Page 19 of Until the Stars Fall

He offered me another warm smile. “As soon as you’re ready. I have a pair of horses waiting in the stables out back. You’re lucky you came when you did. Any earlier and your family would have still been in the mountains.”

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and cringed when my bare feet hit the cold floor. I didn’t bother mentioning that it was, in fact, poor luck that had brought me here in the first place.

I stood at the edge of the campsite watching Mr. Marstens ride away until he vanished from sight. A throat cleared behind me. I turned to find a man and woman watching me. My mother’s cousins, Anna and Owen. Despite their kind expressions, something about them unnerved me.

You’re being ridiculous,I told myself.

They were family. Mother had trusted them. I could too. What other choice did I have? I couldn’t go back home, and I couldn’t stay in Engle or any other village.

Anna, an older woman with dark hair that was graying at her temples, moved a half-step forward and dipped her chin. “Our daughter, Raven, has prepared your tent for you. If you’ll allow me to show you the way?”

My mouth went completely dry. I tightened my hands into fists to try to keep their shaking from being too noticeable. All I could manage was a quick nod. I bent down to pick up my bag, but her husband reached it first.

“Allow me,” Owen said, and before I could even think to protest, he had my belongings in his arms and was walking off with them.

“Come,” Anna said with a wave of her hand, and I stepped alongside her without another look back.

For the first time since I’d arrived, I allowed myself a look at what would be my home for the foreseeable future. The clearing was as large as the grounds around the palace, but there were no buildings here. Instead, rows of large tents had been erected. These weren’t the flimsy type meant for temporary shelter; rather, they seemed to be sturdy structures.

“Over there are the training grounds.” Anna pointed to the right, and I swung my head to see several circles where the grass had been worn away, leaving only dark soil. In one of them, two women sparred, and I instinctively flinched each time their wooden swords met with a loud crack. My steps slowed as I watched. They moved quickly, expertly, as if they were performing a dance.

I stopped short when one of the women spun around and slammed her elbow into the nose of her opponent, causing her to drop her weapon into the dirt. With blood streaming from her nose and over her lips, the injured woman managed to hook her ankle behind the other’s leg and knock her onto her backside.

A hand nudged my jaw up from where it had fallen open, and I caught Anna’s eye.

“Don’t worry, Lieke,” she said. “Your training won’t start until tomorrow. Come, let’s get you settled.”

I shifted my gaze back to the women in the training ring, who had resumed their practice.How long would it take for me to learn how to do that? And how much would it hurt in the process?

As we walked through the large camp, Anna pointed out the area where they prepared meals, a larger fire where everyone gathered together, the privy and the baths, and the row of sleeping tents. There seemed to be enough room for at least thirty people, but the clearing was nearly empty.

“How many people live here?” I asked as we continued past the tents.

“Oh, youdotalk,” she said, giving me a kind smile that I returned easily. “At the moment, we have barely a dozen. Some others come and go when traveling through, but for the most part it is just the eleven of us. Twelve, I suppose, now that you’re here.”

“And where is everyone? Did I scare them away or something?”

Anna offered me a sympathetic laugh and stopped in front of one of the tents. “Of course not, Lieke. Those on night watch are sleeping. We may seem secluded here, but we have to be vigilant.”

“And the others?”

“Out hunting, I believe. We try not to visit the town markets unless we absolutely have to. Better to know how to survive on our own. Never know when the fae may become even more hostile toward our kind, when we may not be welcome to visit or trade.”

Was our world truly that broken?

My hand lifted to my neck as I pondered that question, and I remembered how that fae had gripped my throat. What would have happened to me had Connor not appeared?

I knew the answer, yet I still hoped things could be better, that anger could be quelled and wounds healed, that whatever was broken in our world could be fixed. But standing here in this camp, with the clacking of the wooden swords behind me, I began to wonder if that was nothing more than a foolish dream.

CHAPTER 11

Lieke

Anna had left me to get acquainted with my new home, and aside from her husband, who brought me a plate of food for supper, no one interrupted my settling in. The bed and furnishings were comfortable enough, but they weren’t home.

You’ll need to get over that.

Between the unfamiliar surroundings and the excitement of what I was to learn, my sleep that evening was fitful at best. Thankfully, the smell of food the following morning was enough to help me overcome my exhaustion, pull me out of bed, and get me out of my tent.

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