The Name Of The Sword (Book 4) by J.L. Doty Page B

of her whereabouts. Nicki had been determined from the start that she would go, but the leader of such an expedition would have to be a male member of the family. So they brought JohnEngine in on the secret of Rhianne’s clandestine life as a hedge witch. He had been absolutely livid that she’d kept such a secret from him, and to show his anger he placed her in the middle of the column surrounded by armsmen, with him at its head. He refused to even speak with her for the entire trip, always communicating through one of the armsmen. Tell the Lady NickoLot something or other, he’d say, with her standing right next to him. Ask her this, and tell her that. Well, he’d just have to get over it. She’d had her reasons for keeping such a secret, and upon reexamination, they were still sound.
    Up ahead, JohnEngine pulled his horse off the road and disappeared from sight. Moments later Nicki and her armsmen reached that same point and turned onto a cart track, nothing as wide and open as the Gods Road, but still well-traveled and wide enough for them to ride two abreast.
    When she and Jinella had made the trip in the spring, they’d ridden in the comfort of a carriage and traveled at a much more leisurely pace, with Brandon leading the expedition on horseback. They’d both been glued to the carriage windows, trying to take in every sight they could. But most were just fleeting glimpses, and when one of them saw something of interest on her side and called out to the other, by the time they switched places it was usually too late. This time, however, riding in the breeches of a young boy, on horseback, in good weather, Nicki found everything of interest, especially the Benesh’ere camp.
    JohnEngine chose a path that kept them out of the camp itself, but they passed rather close to it. Nicki saw hundreds of whitefaces walking about in their dune-colored robes, their white-skinned faces framed by coal-black hair. And then they passed the camp and headed for the north end of the lake.
    It had only been a few moons since she’d last come to Norlakton, so as expected nothing had really changed. She was looking forward to seeing Rhianne again, and AnnaRail had told her to insist that Rhianne return with them, so she was also looking forward to the ride back. At the edge of town JohnEngine reined his horse to a stop, and as the column bunched up he turned to one of the armsmen riding beside Nicki and said, “Ask the Lady NickoLot, which way to this hut?”
    Nicki had had enough. “Stop being such a child. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but Rhianne swore me to secrecy.”
    JohnEngine didn’t relent. To the armsman he said, “Ask the—”
    “Oh shut up,” she snapped. “Just follow me.”
    She dug her heels into her horse’s ribs, and taking them by surprise she left them all behind. She rode through the center of the small town and headed straight for the hut at the far end. But as she rode up to it her excitement at the prospect of seeing Rhianne again collapsed into despair. She stopped outside the hut and a moment later JohnEngine caught up with her. “Damn,” he said.
    The door to the hut stood partially open, attached by only one leather hinge and askew at an off angle. One of the shutters to the hut’s single window had long since disappeared, and the other remained ajar, with cobwebs filling the corners of the window.
    Nicki dismounted, her heart pounding with fear. As she started toward the door JohnEngine caught her wrist. “Wait.”
    “No. I have to see.”
    JohnEngine held her wrist in a vice-like grip and said to the armsmen, “Check it out. Make sure it’s safe.”
    The armsmen swarmed in and around the hut, and a few moments later their sergeant stepped out of it and declared, “No danger, my lord. But something bad happened here a while back.”
    As Nicki entered the hut, from what she recalled of her previous visit, she saw that most of the hut’s possessions had been stripped. One of the