Jehral cursed when he saw his horses had bolted. Still, as tired as they were, they wouldn’t go far.
Jehral decided to leave the bandits—if that was what they were—where they’d fallen. He cast in circles, looking for hoof prints, and finally found a circular imprint in the soft earth.
Jehral began to walk.
17
Tapel darted from street corner to street corner as he watched the one-eyed man buying stores in the Poloplats market. He was sure he’d seen this man dressed as a beggar before, and now here he was in plain but well-cut clothing. Who was he? And why did he keep buying supplies?
Tapel skirted the stalls, hiding among some hanging tapestries, keeping the one-eyed man in sight. A Veldrin walked past, a swarthy man with an elegant doublet and tight blue leggings.
“Excuse me,” Tapel whispered.
“Yes?” the Veldrin looked down his nose.
“Is he one of you?” Tapel indicated the one-eyed man.
“One of whom, my boy?”
“One of you. A Veldrin.”
The Veldrin shook his head. “No, I can tell at a glance. He isn’t one of us.”
Tapel thanked the Veldrin and then scurried to keep up with the one-eyed man. Could he be Halrana? Perhaps from the free cities?
The one-eyed man reached forward to hand over some coins to a merchant and Tapel saw a tattoo at his wrist. Alturans and Halrana didn’t commonly have tattoos, but people from the free cities sometimes did, particularly sailors. Tapel decided to get close and hear the one-eyed man’s voice.
Tapel’s darting figure drew some glances, but few people took note of a fifteen-year-old boy, even if he was flitting from one stall to another. A few merchants fixed Tapel with baleful stares.
“Salt beef,” the one-eyed man was saying. “And wine.”
“It’s quite a journey you’re provisioning,” the vendor said.
“Mouths need feeding,” the one-eyed man said with a shrug.
The accent certainly wasn’t from the free cities. Tapel had been to Tingara and he thought perhaps it was Tingaran. What would a Tingaran be doing here in Altura?
Tapel wondered if he should go to Bladesinger Bartolo, or perhaps to his mother. But what would he say? And if he lost the one-eyed man now, who could say Tapel would find him again?
Tapel decided to follow him.
The one-eyed man finished his business and hefted a heavy knapsack onto his shoulder. Tapel trailed him out of the market, hiding in the crowd as his quarry traveled over the Long Bridge, heading east.
The crowds thinned as the one-eyed man traveled through the district of workshops and storehouses. Tapel found it difficult to keep up, darting behind walls and breathing heavily whenever he thought he might be spotted.
The one-eyed man’s stride opened up as he reached the road to Samson’s Bridge, and the trees at the city’s outskirts gave Tapel useful cover. Tapel couldn’t lose him now; this road led to only one place: the bridge, and the border with Halaran.
Tapel poked his head from around a tree and saw the man still lumbering along ahead. He felt foolish. Perhaps the man was camping with friends; there was certainly little space in the city. Tapel weaved through the trees, deciding to head deeper into the forest as he followed the road, staying in cover, where he could move faster without worrying about being spotted.
There were plenty of campsites around, so why was the man still traveling as if he had a long journey ahead of him?
Tapel followed the one-eyed man for mile after mile, and soon he started to tire, although his quarry showed no sign of halting. Now that he’d come so far, Tapel stubbornly refused to give up. He would find the one-eyed man’s camp, and then he would know. If they were up to no good, Tapel would tell his mother. Amelia would know what to do.
Hours passed, and Tapel knew he was due at the Pens, and he would now be in trouble. Still the one-eyed man kept plodding along. Finally the trees began to thin, and ahead Tapel saw tall columns, the supports holding up Samson’s Bridge.
A tall three-legged tower stood beside the bridge, and at the apex Tapel saw the pyramid of quartz. He knew all about the signaling system, and he knew that this junction at the bridge was an important place. From here towers in the east would connect Altura to Tingara, and towers in the north would extend the chain all the way to Vezna and beyond.
Tapel’s brow furrowed.
He reached the edge of the trees and peered out. Where had the one-eyed man gone?
Tapel waited and moved silently forward, scanning the bank where the cliffs plunged to the surging river below, checking each tree in turn. His face fell as he realized he’d lost his quarry.
Tapel turned as he heard sudden movement behind him.