Free B0161NEC9Y (F) by K.F. Breene

work out the aggression. “No. How could I? Xandre’s got me by the lady-balls.”
    “He moves slowly. You move quickly. His strengths are in planning, yours are in action. We need to play to your strengths to keep him from using his.”
    Shanti rolled her head, loosening up her neck. Rohnan was right. She needed to take action. But one thing at a time. “This is turning into a bad day.”
    “You started it.”
    “A bar fight might be in my future.”
    “Let’s find a place to stay, and then we’ll find a different place to start a fight.”
    It was sound logic.
    They walked down the wide lane until they came to an inn with a chipped sign and paint peeling off the front. “They’ll let us in, I bet.”
    “They’d admit a flea-ridden dog.” Rohnan plucked at her shirt. “Let’s go somewhere that doesn’t make us scratch for the rest of the journey.”
    She glanced down at her clothes. They were the Shadow stylings, but with holes, some stains, and the general smell of sweat and filth from being at sea for nearly a week without a bath.
    “I’ve been refused lodgings when I’ve looked this travel-stained before, Rohnan.”
    Rohnan pulled her toward a glistening sign featuring a plow with a backdrop of stars. “Your journey must’ve been awful, Chulan . You have my sympathy. But then, if you were in any way personable, things probably would’ve been different.”
    He walked into the inn like he was nobility. His white-blond head, messed and a little greasy though it was, was held high. His shoulders were straight, even with the rumpled and stained coat he wore. His eyes glittered with self-importance and his face was pointed at the world regardless of the smudge of dirt on his cheek. It was as if he wasn’t aware of what he looked like.
    “ Hello ,” he said in the trader’s dialect, his lips quirked in an almost-smile.
    The man behind the counter looked up from his book and surveyed Rohnan. His brow creased in distaste. At Rohnan’s continued gaze, his expression bent toward confused. “ Yeah? ”
    “ Yes .” Rohnan gave him a slight bow. “ I will be needing several rooms, baths, and meals for the night. ” Rohnan’s hand dropped, grazing the slight bulge in his pocket. Gold?
    Did Cayan give Rohnan gold? Or did he steal it…
    The man’s gaze turned shrewd. “ I’ve got five rooms .” The man leaned his hammy arms against the counter. “ Three gold pieces each .”
    “ Oh my no, that is outrageous. ” Rohnan smiled and took another step toward the door.
    Shanti rolled her eyes as she felt Cayan drawing closer to the inn. In their shared language, she said, “I’ll get the horses. I don’t have the patience for your style of bartering .”
    “That is why you’re used to sleeping in bushes. ”
    As Shanti left the inn, she muttered to herself, “You never get used to sleeping in bushes.”
    She saw Cayan walking up the lane. It was hard not to. His shoulders were wide enough to knock down buildings with each swing. The things should’ve had a warning attached.
    “What’s the problem?” Cayan asked as he drew near. A woman across the lane with her eyes glued on Cayan stumbled on a rock and swerved into the wall.
    Served her right for gawking, Shanti thought.
    “Nothing,” Shanti said, trying to calm her turbulent emotions from her conversation with Rohnan. To Cayan’s quirked eyebrow—lying was no longer an option with him—she followed with, “I’ll talk to you about it later. Rohnan is inside getting us rooms, so I figured we could—”
    “There isn’t anything nicer?” Cayan looked at the inn front with distaste.
    “Would you rather a castle? Elders have mercy!” Shanti started off toward the outskirts where Sea Farer, the ship’s captain, had said the main stables were located. “Let’s get some horses instead of standing around nickpicking.”
    “ Nit picking,” Cayan said as he fell in beside her.
    They caught Sanders coming up the path, a few of the Honor