Page 22 of Torin and His Oath (Torin and the Princess #2)

LEXI

H e helped me climb onto Ferrari, then mounted Lambo, and we set out again. For a while Dude padded after us, sometimes trotting close, sometimes darting into the brush, crossing, and chasing, then reappearing ahead of us, somehow. Like it was a game.

But then, of course, there was a long stretch without him.

“Dude’s gone.”

“Aye, we ought tae pull over. Ye can relieve yerself, and we will coax him intae the bag. We are almost at Glenesk, there will probably be more travelers on the road ahead.”

He helped me down, and I ducked into the brush beside the path to pee. When I got back, Dude was already waiting by Ferrari’s hooves. Ferrari, Lambo, and Dude all flicked their tails.

“Hey, Dude, you want to ride?”

He meowed as if he were answering, and I lifted him up to the saddlebag.

Torin boosted me up again, then swung onto Lambo, and we started walking. Our road was muddy from the rain, the horses splashed in the puddles. Yet again it was good I had on rainboots.

“I think I’m getting used to this.”

He chuckled. “ Finally .”

“And any day now the vessel will kick back on and I will be whisked back home.”

He nodded.

“When was the longest you went without it working?”

“Three days.”

“So literally any minute now. If you think about it, it could be on a three-day timer. It’s been three days, maybe it will just start working again — If you feel it, make sure you grab my hand.”

“I will.”

We rode a bit farther, the rain-dampened world stretching quiet around us.

“I wish we knew how to work it… at this walking pace, how long before we get to Max?”

“Includin’ this day, two more beyond.”

“Does it bother you that I like to talk so much on our trip?”

“Nae, I prefer the talk. Twill keep the road short — a long silent ride grows verra borin’.”

“That’s nice, when I go hiking with Coop—” I decided not to talk about him. “Never mind.”

Torin glanced over, mild and steady. “Ye are goin’ tae be grateful tae be reunited with Master Cooper?”

I didn’t answer, instead I asked, “How long do you think we’ll have been gone?”

He asked back, “How long was I gone between visits?”

“Seems like it was always the next day.”

“Tis likely ye will be gone for a day. They will be verra worried, but I will get ye returned afore they grow verra fearful.”

“ If I get home.”

“Ye will. I will get ye home tae Master Cooper if tis the last thing I do.”

“Please don’t say that, I do want to get home, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

The horse shifted back and forth under me.

I said, “You’ll be glad to have me go home, I have not been helpful.”

“I will miss ye when ye are gone.”

“That is nice of you to say. I’ve been a huge pain in yer arse. We both know it.”

He laughed. “Ye hae occasionally been a pain in m’arse and a dick.”

I laughed. “True. I accept that, all true.” After a moment I added, “And you have been nothing but kind.”

He turned in his seat. “I left ye alone in the woods, Princess. Ye were within yer rights tae call me tae account for it.”

I said, “But all of that aside. You will still be glad to get me home, so you won’t have to worry about me anymore?—”

“I daena think I will ever nae be worried on ye. Ye forget I hae made an oath. Tis unbreakable.”

I watched his back, his broad shoulders filling the cloth of his shirt, rocking back and forth, absorbing the movement of his horse.

I sighed.

He was so hot.

I shook my head to dispel the thought. “If the vessel begins working, and I go home, I won’t have met Max.”

“Aye, but ye ought tae get home. I can tell Max I hae found ye and he can visit ye there. Ye will be safer there I think. Ye will need a stronger guard, but Master Cooper will see tae it. I will speak tae him about it.”

I nodded, watching his back while he considered all the ways to keep me safe and get me home to Cooper.

“I would like to meet Max.”

“Ye will marvel that I dinna see the likeness afore; now tis all I see.”

I smiled. “I wish I understood this story you’re telling, how it fits with what I know.

It doesn’t make sense… How long did you say, like three days?

Maybe I stay long enough to meet him? Just to hear him out.

