A Midwinter Fantasy - Leanna Renee Hieber [51]
He went inside, Ruffles padding contentedly at his side. Back in the Valley, anchor dogs were allowed in any building their sylph might go into, but he learned the inhabitants of Falloweld didn’t feel the same way the moment he stepped through the door.
“Hey! Whoa! Get that dog out of here!” the innkeeper shouted from behind the bar, gesturing with a large mug. “No animals allowed!”
Mace hesitated. If the man had been brandishing a knife, he would have been tempted to blow him to pieces, though of course Lily’s orders wouldn’t have allowed that. As it was, everyone was staring. With an annoyed frown, he backed out the door and settled Ruffles in a sheltered spot with a very firm “Stay.” If she was frightened by anything, he’d know and come for her. She licked his hand and he went back inside.
Everyone was still staring at him, murmuring now. Mace was used to that but still irritated, and to add to the matter, everyone he saw was male, showing none of the fearful respect he was used to getting. He was tempted to just walk out, but this was still the best place to start. The mail convoy he sought would have gone through this town. If the convoy hadn’t stopped at this inn, the innkeeper still should know where it went. It was even possible that Jayden was still here, though Mace couldn’t sense him. He’d never paid much attention to Lily’s male orphans, but he knew them well enough that he could identify their patterns. That was true of Jayden especially, since the boy was always around. Mace only had to get within a few hundred feet of the youngster to spot him.
He went across the room to the innkeeper, who’d just had one of the patrons at his bar whisper to him and was now regarding Mace with rather more concern than before. There was a bit of fear under the bluster, but it still had nothing to do with any realization of what Mace actually was. Mace couldn’t read minds, only emotions, and right now that didn’t help him much.
He stopped on the other side of the bar, looking down at the man.
“You lost your cloak,” the innkeeper noted. “You get attacked by those bandits?”
“What?” Mace said, surprised. He hadn’t heard anything about bandits, though of course he wouldn’t have cared, so long as they stayed off sylph land. “I’m looking for a boy. His name’s Jayden, about fourteen. He would have come through here a week ago with a mail convoy out of Sylph Valley.”
To his surprise, the man’s expression turned to dismay, and the talking started up in the inn again. Mace looked around in bemusement, listening to the conversations for information, but it was the innkeeper who said something that made sense. Sort of.
“Oh, hell. Look, we didn’t know where he came from. The postmen didn’t stay long enough to say much. I mean, we knew about it, but we didn’t know who to tell.”
Mace eyed him. “What are you talking about?”
The innkeeper took a deep breath, obviously not happy with what he had to say next. “A mail convoy got attacked by bandits on the road a few days ago. They came through here afterward and didn’t stay long; they’d lost everything, and no one wants to stay here anymore, thanks to those damn murderers.” He paused. “They said that the bandits told them that if they didn’t get a recruit, they’d kill everyone. They said a boy volunteered to go with them. No one’s seen him since.”
“Damn bastards,” a patron growled. “Just wanted to toy with him, I bet. They don’t need recruits. They got enough already.”
“Won’t be long before they attack us, I tell you. That wall won’t be enough to keep them out.”
“Someone’s got to petition the king for help!”
“We’ve already sent to him. Won’t see nothing until spring, if we see