Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
“Nothing but old tales,” he snapped, cutting her off.
“What old tales?” she asked curiously.
“Nothing worth repeating.”
“Tales often start from a grain of truth.”
“Or from lies,” he countered, “in which case they cannot be trusted.”
She was about to tell him she would love to hear the tales anyway when she felt a shift within her and she shut her eyes as it slipped over and through her. It was a vision coming on and she had felt it before it struck like last night, and she embraced it.
The scene stirred in her mind’s eye, a man on the road ahead, traveling towards them. Unease stirred around him leaving her feeling that something was amiss with him.
“What is it?” Dar asked, watching her eyes open slowly after seeing them flutter closed to see something no one else did. A vision for sure, but a brief one.
“Ahead, a lone figure walks the road. He heads towards us, not away.” She shook her head. “There is an unease to him.”
Dar’s hand went to the hilt of his dagger. “He travels alone?”
“I saw no one with him,” she said, but something had her quickly adding, “but I cannot be sure.”
Dar turned partially in his saddle to his six Hunters traveling behind them and ordered, “Two stay here, the others spread out and see if anyone lurks nearby.”
The men followed his orders without question.
Sure enough, as they turned the slight curve in the road not too far ahead the man came into view.
He moved without haste or burden, his stride unencumbered, his cloak loose about his shoulders. No pack nor blade in hand. Nothing tied him to any place but the moment he occupied. A wanderer? Or someone with a destination?
Dar called out with authority, “You there, halt.”
The man stopped at once.
He was lean, spare as the road itself, with dark hair pulled back and eyes sharp. He didn’t fit the description Bella had given him of the wanderer this morning, short and thick.
The fellow’s gaze swept over Dar, then Elara, and he was quick to say, “I seek no trouble, Hunter.”
“Be honest with me and you’ll find none,” Dar cautioned. “Did you pass a short, rotund wanderer on the road?”
Fear flashed in the man’s eyes.
“Truth will keep you from trouble,” Dar cautioned.
“With respect, sir, I don’t always find that to be true.”
With a swift swing, Dar was off his horse and went and stood in front of the man. He was a good head taller than the fellow and broader.
“Then perhaps a threat would work better. Tell me or you will be taken to Caerith, and you can tell the king what you refuse to tell me.”
“Nay, sir, nay.” The wanderer shifted his weight, his gaze flicking past Dar to the trees, then back again, as if fearful of being seen or heard. He lowered his voice. “I saw him and I wish I hadn’t.”
“Tell me,” Dar commanded, leaving no room for him to refuse.
The man drew a breath, then let it out slow. “Two nights ago. There was more than a chill in the air, and I could find no place to shelter. I smelled a cook fire and hoped it was a fellow wanderer, and he would share the heat of his campfire and the fish that was cooking. But I know the dangers of traveling the road, so I kept my steps light so I could peek past the trees and make sure no trouble sat by the fire.” He paled. “I wish I hadn’t.”
Dar waited for him to continue.
“What I saw froze me for a moment. When my senses returned, I hurried away quietly and got as far away as I could.”
“What did you see that frightened you?”
The wanderer hesitated and when he spoke it was with a tremor. “Another man sat with him, his face hidden by his hood.” He swallowed hard. “And on his shoulder—” He paused swallowing hard again. “Stood a fairy, her tiny wings still, and a soft blue light glowing around her.”
Elara heard and her first thought was… Amelia? Could it have been her?
“Had you been drinking?” Dar asked, looking for a reasonable explanation.
“I wish I had been.” He shook his head. “But nay, I hadn’t a drop all day, though after seeing that I could have used a whole jug of ale.”
“Are you sure it was a fairy?” Dar asked.
“The blue light glowing around her made it hard not to see her. She was as clear to me as you are here standing in front of me.”
Elara’s fingers tightened around her cloak.
Dar had more questions for the man. “The wanderer wasn’t disturbed by the presence of the fairy?”
“He didn’t appear so, but I didn’t linger, I left in haste wanting no part of it. Please, sir, my lips are sealed. I will not say a word of this to anyone,” he pleaded. “I just want to be left alone to wander.”