Lupi 04 - Night Season

Hammond, who did odd jobs for them sometimes. Hammond had been a drifter, not a villager, but he’d lived here over a year. Suddenly he’d quit and left the village—hours before the innkeeper discovered his guest sitting on urine-wet sheets and counting his fingers.
    â€œPeople don’t drift into Ahk territory,” Tash said, “unless they’re idiots. You say Hammond was seen heading for the mountains?”
    The innkeeper nodded unhappily. “I thought Derreck was wrong about that. Seemed like he had to be. Bell isn’t all that bright, but he knows better than to enter Ahk land. Listen, you’ll take this fellow with you, right? We can’t keep him here.”
    Cynna backed out of the room, leaving Bilbo arguing with the innkeeper about whose responsibility the poor man was. If you could call what remained a man.
    Cullen came with her. “Let’s get some air.”
    She nodded. The stew she’d had for supper wasn’t sitting well in a stomach turned raw by pity.
    They didn’t go far. The temperature had dropped, and icy pellets mixed with snow sifted through the frigid air. The porch was covered, though, and there was no wind; the cold, clean air did clear up her nausea.
    Cynna stood at the porch rail watching the way white mingled with darkness in the wintry air. Cullen came up behind her. He’d let his mage light puff out, so the only light came from her own little ball of light.
    â€œIt occurs to me,” he said softly, “that our thief didn’t lose his mind until he lost the medallion.”
    He was right. The man had made it here, hadn’t he? He’d seemed normal to the innkeeper until the next day…“The First Councilor said the medallion ate the mind of anyone it couldn’t bond with. She didn’t say the damage didn’t happen until someone else got hold of it, but that’s what it looks like.”
    â€œMaybe she didn’t want us to think about grabbing it for ourselves.”
    Cynna shivered. “No temptation here. What I’m wondering is why this Bell Hammond would take it. How did he know it existed? The innkeeper never saw it. That poor man wouldn’t have pulled it out to show the boy. Even if he did, Hammond shouldn’t have known what it was.”
    Cullen shook his head. “We’re missing something.”
    â€œA lot, I suspect.” And her head was too thick to make sense of it tonight. Cynna sighed. “I need some sleep.”
    He moved up behind her, putting his arms around her. “In that damned crowded bed.”
    Turned out the beds were plenty big…big enough to hold three people apiece. More, if they were gnome-size people. Or that was the plan, since there were so few rooms. She and Cullen would be sharing with Steve. “Could be worse. We could have drawn Gan for a bunkmate.”
    â€œGood point. I’m betting she’s a bed hog. Ah…I’m not coming up with you yet. Tash has lost two guard and, while this inn is wonderfully comfortable compared to bare ground, it’s not very defensible. Wen, Steve, and I offered to help with watches. I’m on first watch.”
    Cynna turned in the warm circle of his arms. Her mage light hovered near her shoulder, its glow falling softly over the beautiful contours of his face. Funny, she didn’t always notice that anymore—how pulse-raisingly gorgeous he was. Mostly he just looked like Cullen to her. “I could take a watch.”
    â€œPregnant women are excluded from guard duty.”
    She thought that over and decided it sounded right in principle. Applying it to herself wasn’t easy, but…“I guess I won’t complain about getting my full eight hours.” Cullen slept eight hours only if he was healing. Otherwise, if he got in six hours, he thought he’d overslept.
    The subtle ease in his features told Cynna he was relieved. He’d expected an argument. She tried to look severe. “You’re telling me I’m going to be sleeping with Steve Timms for a couple hours.”
    His grin flashed. “You’re safe. He made a point of telling me he’s of the ‘don’t poach’ school of thought.”
    â€œPoaching is for bunny rabbits. I am not a bunny rabbit.”
    â€œI know, but Steve’s not the brightest bulb, socially. There is some good news—he’s taking the last watch. So if you can make do with slightly less