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a downside with you, isn’t there?”
    Carter snickered at his companion, patting her on the head. “It’s a knight’s job to think through all the possibilities, isn’t it, milady?”
    “Ugh. Whatever. How dare you try to use my own tricks against me.”
    “Oh, hey, I almost forgot.” Carter stopped, eyeing Silvia.
    “Eh?” Silvia halted as well, glancing back at her companion.
    “You’ve got a very keen eye for quality,” Carter said, rubbing his stubbly chin.
    Silvia grinned faintly. “You mentioned that already, you dunce.”
    “I’m serious, though. I didn’t even think to check the stitching in the coat. I always just check the fabric itself.”
    “Well, it comes naturally to me, I guess. It seemed like nothing when I would watch my dad do it anyhow. It just made sense.”
    “Do you think you could do the same thing with more than just clothes?”
    Silvia peered at Carter curiously. “I suppose so. Why?”
    Carter took a deep breath.
    Here we go.
    “I have a proposal to make.”
    “Okay, what?”
    “Well, how would you feel about being my business partner?”
    Silvia’s eyes widened. She stared at Carter for a while, stock-still as people rushed all around them. “Your business partner?”
    “Yeah. See, this trip of ours is going to cost me quite a bit of money. I wasn’t going to ask you for payment; that’s not why I’m helping you. But I figured if you have that good an eye, we could help each other. You travel with me as my trading partner, helping me drive prices in our favor, and in return I can teach you more of the basics to trading. Then, when we reach Montar, you can go home, and we will part ways better off than we started.”
    Chuckling at some private joke, Silvia crossed her arms, mimicking Carter’s grin perfectly. “Figures that a man like you would need my help,” she joked, drawing her face uncomfortably close to his. “After all, you’re too busy acting tough to think straight!”
    “That does seem to be my M.O. lately, yeah.”
    “Well, I guess I have no choice but to accept, aye partner ?”
    “It would be a shame if you didn’t. Who else would partner up with a pushover like me?”
    “You have a point. Maybe I’m the fool after all.”
    Carter laughed. He resumed walking, Silvia by his side. Up ahead, the inn stood tall, waiting for them. Silvia quickened her pace, running ahead of him. Carter grinned, watching her go.
    “You coming?”
    “Yup, right behind you.”

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    “It’s cold in here. Can we please use the fireplace?”
    “No, we are leaving in a few minutes. Just put your coat back on.”
    Silvia puffed out her cheeks, frowning at Carter. He ignored her, pulling on his spare T-shirt. A blanket lay draped over the window to help with the draft, but the gradual leak of air left the room rather frigid.
    “If I put on my coat, how will I get ready?” Silvia asked, draping her outerwear over her shoulders.
    “Well, it’s up to you,” Carter said, “but either way I’m not wasting money on extra firewood.”
    “Miser.”
    “Wow. Cheap blow.”
    Silvia didn’t respond, quaking exaggeratedly and blinking her eyes as if she might cry at any moment. Carter sighed.
    She’s going to drive me into my grave.
    “Trust me,” he muttered. “You’ll thank this miser when we have firewood to keep us warm on the road.”
    “Too bad that doesn’t help me now .”
    Picking up a blanket from the pile on the floor, Carter wrapped it around Silvia’s shoulders. The Shell dweller glanced up, shooting him a wry grin.
    “You don’t give in easy, do you?”
    “Nope. You’d have better luck asking the firewood for help.”
    Sitting opposite his companion, Carter opened his bag. Sifting through its contents, he made sure everything sat in its proper place.
    Can’t afford to turn back once we leave tomorrow morning. With the Covenant no doubt on our heels, returning to Boston won’t be an option. Not for a while anyway.
    Lastly,