Tain sat as stiffly as possible in front of Killen, hating the way it wasn’t possible to avoid coming in contact with the man’s body at so many points. She would have much preferred continuing to walk, but saying so would have been more than a waste of breath. Killen had announced that they had to make up lost time, which meant he wouldn’t have accepted her refusal to ride even if for some reason he wanted to. And the way the hand attached to the arm he had around her middle caressed her from time to time said he had no reason to want to.

Anger tried to rise in Tain again, but useless gestures were too pathetic for her to want to repeat them over and over. They’d been riding for hours now at a faster pace than they’d kept to earlier, and every time Killen’s hand touched her in some way her temper had wanted to flame out of control. But slaves weren’t allowed to lose their tempers with their owners, so all she’d been able to do was snarl in the privacy of her own mind and fight not to squirm. That insertion was completely gone by now, but its effects tended to linger…

The day had become completely overcast, but rather than lessening the heat the coming rain had added humidity to the air. The only one who didn’t seem to mind was Ennie, who sat sideways in front of Tandro, her eyes closed as she leaned against the man. If the poor girl hadn’t looked so played out, Tain would have been tempted to wish for another attack. Just about anything would have been acceptable if it had gotten her away from Killen, and if another attack came she might have been given the chance to tend a wound on the miserable man.

Not that that would be very likely, Tain thought as she looked around at the open fields surrounding the road they now moved along. Killen is too good a fighter for any of these locals to have a chance against him, which is a real pity. Tending his wounds is something that would give me a whole lot of pleasure.

But thought of the attack brought Tain back to more practical considerations. Killen hadn’t given her any details about his assignment, but it looked like someone knew what he intended and disliked the idea enough to want to stop him. She would have enjoyed helping out during the attack, if for no other reason than to work off some of the aggression growling around inside her, but Killen had made sure to order her to stay back even though he and Tandro were outnumbered. Another stupidity to chalk up against the man’s account…

Tain’s attention came back to the road and its surrounding area to find that she had a surprise waiting. Up ahead, beyond an even more open area, was the beginning of what looked like a town. Since it was getting on toward sundown, the town was probably the one the men had been talking about. Whether or not they would be able to reach the town and whatever shelter was available before the rain started remained to be seen, but at least the chance was better now than it had been.

It took almost another hour before they reached the town’s wall and the men guarding its currently open gate. It was a lot closer to full dark and to the time when the skies would open up, but instead of continuing on to whatever hostel the men intended to stay at they turned aside as soon as they were through the gate. Their destination turned out to be a small building to the left of the gate and only a short distance away from it, and they drew rein before a man coming out of the building.

“Good evening, Captain,” Tandro said to the man, who wore some kind of medallion around his neck. “We don’t want to take up too much of your time right now when you’re probably about to order the gate closed, but it’s our duty to report that we were attacked on our way here. We left the bodies where they fell, so if any of the attackers’ horses turn up you’ll know what’s happening.”

“Glad to hear you know the right way of doing this kind of thing,” the man answered with a nod, his glance going from Ennie to Tain and staying with Tain for longer than she liked. “Obviously the slaves were upset by what happened, so you might as well get them and yourselves to shelter before the coming storm lets go. Just don’t leave town until I can get back to you for the details.”

“We’ll be at the travelers’ house for a few days, so you can find us there,” Tandro answered with his own nod. “Until tomorrow, Captain.”

Tandro turned his horse back to the street the road had become, Killen following his example silently. Tain pretended she didn’t see the way the captain stood and stared at her until he couldn’t see her any longer, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t feel the man’s gaze for much too long a time. Men didn’t stare at free women like that, at least not right out where the stare would be noticed, and the experience was more disturbing than Tain had expected it to be.

The travelers’ house was a large hostel that stood by itself about three streets away from the gate, an equally large stable attached on the left. Tandro led the way into the stable before he stopped to dismount, and it still hadn’t started to rain yet. Killen also dismounted and then lifted Tain down, Tain surreptitiously watching as Ennie was awakened and put on her own feet. The girl seemed steadier than she had earlier, but Tain didn’t like the way Ennie just stood staring at nothing. It was fairly clear that Ennie wasn’t distracted, only completely uninterested in her surroundings.

The hurried arrival of two teenage boys drew Tain’s attention away from Ennie, but the boys weren’t attacking the way Tain had first thought. The two were stable hands whose job it was to see to the horses of newcomers, and they’d had to hurry because they’d probably been sitting around relaxing somewhere thinking no new guests would be arriving.

“Take good care of our horses, boys, and make sure you store our possessions close to their stalls,” Tandro ordered after tossing each of the boys a coin. “We’ll be staying for a few days, but when we’re ready to leave we don’t want to have to go searching for our equipment.”

“All the possessions of guests are kept in the same storeroom,” one of the boys answered, his hand happily closed on the coin he’d been given. “There’s always a guard on the storeroom, and we’re the only ones who are allowed inside. We’ll put all your possessions together, so when you’re ready to leave we won’t have to wonder which stuff is yours and which belongs to someone else.”

“And we also have cages if you want to leave your slaves out here with the horses instead of taking them inside with you,” the other boy put in just as happily. “The house has lots of slaves for the use of guests, to give you some variety even if you did arrive with slaves of your own.”

“We haven’t had these slaves very long, so we’ll be taking them in with us,” Killen responded before Tandro could say anything. “We’re in the middle of training the slaves, you understand, so it isn’t a good idea to break into the training right now and possibly undo what’s already been taught them.”

“But that doesn’t mean my brother and I won’t take a break of our own,” Tandro said with a smile of amusement. “Thanks for the information, boys, and we’ll see you again before we leave.”

The boys were delighted to be reminded that they’d be tipped again, and they got out of the way to let the new guests move toward the door that probably led into the hostel. Both Killen and Tandro had taken the saddlebags from their horses, and Tandro moved Ennie before him by the hand he had on the back of her neck. Killen, though, opted for a different method of bringing Tain along.

“Follow me, slave,” Killen said before heading for the door, giving Tain no choice but to trail along behind him. Both boys watched her as she walked past them, and she had the distinct impression that they would have touched her if they’d only dared. But she was owned by a guest, and stable boys weren’t entitled to make free with the possessions of guests.