Chapter 15

They passed open bays full of beds, some occupied and some not, and

corridors that led off to private rooms. The hallway opened into a central

courtyard with a fountain where a few patients in nightclothes sat at tables

and played dice and tile games. They looked up curiously as the trio strode

through, and one accidentally dumped his tiles on the flagstones when he

spotted Lornysh. Jev didn’t pause to explain.

They ran into the back half of the building, down another hallway, and to

a door that led to the street behind the hospital. Jev hoped nothing but a few

trash bins waited out there.

Sunlight blasted them as he shoved open the door and strode out. His

stomach sank.

Four men in watchmen’s gray and white uniforms waited, sun glinting off

the barrels of the rifles pointed at the doorway.

Though his instincts screamed for Jev to spring to the side and get out of

their sights, he reminded himself that this was his city, not some elven

encampment a thousand miles to the north.

“Gentlemen,” he said, stepping forward and spreading his arms so they

could see he didn’t hold a weapon—and so they would focus on him rather

than Cutter and Lornysh behind him. “I am Jevlain Dharrow, zyndar and

captain in the kingdom army, leader of Gryphon Company, in charge of

intelligence-gathering during the war. These are friends who worked with our

people in the war.” He tilted his head to indicate Lornysh and Cutter as he

introduced them. He was careful to keep his arms spread wide to partially

block them from the rifles.

“Dharrow?” the sergeant in the lead asked, his rifle tip lowering.

“Dharrow,” Jev said firmly, hoping that little had changed in the last ten

years and that his family was still held in high regard for its history of serving

the king during peace and war times.

The sergeant looked at the cloak clasp. Jev didn’t know whether to be

amused or not that everyone was skeptical when it came to identifying him.

He’d left home young enough that he hadn’t truly expected anyone to

remember his face, but he hadn’t expected doubt. He was unkempt and dirty

and in the same uniform as the rest of the soldiers arriving, but people hadn’t

had much trouble picking him out as zyndar when he’d been younger. Had the

city changed that much? Or had he?

“You’re related to Heber Dharrow?” the sergeant asked.

“My father.”

The rest of the rifles shifted so they weren’t pointed at Jev’s chest. Shouts

came from the direction of the hospital courtyard, and Jev feared that trouble

was about to catch up to them from behind.

“It’s important that I report in to him now that I’m home from the war,”

Jev added. Something he would do as soon as he figured out this artifact situation. “May we pass? I will personally vouch for the character of my

companions.”

“It’s not their character that’ll have the citizens worried, Zyndar,” the

sergeant said. “This isn’t a good time to be a, uhm, foreigner in Korvann.”

“A non-human, you mean?”

“A non-human foreigner. We have a wagon, Zyndar. Will you come with

us? We’ll escort you to your father’s land.”

Jev didn’t want an escort. And he hadn’t planned on going home right

now.

The shouts in the building behind him escalated.

Jev forced a regal smile and nodded. “That would be appreciated,” he

made himself say.

“Good. This way, Zyndar. And, uh, your friends.” The sergeant headed

toward a steam wagon parked at the end of the street, the metal and wood

sides painted in the colors of the watch. Soft puffs of black smoke wafted

from its stack.

Not feeling that he had a choice, Jev trailed the man. The other watchmen

waited for Lornysh and Cutter to pass, then strode along on their heels, their

weapons still in hand.

Jev told himself this was a good development. Since the wagon was

covered, he, Lornysh, and Cutter could make it out of the city without being

waylaid again, and he had planned to visit his father and his home.

Eventually. Unfortunately, with the watch escorting them, Jev wouldn’t have

a chance to sneak Lornysh out to one of the groves without mentioning him to

his father.

Not his largest problem right now, he reminded himself.

“Why couldn’t you just do that at the dock?” Cutter asked as they climbed

into the covered wagon and sat on one of the wood benches. “Get us a free

ride and an escort?”

“I thought you’d want to get some exercise after being cooped up on the

ship for the crossing,” Jev said.

“Exercise? Is that what you call battling women in robes, being chased by

crowds, and having vegetables lobbed at our heads?”

“Fruit,” Lornysh said.

“What?”

“Eggplants have seeds and are thus considered fruits.”

“So are elves,” Cutter said, “but we don’t call them that to their faces.”

“Wise,” Lornysh said.

Two watchmen climbed in to ride in the back with them, and Jev’s

comrades fell silent. He watched the corner of the hospital building as the

wagon rumbled into motion with a hiss of releasing steam. He thought of how

the nurse had recognized Zenia, and he was positive he hadn’t seen the last of her