Hunter slept for two hours under the canopy of a roadside papaya grove. Chekwe nudged him awake and he sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked for any sign of daylight.
“Morning?” he grumbled.
“Not yet, but the moon is down, and the stars are fading.”
“I said wake me at sunrise. I told you I didn’t sleep at all last night.”
“I found this.”
Chekwe held up a satchel. Someone’s daily bag by the look of it. Hunter came fully awake in a blink.
“Dahlia’s. Where’d you find it?”
“There’s a big house up on the hill. Tennea stopped there for a while. Can’t see much by way of tracks in the dark, but there’s a lot of droppings. Enough for ten horses or more.”
“Fine,” Hunter said, “but why would I care?”
Chekwe grunted.
“Because you love her.”
“I don’t.”
“Because you want to break your vows for
