With the conflict having come to an end with no one dead, Mora thought of getting as far away from Captain Vares Reed as possible. Instead, drawn to danger as she always tended to be, she found herself following after him at short distance, wondering where he was going.
Probably to kill someone, she thought.
The dirt path underfoot was dry and cracked from the tormenting sunlight, tiny stones crunching under their boots. Overhead, a hawk circled lazily, riding the warm air currents. Mora wiped the sweat from her brow but didn’t complain. Vares, for all his talk of being a pirate on the high seas, did not appear that uncomfortable in the heat.
At length, he took note of her and turned, shielding his eyes from the strong sun. “If it’s my shadow you seek, you might as well get closer.”
Mora stopped and gazed at him. The man was a monster. She knew that. And yet, when he wasn’t actively harming anyone, he seemed no worse than the average bandit. “Your monkey is gone.”
“Lady Elizabeth, yes… My beloved is feeling under the weather so I’ve left her behind at the tavern while I go on business.”
She frowned, picking a seed stuck between her teeth from before. “She’s sick?”
“I’m saving face, little oni. The lady is well, but she’s not always fond of my company. Especially not when I’m going off on business, as I’ve said.”
He began to walk again. Mora stood there in the sun, wondering whether to follow or not, and ended up rushing after him. “You didn’t say what your business is.”
“Nor should I,” said Vares with a sly smile. “A child like you shouldn’t be concerned with it.”
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“Maybe I can help,” she said. He turned to look at her with a raised brow. “For a price, that is.”
Vares shook his head, amazed at her daring nature. “How generous of you. Though, I do think I just saved your life.”
Mora clicked her tongue. Just how full of it was this guy? “You didn’t save my life. Maybe from a beating.”
“Smart men deliver beatings, little oni. Idiots start with the desire of giving someone a beating and end up murdering them. Never put your life at risk when you’re dealing with such stupidity.”
“You’re the one who tried to kill that woman, though…”
Vares went on quietly, and so did she. Mora tried to figure out based on his direction where he could’ve been going—the Thatcher farms?—but she couldn’t imagine he had that good of an idea where he even was considering he’d washed up ashore just the previous day.
“Where are you trying to go?”
As they came to the top of the hill, he stopped again and surveyed the land. “I’m not yet sure.”
Mora crossed her arms, shifting her weight. “Shouldn’t you know where you’re going if you’re out like this?”
Vares put his hand on her head. Mora drew back instinctively, not too used to affectionate touch, but he just patted her on the head. “You haven’t seen a strange girl around here lately, have you little oni?”
“Strange girl? I don’t think so.”
Vares took a deep breath and gazed wistfully. To the north there wasn’t much, only Petyr’s home and a few more distant farms. To the west was the shore. To the south was town. And to the east was the forest, and then, further beyond that, the great river and the border. “If you were a stranger here, little oni, where would you hide?”
“The tavern, I guess.” He turned and gave her a long look. “It worked for you,” Mora said defensively.
“You know what I mean. If you did not wish to be found.”
“I have no idea. I mean, I haven’t seen Anders until today and I’ve got no clue where he spends most of his time. I’d just go into the forest, I guess.”
Vares turned his head right, towards the east. The shadowy treeline of the forest was maybe half a kilometer away. “Do you know your way inside?”
“What’s there to know? You just gotta make sure you don’t go in circles. There’s not monsters or anything like that. I don’t believe that.” Not anymore, at least.
That seemed to make him happy. “Then I believe we can start there.”
