Chapter Twenty-Three
Ennis
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"Terrific," I grumbled to myself. Ayden, sitting behind me on the horse, chuckled softly. Ahead of us, the twins had been sword fighting on horseback. Geoff had leaned too far over his saddle and lost balance.
He was now lying on his back, moaning in pain.

"We're gonna have to stop!" he groaned.

Caleb, who had dismounted, kicked him in the side.

"Get up, you pansy. It wasn't that bad a fall."

Geoff grabbed Caleb's ankle and pulled it out from under him. Caleb hit the floor with a curse, a puff of dust floating upward. Both boys began grappling on the road, their horses prancing around them to avoid getting hit.

"Enough!" Sir Deon's voice boomed. "Stop delaying the ride!"

Thank the Gods he had come along too, I thought as the twins shot up and clambered back onto their mares, looking properly ashamed. I would have gone insane without someone who could keep them under rein.

"How far are we?" I murmured to Ayden.

"Not far. The ferry is in the next city of Tuella. You should be able to see the city's border from here."

I looked to where he was pointing and saw that, blurry in the distance, was the layout of a town.

We reached the town in under an hour, passing easily over the border. Tuella often received passers-through to Ennis and were not suspicious of us. The ferry was brimming with passengers, our horses tied to the boat's railing in a closed off area.

I spent most of the sea trip comforting Caleb who couldn't keep any food down. Luckily it was only a day trip otherwise I would have been greatly worried about his health. We arrived in Ennis late afternoon. The sky was dark with clouds; apparently Ennis was a stormy city and saw hardly any sun. Due to this, the land was overgrown with greenery. There was nature everywhere I looked, some plants even growing on rooftops and running down the walls. The group looked at me as soon as we had organised our belongings and horses. I looked quickly at Ayden who smiled, laughing silently at me. He somehow knew that I had no idea where to go but he wasn't going to help me out at all.

"Um. We should head toward the inner part of the city," as I said this I felt a rush of warmth, a good tingling feeling. I hoped that meant I was right.



The city wasn't at all large. The outer farms took up most of the land and there were only a small number of houses in the middle. As well as these were markets, inns, taverns and seamstresses. Most people we saw wore sailors garb and were ridiculously drunk. It was nearly sundown when we reached The Maiden, a large inn recommended by many in the streets who saw us as travellers. The guards organised the horses and brought our packs into our separate rooms while Ayden, Deon and I talked with the innkeeper.

"We're looking for someone," I said, pasting a worried expression on my face. I was a poor liar but this old man might not see through my facade. "My brother is somewhere in the city and I haven't heard from him in a while."

The man frowned, thinking. "What's 'is name, miss? I'm likely to know most persons on the island."

"Erm..." Idiot! I thought to myself. Of course he would inquire after the name. How could I have thought that it would be as simple as asking for my brother's whereabouts?

"It's Wyatt." The voice came from behind me, a low rumble. I turned and saw a man with my face and dark hazel eyes smirking at me. He pushed his way past Ayden and Deon easily until he stood directly in front of me.

"Hello little sister."