Gisele bounced on the balls of her feet and hefted a woven basket. “Good, because I already pilfered two bottles of wine.”
The hot springcaves were less than an hour’s walk away. With the aid of one of the bottles and its intoxicating contents, Cora felt as if the walk went much faster. She and her two companions were a mess of laughter by the time they reached the mouth of the cave. They huddled close together as they proceeded inside, their giggles turning to silence. Entering the cave came with both reverence and a healthy dose of fear. The antechamber was blanketed in a darkness so bleak, their lantern only lit the next few steps. Cora kept her breaths shallow as they made their way slowly forward, deeper into the cave. The antechamber narrowed to a corridor and soon the warmth of steam met her skin, bringing with it the telltale aroma of sulfur. Then light just ahead.
The three women quickened their pace, their steps now fueled with excitement as the corridor took them down a slight decline toward the belly of the cave. The sulfurous aroma grew stronger, and while it wasn’t the most pleasant smell, Cora was more than happy to suffer it for the benefits that awaited. Finally, they stepped into the main chamber, the walls of the underground cave glowing with bioluminescence, lighting the surface of the three small steaming pools pocking the rocky floor. The heat alone had every muscle in Cora’s body loosening, and she couldn’t wait to slip beneath the warm waters.
Gisele looked from Cora to Maiya with an inebriated grin. “Ready?”
The three girls darted toward the largest pool, roaring with laughter as they stripped down.
“See, we’re celebrating Beltane just fine,” Gisele said as she pulled her shift over her head. “Skyclad. Naked as the day we were born.”
Cora rolled her eyes as the girl sauntered into the pool without an ounce of inhibition. Still, Cora knew the hot springs were no place to try and maintain modesty. Not when walking home in a sodden shift was far more uncomfortable than the brief moment of nudity she’d endure. Besides, Gisele was right. Goingskyclad, as the Forest People called ritual nudity, was neither odd nor shameful. And yet, Cora hadn’t been born under such freedoms. She was born into a world of strict rules and propriety.
Turning her back to her friends, she unshouldered her bow and quiver, tucking them next to a low boulder before removing the rest of her ensemble.
“Hurry up,” Gisele called, sending a splash of water to the hem of Cora’s shift. Squealing at the warm spray, she pulled her shift the rest of the way off, then rushed to the pool and plunged shoulder deep. Maiya was up to her chin in the water, the cherry blossoms that had once adorned her braids now floating wilted on the surface. Gisele lounged against the side of the pool, her arms outstretched and propped on the rocky ledge.
Cora tilted her head back and admired the blue-green glow lighting the pool from above. Peace settled over her, mingling with the warmth in her belly leftover from the wine. She felt every last bit of stress she’d picked up from her day dissolve. “This was the right choice,” Cora whispered.
“I told you so,” Gisele said. She reached for her basket and retrieved their bottle, taking a drink before passing it to Maiya, then she to Cora.
Cora took a hearty sip, finishing the remnants. Gisele was already opening the second bottle.
“Do you think it’s true?” Maiya asked, turning her gaze to the glowing ceiling.
“What? The legends about the caves having once hosted dragons?” Gisele said the last part with a sardonic look.
“It sounds silly when you say it like that,” Maiya said.
“It is silly.” Gisele took a sip from the new bottle. “Do you really think those,” she pointed at the ceiling, “were once dragons?”
Maiya dipped a little lower in the water. “Maybe.”
Gisele chuckled and passed Maiya the wine. “What do you think, Cora? Historical fact or faerytale?”
Cora shrugged. “Faeryn legends are faerytales, aren’t they?”
“I suppose,” Gisele said, “but are they true?”
Cora wasn’t so sure. When the Forest People had first found the hot spring caves a month prior, Salinda had been adamant that the caverns had been left behind from days when fae still roamed the land, back when pixies, sprites, and unicorns were as common as squirrels and deer. Back before the Elvyn and Faeryn—the two races of High Fae—went all but extinct. No one knew why the fae disappeared, only that a terrible war hundreds of years ago had prompted it. The stories told how all fae creatures turned to regular animals after that. And Salinda was convinced the glowing worms that painted the cave walls in bioluminescence were once dragons. The hot spring caves, according to her, had once been home to the legendary fae creatures. There was no way to know if Salinda was right. She may have been the Keeper of Histories, but that didn’t mean the tales of the past hadn’t been skewed by the fancies of those who came before her.
“True or not,” Maiya said, “this is the best place we’ve ever found.”
“I can agree with that,” Gisele said, taking the bottle of wine back. “I hate that we’ll have to leave the caves behind soon.”
Cora’s heart sank. They all knew the Forest People would be gone by Litha—the summer solstice. They traveled to a new camp with every season, both to follow the most favorable weather in Khero and to ensure they never overburdened the land that nourished them. Even after six years with the commune, Cora still wasn’t used to constantly moving around.
She’d been in one place the first twelve years of her life.
Before everything changed.
Before she became an outlaw.
Chased by dark magic.
Haunted by blood?—
A sound coming from beyond the cave snapped Cora from her thoughts. Maiya, who’d been saying something Cora hadn’t been paying attention to, cut off mid-sentence. She and Cora turned their gazes to the corridor from where they’d emerged.