Maybe he has more details and can either persuade me it’s real or convince me that it’s insane. Then I will go home with answers.”

Torin said, quietly, “Nae, Princess, I canna risk it.”

I nodded my head. “I do really want to get home. I want a bath in my clawfoot tub. And to continue my point, you will be glad to see me home. I am seriously slowing you down. I do not have any of the skills I need to be helpful.”

“There are nae horses in yer world?”

“Oh, there are, but you know, more for pleasure really. Just for going for a ride, mostly. Or they work on farms, some. Pull wagons for tourists, that kinda thing.”

I added, “I don’t really even hike, Cooper loves hiking.”

“What dost ye mean, ‘hike’?”

“To walk, like to go on a journey. Like this. He goes all the time, just a long walk in the woods. He knows how to build a fire, to make a shelter, he has the skills, not me.”

“He goes just for fun? Nae tae go anywhere? It sounds as if he is goin’ on a hunt, but he said he daena hunt.”

“Nope, no hunting, just a long journey to nowhere. Then back again.”

“Tae what end?”

“To prove he can, I guess. He does a lot of outdoor things to prove he can: rock climbing, hiking, white water rafting, spelunking.”

“What is it, that last one?”

“Exploring caves.”

“Och, ye ought not explore caves. That is where the dragons live.”

“Great point, I’m not a fan of it.”

“He daena hunt, but he does all the parts of hunting without the thrill of it?”

“Kinda, I guess, but I’m making it sound weird. He’s a really good outdoorsman. He takes it seriously. That’s why I don’t go with him.”

“He has some lads he goes with?”

“Yeah, he has some hiking buddies.”

“But they daena go huntin’? Dost ye hae deer?”

“So many deer.”

“Master Cooper ought tae hunt deer, twill be more customary. He is a man, he ought tae provide ye some venison. Ye would cook it, ye are a fine cook.”

I nodded. “That’s nice, I would need a recipe, but I could.”

He grinned. “Ye tell Master Cooper that I said he ought tae take up huntin’ for venison for ye.”

I laughed. “Oh, he will love that advice from you. If I ever get home, I am going to make it my mission to train in some of these skills.” I patted Ferrari’s mane. “I would like to learn to ride horses.”

He said, “This is a far cry from yer first day, when ye dinna want tae get on him!”

“It’s absolutely necessary, Torin, and even children can do it. I would like to actually hold my own reins.”

He nodded. Then he held up my reins, “Ye want them?”

I said, my eyes wide, “No, not, definitely not, no, I am not ready, you keep them.” I patted Ferrari’s neck. “We have a routine, we’re used to this, no problems.”

He nodded with a smile and went back to holding the reins on his knee, sitting casually on his walking horse. “Dost ye see the path is more crowded with drovers?”

There were two young men, looking like cattle herders, watching as we passed.

I said, “They’re staring.”

“Aye, they daena see many ladies in this pass, we are comin’ on Glenesk.”

I asked, “This is where we’ll stop for food?”

“Aye, we will hae a meal at the tavern, and my hope is they will hae bannocks and cheese.”

Torin pointed, “Mark the stone tower there, Princess. That is Invermark.”

“Who does that belong to?”

“The Lindsays. They watch all who pass intae the glen. Best we ride with care, once when Max and I traveled these roads we had tae listen tae one of the Lindsays boast on his hounds for half the day.”

I said, “Well we do not want that to happen. We have somewhere to be.”

Our road wound through a long, narrow glen running along a river. There were low rock walls here, delineating crofts; some cattle pens with lowing cows; and a few outbuildings scattered on either side. There were a lot more people, many men and a few women.

I said, as we passed a woman, “You said there weren’t many ladies here…”

“That is not a lady, she is a peasant.”

“Oh, I’m a lady?”

He scoffed, “Of course ye are, ye are a princess!”

