Kellyn rises again, this time more slowly. He shades his eyes and takes in the three of us.

“Who are you?”

I look to Temra in a panic. He doesn’t remember us.

“Your employers,” Temra says, not missing a beat. “So far, we’re not pleased with your performance.”

Kellyn squints, as though that will help him see better. “I took a job?”

Temra glances at Petrik only briefly before saying, “Safe passage to Thersa for three.” She can’t very well not tell our escort where we’re going. And it would be impossible to tell Kellyn without telling Petrik. So I guess everyone is in on our final destination.

The mercenary moves his free hand to his temple, as if willing his brain to remember last night. Kellyn asks, “How much did I agree to?”

“Not an amount. A Zivan blade. Ziva will make you a magicked longsword when we reach Thersa safely.”

His alarmingly alert eyes shift to me, and I focus on my boots.

“I know you. You were in the smithy shop. You’re Ziva?”

My eyes snap up. “What is that supposed to mean?” Does he find something wrong or distasteful about me? And why do I care?

“You didn’t say anything last time,” he says.

“I was busy.”

“You two know each other?” Temra asks.

“I came by the shop to commission a blade,” Kellyn says. “She told me to come back in three weeks. Wait, that’s not until next week. Did you already know you would be leaving then? Were you blowing me off?”

My fingers are practically tangled in knots, and I can’t find anything safe to look at. I’m sure to find judgy eyes from all three of my companions.

“The important thing,” Temra says, drawing the mercenary’s attention, “is that you’re getting your weapon. Let’s not worry over what happened before.”

I can feel his eyes return to me as he asks, “Why do I feel as though I slept on a log?” He cricks his neck.

“You slept on the horse,” Petrik says unhelpfully.

“You passed out on us,” I add. “We didn’t have many options.”

“How far away from Lirasu are we?” Kellyn wants to know.

I fear he means to back out and leave us on our own, but we can’t lie to him. He’d figure it out eventually when we reach our destination.

“An evening’s hard ride,” Temra says.

“Left in a hurry, did we?”

“Yes, we need to reach Thersa with haste.”

“And we’ll add in a bonus once we get there,” I say. Goddesses, but I hate that we have to rely on so many strangers. Still, a little monetary incentive can’t hurt if Kellyn’s on the fence about this.

There’s a nerve-racking silence as we wait to see what the mercenary will do.

“I’m a man of my word,” he says at last. “If I agreed to take you to Thersa, then that’s what I’ll do.”

He treads off a ways.

“Where are you going?” Petrik asks him.