Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105132 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Seger’s laugh quickly turned to a cough.
Dravic’s gaze shot toward him.
The Hunter looked suddenly fascinated by the forest.
Adira lowered her head, unable to stop the smile that surfaced, the expressions on Dravic and the fairy’s face revealing that the fairy had bested him again.
Fiora spotted it and her grin widened. “See? Adira thinks I’m funny.”
Dravic glanced down.
Adira immediately wiped the smile from her face.
His brow rose.
She stared innocently back at him.
For several moments, he simply looked at her before turning to Fiora.
“Go and see that this fairy gets the task done for you.”
Fiora gave him an exaggerated bow. “As my king commands.”
“It would do you well to remember I am your king and it is your duty to obey me.”
“Your message will get delivered, my king. Be grateful.” She disappeared into the forest laughing.
Dravic watched the spot where she vanished. “Annoying little creature.”
Adira felt another chuckle rise in her chest.
His questioning gaze dropped to her, and she quickly looked away.
They had traveled some distance before Ernach urged his horse forward to ride beside the king.
“The path narrows farther ahead, but once beyond it the travel grows easier,” he said. “If we keep a steady pace, we should reach Thorskaill Village shortly before dusk.”
Dravic glanced toward the gray sky. The light would begin fading early, and the cold had sharpened considerably since leaving the last village.
“Will we be welcomed?”
Ernach smiled faintly. “You are in Driochmor, my king. Welcome is never guaranteed.”
Dravic frowned at him.
“But you will be given shelter,” Ernach added. “The people of Thorskaill have little interest in who rules beyond Driochmor as long as whoever enters their village brings no trouble.”
“I seem to be bringing a considerable amount of trouble with me.”
Ernach chuckled. “Then perhaps we should not tell them.”
Dravic almost smiled. Almost.
Adira caught it and wondered what Ernach had said. She had come to recognize that particular look. The king was amused, though he would probably deny it if anyone dared suggest it.
She settled more comfortably against him as the two men continued to talk. Every so often a sound penetrated the silence, nothing she could grasp, nothing as clear as his name had been. Still, she listened, wondering if another word might find its way to her.
“What did my father know of Driochmor?” Dravic asked.
Father.
Adira heard it and for some reason it sounded familiar to her. But how could that be so?
Ernach took his time answering. “More than your grandda wanted him to.”
Dravic’s attention sharpened. “Explain.”
“King Halric did not trust Driochmor. He feared what he did not understand, and there was much here he did not understand. Your da was different. He was curious about things Halric preferred left alone.”
“My father came here?”
Father.
There it was again. Adira heard it clearly.
“Aye.”
“How often?”
“Enough that people knew him.”
That surprised Dravic.
Growing up beneath his grandfather’s rule, Dravic had believed his grandda told him all he needed to know about his da. But his grandda had never mentioned that Edric had shown interest in Driochmor and had visited here. Why hadn’t his grandda told him that? Looking back on it now, there had always been remarkably little substance to the stories about his da.
A skilled swordsman. A fine hunter. A keen strategist. A strong leader.
All were words his grandda had repeated over and over.
Now there seemed to be an entire life no one had bothered to tell him about.
“Why did he come here?” Dravic asked.
Ernach glanced at him. “You ask questions that have answers attached to other questions.”
“I asked one.”
“And I heard it.”
“Then answer it,” Dravic demanded.
“Your da wanted to understand Driochmor,” Ernach finally said. “Not conquer it. Not control it. Understand it. He believed there was much here Scotara could learn from if people stopped fearing everything they could not explain.”
“Why did my father want to understand it? He ruled over it.”
She heard it again… father.
And again, she wondered how the word could sound familiar to her.
When it became obvious the older man intended to say nothing more, his patience thinned.
“You have developed an annoying habit of deciding what I should and should not know.”
“I have developed an old man’s habit of knowing when one answer will lead to twenty more.”
“I have time for twenty.”
Ernach laughed softly. “I suspected you would.”
Adira felt the rumble of Dravic’s response beneath her hand where it rested against his chest. She wished desperately that more words would break through. She listened until the effort itself began to frustrate her, but nothing came.
Ernach was quiet for several moments before he looked toward Dravic again. “You ask much about your grandda and da, but nothing of your mum.”
Dravic’s expression hardened slightly. “I know all I need to about my mum.”
Ernach nodded. “Do you?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Magic of Thorskaill
Drawn to Her
The first sign of Thorskaill Village was not a cottage or a curl of smoke rising above the trees, but light.