We’d been on the road for two hours and already I was exhausted from the trip. “Not a word, Oliverthe Silent. It’s quite miraculous when you consider how very often and how loudly you are speaking. I’m surprised the houses we’ve passed along the way haven’t risen from their peaceful sleep to offer their own opinions on horse travel.”
He glowered at me. “You don’t need to be rude. Icanbe silent. When I want to be.”
“And Icanbe kind when I want to be.” I sighed, sorry for being mean. “I’m nervous for the journey.” The warming sun turned the gray sky to a panorama of soft colors. Fingers of pink, purple, and indigo stretched across the wakening expanse overhead, bringing the day fully to life.
He elbowed me again, his satchel shifting with the jerking of his body. “Oh, little royal, there is nothing to be worried about! These roads are well-traveled. Which means there will be plenty of travelers to keep us company and keep the rebels at bay. We shall arrive in your precious kingdom unscathed with only a bath to worry for.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “And how often have you traveled these well-traveled roads,littlemonk?”
His smile wavered. “You’re worrying for nothing,” he insisted. “We know how to take care of ourselves. There is nothing to fear.”
* * *
Two weeks later,Oliver realized that wasn’t entirely true.
We stood at the border between Heprin and Tenovia with not a clue which way to go. The road out of Heprin split, taking two equally twisting paths. Forest loomed over either road, blocking out the sun almost completely.
The two countries couldn’t have been more different from one another. While the landscape of Heprin had become clustered with towering trees and little sun, it wasn’t until we stood at the border between our idyllic kingdom of Heprin and the Blood Woods of Tenovia that the light seemed to wholly disappear. The road was no longer bordered by wildflowers and tall grasses dancing in the wind. The quaint cottages lining the road were no longer well maintained with flower boxes in open windows and vegetable gardens blanketing the small properties. The spacious hillsides boasting shrines to the Light gave way to gnarled patches of towering trees until finally they weren’t patches, but thick, untamed walls of deadly forest.
Tenovia was not a land filled with light and sunshine and flowers. Tenovia was nothing but black trees as thick as castle keeps, knotted roots that clawed their way from sticky dirt, and shadows that seemed to shift and crouch in the darkness.
“Father Garius told us to stay north whenever possible,” Oliver reminded me. “That road heads south, which would eventually take us to the Burning Desert and slavers waiting to sell us to the highest bidder.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “But that road also seems more traveled. Safer.”
“How is that?” he asked with genuine curiosity.
“There’s light.” And there was, even if it was minimal.
“Where?”
I shifted on my feet. “Well, maybe not light exactly. But I can see flowers. And if there are flowers, there has to be light. At least some of the time.”
“We are not picking our road based on… on… weeds. We need to take the north road. Less chance of running into Vorestran hordes.”
“More chance of running into rebel armies.” I pushed down a fresh wave of fear.
He murmured, “Father Garius said to stick north. We need to stick north. Either way is dangerous.”
He was not wrong.
I jerked my chin toward the northern road and moved forward. “You’re right. We can take care of ourselves. You said it, remember?”
I heard him swallow but didn’t spare him another glance. I would lose my nerve if he gave me any reason to.
We had a rough map that Father Garius had given us to navigate the journey, but it didn’t include every road we’d encountered so far, and nothing we’d run into lately seemed right. We were either on a totally different path than we’d started out on or this map needed to be rewritten.
Which was completely possible.
Father Garius had only ever left the Temple of Eternal Light once and he’d ended up with me as a parting gift.
It was no wonder he’d never wandered from the Temple’s gates again.
Goosebumps pebbled my skin as the temperature dropped. The tree trunks stretched over the ground as thickly as the Heprin cottages we’d left behind and rose to where I could have sworn they touched the sun. Their heavy branches wound around each other, tangling to make an impenetrable canopy.
“This feels ominous,” Oliver mused with a chuckle. “It was a pleasure knowing you, Princess.”
I ignored him.
