lip, fighting back the sudden urge to cry. Moon Bay and its people have never welcomed me, really, but for the first time it's dawning on me that I'm about to travel to the other side of the kingdom with only a werewolf for company.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll be glad I have Captain Holanan's silver dagger buried safely in my pack.