Merrick's POV
I woke up bright and energized.
I lay still for a moment and looked up at the ceiling. The inn smelled of old wood and last night's fire and the smell of bread from somewhere below.
I stretched.
A full length stretch - my arms above my head, back arching, every part of my body lodging its honest report on yesterday's hard riding and a night on an unfamiliar mattress. The mattress had been acceptable. It wasn't bad for an inn.
Today would be different.
I had decided this before I was fully awake. Yesterday had ended badly - not failed, not over, but badly. Today we would find the right one. I would make sure of it. The trader had more names. The road had more stops. The math was simple and I intended to hold onto the simplicity of it.
I needed to be done with this and head back to Black Wolf.
