Rezkin pondered the question for only a moment before he replied, “No, I do not expect he would be any kind of threat to you good people. He is … a comrade of mine.” That tiny voice in the back of Rezkin’s mind whispered, Of course he is not a threat to the innocent villagers. He will try to kill me, he answered himself.

“I see,” the mayor said, but he did not look convinced as his gaze fell once again on Rezkin’s swords. Rezkin nodded his thanks and then headed toward the produce stalls. By this time, the gathered crowd had finally attracted the attention of the oblivious small-men, and they were gawking at the massive battle charger as Rezkin bartered for his goods. The deals seemed a little too good, and the young man was once again reminded that these people wanted him gone.

Upon leaving the village, Rezkin paid close attention to the bank along the river just in case Farson had left his boat in search of supplies. Rezkin might have been able to find someone in the village willing to sell him a boat, but then he would have to abandon the battle charger. There was also the possibility that Farson had left the river on the other side and headed west toward Caradon, rather than continuing south to Justain. In truth, Rezkin knew that he had probably already lost Farson for good.

Rezkin decided to continue south to Justain, and if he found nothing there, he would continue all the way to the capital city of Kaibain. Farson was a striker, and while the masters and strikers had never really explained who the strikers were relative to the rest of the kingdom, Rezkin always had the impression they were, or had at one time been, soldiers. With their levels of mastery, it was likely that these particular soldiers had belonged to the king, rather than some lord’s estate. If he needed to look for the king’s soldiers, the best place to do that would be the capital.

That thought made him pause. If the strikers were part of the military, did that mean there would be more strikers than the ones he knew? If so, was he supposed to kill all of the strikers or only the ones who had been at the fortress? And, if he was supposed to kill strikers and they did work for the king, did that mean he was a traitor against the crown? But, if he was a traitor against the crown, why had he been given the Sheyalin blades?