Page 24 of Truth's Blade

They crossed the bridge and took the main route out to Taunen, Grimwalt’s capital, and as soon as their group reached the first offset—a place for carts to stop for the night—Theo slowed his mount to a halt.

“You weren’t told why you were assigned to come with me. The reason is because this is so sensitive, I couldn’t risk even a whisper of it getting out.”

Melodie noticed a few of the soldiers looked slightly insulted by the implication, but they all kept their attention on the lieutenant.

“Myself and General Bardet were on roster for the novice fortnight.” He paused, and Melodie could see what he was about to say truly pained him. “It was the last two nights, where they make camp on their own and build a small bridge over a stream, or a lookout post.”

The soldiers were nodding along, as if this was a good memory for them.

“Someone kidnapped them.” Theo’s words jerked them out of their reverie.

“Took them?” Jacinta Bindle almost whispered it.

“Took them by force,” Theo said. “They tried to fight back, but they were overcome.”

The whole group was utterly still.

“General Bardet is riding hard down to Ta-lin to call for help. I followed the trail I picked up at their camp, and I ran the abductor to ground.” A breeze had sprung up, tugging at clothing, lifting hair, but no one moved.

“The children were all accounted for, lying tied up around a fire. I couldn’t see their abductor or abductors, so Imoved around the camp, looking for signs of danger.” He made a movement, an almost involuntary jerk of remembered helplessness. “Someone snuck up behind me, and we fought. I got in a strike, but I was also struck down. Not with a weapon, with a spell. We are dealing with a magic user. A spell caster.”

One of the other soldiers, someone Melodie had been introduced to as Gallain, made a sound at the back of his throat.

Theo acknowledged it with a nod. “He spelled me to become a goat.”

After a moment of surprise, Caro, another of their group, leaned forward on her horse. “Did you say a goat?”

Theo lifted his shoulders. “I didn’t know what spell was caging me at first. It took a while to come back to myself, but somehow I ended up in the hands of another trader. He then tied me to the Malin bridge on the Grimwalt side.”

“How did you get free?” The soldier who asked was Ivan. He was the biggest of them all, bigger than Theo, even, and he had said almost nothing until now.

“Melodie set me free.” Theo nodded toward her, and suddenly four pairs of eyes swung in her direction. “Melodie can see spell work, and that is why she is with us. She will help us defeat this particular enemy.”

“How long were you bespelled?” Caro held herself straight in her saddle, as if ready to gallop off at a moment’s notice.

“At least two days,” Theo said. “We are on the back foot in all respects.”

“And how do you come into it, Melodie?” Jacinta asked. “Where are you from?” Her tone was suspicious, her eyes challenging.

“I work at the jewelers on Eisen Street.” Melodie held her gaze. “I was shopping at the stalls in the Grimwalt square.”

“And you just happened to notice a goat that was really a man?” Ivan sounded skeptical.

She hesitated. She found it so hard to speak about this. But they needed to trust her. They were headed into danger, and they needed to know she was telling the truth, needed to believe her when she warned them about something.

“As Theo says, I can see spell work. The spell that held Theo was very bright. I could see it across the square. And I could see it was embedded in a piece of copper twine around his neck. I got him to a private place and cut him free.”

They stared at her, this time more thoughtful than shocked.

“Why are you a jeweler?” Caro asked. “Why aren’t you working for a court somewhere?”

“What do you think a spell caster like the one we’re tracking would think of someone like me?” Melodie asked. “How safe would I be walking around if it was well-known?” She looked over at Theo. “He caught a Cervantes warrior who was looking out for danger. How easily would he have caught me?”

There was a moment of silence.

“Point taken.” Gallain cleared his throat.

“Does the jeweler who runs the workshop on Eisen Street know? Is that why he was so desperate to keep you there?” Jacinta asked.

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