A cart wagon ahead of us pulled to the side of the path as we passed. We hadn’t slowed or stepped at all off our route. Oh.

The road was rutted with wagon tracks, hoof prints, puddles, and the deep quagmires of recent rain. Low stone walls divided pasture from moor, and smoke curled from the chimneys of small cottages. A couple of dogs barked as we passed, and children paused in their games to watch us ride through.

The air smelled of wet earth, dung, and woodsmoke. My stomach growled. “I’m famished.”

Torin said, “As am I.”

We pulled up in front of a squat stone tavern, its thatched roof shining damp in the midday drizzle.

Unlike the lonely wayside, this place sat alive in the center of the village — neighbors talking at the doorway, carts clattering past, a boy carrying a bucket of water.

It didn’t look like much from the outside, just another low stone building, but the smell of food drifted into the street, making me think, oh yes, time to eat.

Torin helped me down and tied the horses to a post. Together we ducked through the low door, and into a busy room.

This tavern was brighter than the last two stops, firelight flickering off whitewashed walls, the air heavy with peat smoke and steam.

Men and women crowded shoulder to shoulder on benches with bowls and mugs in hand, their conversations punctuated by bursts of laughter.

We found a place at the end of a long trestle table, and within moments a woman in a brown apron set down two mugs of ale.

Torin and I both took big gulps of the ale. I was so thirsty; although it tasted faintly of hay, I didn’t care anymore. Even the weakest, weirdest ale was better than nothing but creek water for days.

The woman in the apron rushed off and returned with steaming bowls of cloudy broth, thick with barley and dotted with shreds of meat. Beside each she placed a warm oat bannock, the heat softening a wedge of cheese she dropped on top.

Torin rubbed his hands together, excitedly. “Och, bannocks and cheese. Tis nae the soft goat cheese I dreamt of, but close enough. This will do verra fine.”

The woman spotted Dude, sauntering under our bench, trilling and winding around Torin’s calves, and made a big delighted commotion, clapping her hands at the sight of such a big cat. She rushed off to get Dude some milk.

I tore into the bannock, the smell making my mouth water. “What’s this meat?”

Torin already had his mouth full of food and spoke around it, “Mutton, och tis delicious, tuck in.”

It was a thick barley brose with mutton and leeks, we both dipped our oat bannocks in it. Torin passed a tiny piece of mutton down to Dude and the woman brought the bowl of milk she had promised him, petting him, and saying, “Och, ye’re a fine beastie, a good cat!”

Every time the tavern door opened, daylight spilled into the room, and the world outside intruded — lowing cattle, drovers shouting, and the creaking of wagons as they rolled by.

Torin ordered us another round of ale. The woman delivered it with more bannocks, cheese, and a bit of berry conserve. She liked us. Or maybe she just liked Dude, who was sprawled purring under our bench. Torin said, “She will be speakin’ on the majestic cat for years.”

I slathered the berries across the bannock and chewed contentedly. It was sweet and tart, basically perfect. “This is so good, can we live here? Can we never leave?”

“We must, and we ought tae finish it quick. We hae ground tae cover afore Kirriemuir, and I would rather reach it with the sun still up.”

So I finished my meal, chewed the last of our bread, and drained my ale. We stood to go out, Torin pinching a piece of mutton for Dude on the journey. Then we left the tavern and stumbled into the brightness.

The sky had the high blue color of having been washed with rain, the air smelled of rain-soaked grass and muddy earth. Our track followed the river at first, the water flowing from the rain, then we turned east into a wide stretch of scrub and blooming heather.

It was beautiful. The colors of the land mirrored the threads of Torin’s plaid. His pale yellow shirt matching the dry straw, the green of the embroidery was the color of the grass, his blue cloak the faded color of sky. He was built like the mountains that ringed us on all sides.

He said, “We hae a few more hours, we will be there well afore nightfall and there winna be rain.”

I said, “Finally, things are working as they should.”