Excitement has me bouncing with each step. I haven’t eventhought about riding since I was back home with Sleipnir. I hope Torin is continuing to keep him in shape. Thoughts of home quell my excitement, and guilt takes its place. I’m leaving all of that behind.
Evander hesitantly asks, “You know how to ride, right?”
I nod excitedly, and a bright smile spreads across his face. “Alright, good. We’ll take a trail up through the mountains. You haven’t seen any of the mountain farms yet.”
19
WILD HUNT
My smile is wide as I sit astride a white mare with the longest mane and tail I’ve ever seen. We follow Evander on his dappled gray horse up the path that leads into the mountains behind the Great Hall.
“It’s just a two-hour ride up to the nearest farm. We’ll stop there and rest a bit before we head back. Hopefully, everyone will be cooled off by then,” he calls over his shoulder.
The trail is narrow and barely large enough for our horses. It also isn’t very worn down, which makes it difficult to see from atop the horse.
“Is this a common path?” I ask, trying my best to follow where it leads through the tall grasses.
“Not really,” he replies with a shake of his head. “The farmers take the main roads to town to sell their goods. This isn’t used as much anymore.”
My eyes strain to see where the trail leads, but I lose it when it enters the forest in front of us. The forest covers the foot of the mountain we’re about to climb and hides most of it from view.
“Do you know where you’re going?” I ask, wariness flooding through my veins.
“Yeah, this leads past an ancient temple. From there, it’s a straight shot to the closest farm.”
The ease of his answers soothes some of my nerves.
“A temple?” I scrunch my face in confusion and instantly regret it as my freshly healed nose throbs.
Evander slows so that we’re side by side. His posture is that of someone as comfortable on a horse as they are on their own two feet.
He cocks his head as he asks, “What do you know about the Mother?”
“Ummm, a little, I guess. We practiced what my mother called ‘the olde ways’, so we would worship many gods. She taught me that Danu was the Mother goddess associated with nature and fertility,” I reply.
Before the deaths of my parents and during our many travels, we would often leave offerings of wildflowers or ripe fruit at streams.
“Your mother had this place in her mind when she taught you those ways.”
His smile is tinged with sadness. My smile mirrors his. I see my mother in every bit of this place. It’s bittersweet.
We cross into the forest, and it smells of evergreens and rich soil.
“Danu, or the Mother, is connected to fertility, abundance, and the natural world. The temple on this path was erected so that people could pray and honor her. We’ll stop at it so you can offer her prayers if you wish. The mountains we’re trekking towards are the Badb Mountains—she’s another goddess. The ones to the west are the Edda mountains, again, named after a goddess. We used to recognize a lot of the gods and goddesses, but we don’t anymore.” His shoulders seem to slump with each word.
“Yeah, Odessa mentioned something about that,” I murmur as I watch the sunlight filter through the branches of trees.
“When Odin left, the rest of our gods and goddesses went with him, so there isn’t a need to worship them anymore. They won’t hear us.” His voice is carefully neutral, and his face is cautiously blank.
“Do you really believe that?”
There’s a tree directly in our path, and we separate, leading our horses around it.
Evander sighs as he shakes his head. “No. Which is why I offered to let you pay your respects to Danu.”
He glances sidelong at me, gauging my reaction to his words.
My lips kick up into a smile, and he smiles back at me nervously. I turn my attention to the surrounding land that is teeming with stunning giant emerald evergreens. Ruby red poppies and cascading white flowers, their petals shaped like stars, weave through feathery ferns. The towering trees block most of the sunlight, so the journey is cool, with a constant soft breeze rustling the branches. Birds chatter, and a few small creatures scurry across our path.
