“But you taught it to an entire grange of Girdish yeomen,” Valthan said.

“I showed it to them. Not one in a dozen will work enough to make it useful to them. And I taught it to Siger, in the Duke’s Company.”

“You puzzle me,” Valthan said, as they neared the inn.

“I puzzle myself,” Dorrin said, grinning. “I must get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Dorrin woke before dawn and fumbled for the candle at her bedside. A chill draft came from the window, through both the inner and outer shutters. Above her, she heard a faint creaking of floorboards; below, the steady slop-slop-slop of someone mopping a floor, probably the inn common room. Somewhere outside a horse whinnied and mules brayed, the sound growing louder as more animals joined in. In the candle’s dim glow, she could see the leather case with its contents, her pack, yesterday’s clothes hung on a stand before the fire, now a bed of warm ashes.

Someone tapped on the door. “Light your fire?”

A very superior inn. “Come in,” Dorrin said, and reached for her belt with its pouch of coins. A serving girl, with a canister of kindling and a lighted taper.

“Breakfast soon,” the girl said, kneeling to place the kindling. “Can bring it here, if you’d like.”

“I’ll come down,” Dorrin said. She swung out of bed—a clean one, she’d noticed the night before—and as the fire caught, crackling, she handed the girl a copper. “Thank you,” she said. “What’s the weather outside? Clear or snow?”

“It’s not clear but there’s no snow,” the girl said, picking up the canister of kindling. “Cold, though.” She left, and Dorrin heard her tap on another door. Already the room felt warmer.

Dressed in cleaner clothes from her pack, Dorrin made her way downstairs and out to the jacks. On the way back inside she stopped at the barn and spoke to the two guards Selfer had posted. Selfer himself was coming out the inn’s side door.

“Morning, Captain. Favors of the day to you. They’ve almost got breakfast service started.” He looked wide awake, eyes bright, cheeks flushed with the cold.

Dorrin grinned. She had been that young once, and Selfer could have been a son. “And a fair morning to you, Selfer. I’ll be meeting with the local Marshal and possibly other town officials sometime this morning; we’ll stay here another day, let the animals rest up.”

“I’ll see the troops get some drill in, then,” Selfer said. “Any other orders?”

“Ears and eyes open. No one to wander off alone, but if you let Tam and Amisi go shopping for something, they might hear …” Tam and Amisi, Dorrin knew, found information the way pigs found acorns.

“Oh, I think we need several things. One of the mules’ halters is worn; I noticed that yesterday. I’ll ask the landlord if there’s a leatherworker in town. And two horses need a loose shoe reset … have to take them to the smithy. Can’t say I like the look of a girth or so …”