Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
She turned to hurry to Kaelan, her eyes widening seeing him approach.
“I got what we need,” he said and held up a sack.
He couldn’t help but notice her freshly braided hair or the soft color in her cheeks or how her lips seemed to shine like the morning dew on the foliage and it made him want to kiss her so badly that he almost did. But not now. They had to be on their way.
“I got food as well. We have a journey ahead of us so we cannot waste time.” He stretched his hand out to her.
She took it, relieved to feel his warm, strong hand closing around hers, feel him beside her, feel whole again. She fell into step beside Kaelan as he tucked the edge of the sack under his belt and started down the narrow path leading away from the village.
“Where are we going?” she asked, glancing back briefly at the cottages disappearing behind them. Strange as the village had proven to be, leaving it unsettled her more than expected.
“To a council member,” Kaelan answered without slowing his pace. “Kilham believes one will receive us.”
Bria frowned. “You speak as though the council does not remain together.”
“They do not.” Kaelan stepped over thick roots crossing the path and made sure she did the same. “According to Kilham, each keeps their own dwelling hidden throughout Driochmor. The council only gathers at a central place when necessary.”
That somehow made them sound even more mysterious.
Bria felt the small pouch Winnie had given her brush against her side from where she had tucked it in her cloak pocket, reminding her, “There is something I need to tell you.”
Kaelan glanced at her briefly, immediately catching the strain lingering beneath her words.
“Tell me,” he encouraged.
Bria hesitated, not comfortable with the village lingering close behind and thick forest hiding who knew what.
Kaelan seemed to sense her uncertainty.
“There is a stream some distance ahead where we can stop and eat,” he said. “You can tell me then. Until then, we keep moving.”
Bria nodded though asked, “Is there a reason for this sudden urgency?”
“Kilham warned me it could take several days to reach the council member. Driochmor rarely offers direct paths to anything.”
“That sounds more like a riddle than direction.”
“It likely is. Kilham warned that there are those in Driochmor who oppose the king sending emissaries to open talks between Scotara and Driochmor. They do not trust him and fear that it is a ploy to infiltrate the forbidden land and bring a final end to it.”
“I don’t think that’s what the king wants,” Bria said, surprising herself and Kaelan.
“Why do you suspect that?” he asked, sending her a curious look before returning his attention to the forest that thickened steadily around them as they walked farther from the village.
The towering trees allowed only pale streaks of morning light to reach the ground. Strange sounds echoed now and again through the woods, distant enough that Bria could not tell if they came from beast, bird, or something else entirely.
Bria stepped closer to him, keeping her voice a bit lower than usual. “The king’s main interest in Driochmor is to find the healer that can battle death and win.”
“Is there a reason you believe this?”
Her voice lowered more. “There are men here searching for her as well. I believe they come from Drogath.”
That brought Kaelan to an abrupt stop. He looked ready to question her, then his glance turned to the forest around them before returning to her. “We will speak of this when we stop.”
Silence remained their companion as they continued and it was hours later before they stopped by the stream.
Bria went straight to the stream when they reached it, thirsty, and hurried to scoop up several handfuls of water. It was only afterward that she glanced around.
The stream was wider than she expected, clear water rushing swiftly over smooth stones while tall moss-covered trees arched overhead, their branches weaving together thick enough to cast much of the forest beneath them in cool shadow. Morning clouds had given way to partial sunlight that slipped through in scattered beams that danced across the water whenever the breeze stirred the leaves.
Kaelan crouched close by doing the same, quenching his thirst.
Bria settled by the stream ready to eat since neither of them had spared the time to do so before they left the village hours ago.
Kaelan dropped down beside her and rummaged through the sack of food, pulling out a chunk of bread and some smoked meat, which he divided between them.
She chuckled. “I will never eat that much.”
“We have a journey ahead of us. Eat to stay strong.”
It would take a journey there and back to eat so much. Would she ever get home to Willowmere? Or would she find her journey ending elsewhere?
“You wanted to tell me something,” Kaelan reminded her.