Page 22 of Heir of the Autumn Queen

The boy makes a puzzled face but doesn’t comment. I turn back to Shadow to say goodnight, when the boy speaks up again.“Never seen a peggie before.”

“Me either.” I smile, answering honestly this time. He cocks his head to the side in confusion, so I elaborate.“I found her this morning in the woods and she just followed me.”

“Wow.” He lets out a low whistle.“Peggies are loyal creatures, so I’m sure you’re stuck with her now, whether you wanther or not.”

His words wash over me, bringing me a sense of relief, knowing I’ll have a companion on this journey for the foreseeable future.“Do you know if she could be saddled?” I ask him since he seems to know more aboutpeggies, as he calls them, than I do.

“I don’t see why not.” He shrugs.“You might have to have one altered to accommodate her wings, but it could still work.”

I nod, trying to calculate how much that would cost. A problem for another day, I decide.“Well, thank you. For taking care of her tonight.”

The boy bows slightly.“You’re welcome, miss.”

I give him a small parting wave before heading back inside the inn, and back upstairs to my room. I close the door and go to the hearth to add another log to the fire, but it appears to be burning just as brightly as when I left to check on Shadow. Maybe it’s another one of Marah’s enchantments, and I’m certainly not complaining.

I collapse down onto the bed, unsheathing my dagger and placing it under my pillow before falling into a deep sleep. That night, I dream of flying with Shadow.

Chapter Eleven

Istartle awake, sitting up in bed and reaching for my dagger. I scan the room frantically and take in my surroundings, feeling disoriented with sleep, before remembering where I am. I exhale loudly, relaxing once I’m confident that I’m safe.

By the look of the sky outside my small window, dawn is quickly approaching. I hear a rooster crow somewhere nearby, and I rub my face to wake myself up. I stretch luxuriously and my muscles thank me for the night of sleep on a soft mattress instead of the cold, hard earth.

I stand up and pull on my boots, then my cloak, the wooden floor squeaking under my weight. The fire in the hearth is still going strong, confirming my earlier suspicions about some kind of spell being involved in the consistency of the flames. I notice that the dirty clothes I had laid across the chair have been washed and folded, no doubt another one of Marah’s enchantments. While I’m grateful to have an extra clean pair of clothes, I’m sort of unnerved by the idea of someone being in my room while I slept; although if her summoning the food last night was any indication of her abilities, it’s possible she cleaned the clothes without actually having entered the room. I place the folded clothes in my bag before heading downstairs to the main tavern. I’m not at allsurprised to find Marah already behind the bar, tidying up before any patrons could file in for breakfast.

I take a seat on one of the tall wooden stools at the bar, and a steaming plate of eggs, bacon, and hotcakes appears in front of me, making my mouth water.“Thank you,” I tell Marah before digging in.

“I trust your accommodations were satisfactory?” the innkeeper asks me, wiping down the counter in front of her with a damp rag.

I quickly swallow the bite in my mouth and answer her, nodding.“Yes, thank you very much.”

She waves her hand in dismissal before grabbing a broom from the corner and sweeping the floor in front of the hearth. I finish my breakfast before heading back up to my room to gather my things. There’s not much point in lingering in a town this small, so I want to keep moving west until I get closer to the capital city. Maybe the temple here will have a map that I could take a look at to get a better idea of how far Elsreth is from here.

I throw on my bag and bow, then head back downstairs to get Shadow, but not before leaving an extra silver piece on the bar for Marah, where I find some bread and cheese wrapped in a cloth, which I assume are for me. I tuck them into my bag and say a silent goodbye to the innkeeper for her kindness and hospitality.

Once in the stables, I find the same boy from last night mucking out Shadow’s stall, and I thank him again before greeting her with some pets on her velvety nose. Still feeling insecure about my very new bond with her, I’m honestly doubtful that she’ll follow me, but that fear is quickly laid to rest as she trails closely behind me as I walk out of the barn.

We walk across the square to the temple as the bell chimes in the tower, signaling the early hour. I leave Shadow to graze in a grassy patch next to the temple and head inside. It’s dark and damp inside the stone building, with only a few torches lighting the space, but it looks similar to the temple in Staghorn, which is a small consolation. A priestess in a pale blue robe emerges from another room to greet me, and I quickly remember to bow briefly at the altar near the door, a sign of respect and acknowledgment of the gods and goddesses that once ruled these lands before they retired to the Isle of the Gods to rest.

The priestess gives me a warm smile before saying,“Welcome, traveler. How may I be of assistance?”

“I’m hoping you have a map I can take a look at.” I return her smile.

“Certainly,” she says, turning to walk down a narrow hallway and leading me into a library of sorts. This room is much brighter, with several large windows on the east side, welcoming the warm sunlight that streams in as the sun rises. The priestess gestures toward the west side of the room where a massive map of Iaselion takes up most of the wall. I walk up to the map, trying to appear like I know what I’m doing.

My eyes find Staghorn Forest, and I say another prayer for Killian and Briar, feeling sadder than I was a moment ago. My eyes follow the path I took from Staghorn until they come to rest on the town closest to the Nevoa Mountains, called Ockchester, which I surmise is where I am currently. I estimate that about two hundred miles lay between my current location and Elsreth, which should take me about two weeks to get to if I walk the whole way.If Shadow will let me ride her, I could shave a few days off that time, but I’m really not in a hurry to get to the capital city of the Spring Kingdom. There are a few towns in between here and there, but even if I travel along the main road to save time, I might have to camp a few nights in the woods depending on how far I’m able to trek each day. I quickly refresh my memory of the geography of Iaselion, noting the capital cities in the other kingdoms, before turning to the priestess, who has been waiting patiently for me by the door.

“Thank you,” I tell her. She smiles serenely and leads me back out to the main room and opens the large front door for me.

“May Dafina bless you on your journey, Golden One.” She bows her head slightly.

Before I can respond to her use of the name that Sibyl also called me on the night of my birthday, she closes the door, leaving me standing in the road, wondering about why the seer from my home and this random priestess would call me the same name.

Shadow lifts her head and walks over to me, nudging me in greeting.“Hey, girl.” I place my forehead against hers for a moment to get my bearings.“Let’s go.”

∞∞∞

Shadow and I walk west along the main road. We’ve only seen a few people all morning, mostly farmers with mules pulling carts of produce or the occasional traveler on horseback. We gained a few wary glances but weren’t shown any outward hostility.

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