“Are you utterly mad bringing her here?” Martin said, very low and covert, his eyes raking Fallon accusingly.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Corruption
Martin turned his sharp gaze to Trynne, his eyes full of suspicion.
“You both have some explaining to do. For all I know, the queen was watching from the windows over the yard. Speak quickly, or I can’t help you. Where were you caught? Muirwood?”
Fallon looked anxious and determined. Martin had put himself between them. There was no one else in the small guardroom, which had polished marble floors, giving the feeling that it was once used for another purpose.
“Who do you suppose we are?” Fallon asked, edging closer.
Trynne had the suspicion he was preparing himself to fight the captain.
“It’s obvious you are both mastons,” Martin said in his thick brogue. “At least she is. Your disguise may fool most, lass, but I saw through it, and your fingers reveal the truth to anyone who cares to see it. You can always tell a girl by the length of her different fingers.”
Trynne squeezed her hand into a fist, feeling vulnerable. “I’m not a maston,” she said.
Martin snorted. “I know what I felt, lass.” He shook his head curtly. Then his eyes shifted back to Fallon. His voice became less agitated. “I’ve helped smuggle many mastons out of the city, out of danger. The man I served in my younger days, he was a wise and able prince.” His voice throbbed with emotion. “I’ll help ye if I can.
But you are in the king’s city, Comoros, and they kill mastons here.
Are you indeed from Muirwood?”
Trynne shot Fallon a warning look, but she could see Fallon was not disposed to trust the surly captain. “We’re going to Dahomey. Can you get us on the queen’s ship?”
Martin chuffed as if Fallon were completely mad. “The queen’s ship? The queen’s ship? Aye, she’s set to depart for Dochte Abbey.
’Tis the only abbey left.” He gave them a grim look. “But you won’t be finding shelter there, I promise you that. The Aldermaston leads the Dochte Mandar now, not the—ah, so you know that name?”
Trynne hadn’t been able to conceal her startled surprise when he’d mentioned the Dochte Mandar. This man was keenly observant.
“Yes, we know of them,” Fallon said. “We still need to go. Can you get us there?”
“That abbey is blighted,” Martin said with an angry scowl. “What seek ye in Dahomey?” His eyes seared into Trynne’s. “Do you wish to join them, lass? As a hetaera?” She saw his free hand tighten around the hilt of one of his short swords. He still held her to the wall with the other.
Trynne was very reluctant to say anything, but he was judging whether they were a threat. Besides, his gruff and taciturn way put her even more in mind of Captain Staeli.
“Never,” Trynne said vehemently, shaking her head no.
He eased his grip on the short sword. “That’s a relief. I’m asking about your Hundred because you both look like you have been dragged through the Bearden Muir.” He plucked a twig from Trynne’s cloak and then smelled it. “Och, yes. I recognize that stench. I used to be the hunter at Muirwood Abbey in that Hundred. Now I’m captain of the queen’s guard.” His voice had a cynical edge to it.
“Queen Ellowyn Demont. I don’t want to draw any more eyes to us.
I’ll find you some fresh tunics. These rags you’re wearing are for common soldiers. If you are truly bound for Dahomey, mayhap I can help. But if you try to escape, you’ll only cause trouble for
yourselves.” He turned and fixed Fallon with a pointed finger. “I take it you’re her protector? Hmmm? As if she needed one, by Cheshu.”
“You’re right. She doesn’t need one,” Fallon answered with a wry smile.
They’d been left in a small barracks room to bathe and change.
There was a washing bowl, a pitcher of water, and a smoking brazier that warmed the space. The hearth was empty, but a soot-stained, dead-eyed carving at the back had a lingering air of Fountain magic.
She could sense its ability to summon fire. Fallon stepped out from behind the changing screen, dressed in a new clean tunic that bore a richly embroidered symbol of Comoros on the front. Martin had also given them shoulder armor and capes before leaving them to change.
Trynne had washed the dirt and grime from her face and was worried now that she looked too much like a girl. As she cupped water in her hands, she remembered the ring that could disguise her.