“Peace and rest be yours.”
Chapter Sixty-nine
Laurel and I crested the mountain trail and looked down on Freston as the wind laughed and pulled on our clothes. Well, my clothes, as the Faena stood clad only in his feathers and beads that hung from his ears. They gently swayed and clicked as he pressed his ears forward, looking down on the mountain town that lay basking in the rare warmth of a fall day. “And so it begins,” Laurel said.
So it did. I smiled down at the familiar sights, but then gave a wistful glance over my shoulder towards the Border—and my family—that we’d left a few weeks before.
“What’s the building with the yellow tile, Two Trees’son?” Wyln asked, sitting on a horse next to me.
“It’s a theater, honored Cyhn,” I said. The wind laughed again, plucking at my braid’s ties and ruffling both my feather and the butterflies’ wings.
“A playhouse?” Wyln leaned forward in his saddle, his face intent.
Captains Suiden and Javes also looked down upon the city, their gazes aimed towards the faded purple tiles of the garrison—and King Jusson’s standard that flew above it. I wondered how Commander Ebner’s mustache was handling a royal visit.
Suiden shot me a glance. “Keep it down, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jeff, pulling up next to Laurel, snickered.
Groskin joined us, his eyes golden in the afternoon’s light, while the rest of the troopers came to a halt behind us.
All of our horses lifted their heads, perhaps scenting the garrison stables and the promise of currycombs, warm stalls and hay. Groskin’s horse gave a soft whicker and reached over to nip Laurel’s ear.
“Home, sirs,” Groskin said. “Yes. Give the order to move it out, Lieutenant,” Suiden said, starting down the trail, the wind blowing his horse’s tail behind them like a streamer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lorna Freeman started reading fairytales at an early age in reaction to an ordinary life. Though not a true native, she has lived most of her life in southern California, the land of sunshine and earthquakes. She now is at work on the next book in The Borderlands series.