morons. If they had been trained mercenaries, Levent could be dead right now and it would be my fault. Not that the dragon-kin could not handle himself, but…
“We’re very lucky,” Rio said, a whisper.
My ears twitched and I looked at him. His face was unusually serious.
“What do you mean?” I said, also whispering though I was not sure why.
“We probably wouldn’t have found you so fast without him… Levent’s the one that tracked you down, you know.”
“What about Kewyn?” I said.
“I went to find her when we got the note, but Levent charged off as soon as he read it,” he said. “I was lucky she was close, but still. It would still have taken us hours for the guards to find you, not minutes.”
“How long was I gone?” I said.
“Less than an hour, I think. That dragon-kin and his nose,” Rio said.
“His…” I said, flushing a little. What was he, a hound?
“Anyway,” Rio said, patting me on the head. “We should probably thank him when he gets back.”
I was silent as Rio held the door open for me and we went back into the inn.
“Stay put,” he said. “I’ll be right back with good news.” He gave me an enthusiastic wink – which looked a little odd due to the eye patch – and left.
I let myself into my room and stood in the doorway for a moment, feeling my heart hammering. I then sprawled on my bed and looked at the ceiling for a long time. At some point I dozed off.
I woke up as Levent opened the door and stepped inside. He did not look at me as he hung his cloak up and looked out the window.
“How’d it go?” I asked, peering out from behind my divider.
For a moment I thought he did not hear me, but then he spoke. His voice was low and rougher than normal.
“You need to be more careful,” he said.
“That may be true,” I said, standing up. “But, I hate to point out how much trouble you’ve gotten me into…”
I paused, looking the kin over. His stance was strange, his shoulders hunched and his fists tight. He was still was not looking at me.
“Are you alright?” I asked.