The Breton Boys

Chapter Five: Pennyroyal Glade | 3

The trees continued to thin as they marched, until their surroundings became more field than forest. Tall, lush green grass rose up on either side of them, with wildflowers and leafy trees speckling the countryside. The sun shone bright and yellow directly overhead, but the gentle spring breeze kept the temperature comfortable as they pushed forward.

Before long, the straight dirt trail widened and began to twist and bend through the landscape. Colorful dome-shaped houses spotted with round stained-glass windows and painted wooden doors began to pop up in the grass, tucked away from the main road. The country livened as they walked; people began emerging from their homes into their front gardens while faeries flitted through the tall, waving grass all around them, chasing bumblebees and butterflies.

The marching soldiers attracted curious and varied stares from the citizens of Pennyroyal all afternoon. The soldiers' leather vests and boots, never mind their formation or the captains' swords, branded them immediately as outsiders in this land of thin fabrics and bare feet. Some of the Gladeshirians smiled and waved as they passed, others simply watched them questioningly, but all of them whispered. By the time the sun began to sink into the horizon, news of the unusual Hollenmerish presence seemed to have gone ahead of them, and the people they passed from then onward appeared to be anticipating their arrival.

"I wish they'd stop pointing," Kail muttered to Duncan as they passed by another family. "They act like they've never seen anyone from Hollenmere before. It's making me nervous."

"I think it's us making them nervous," Caleb said from Kail's other side.

"I think they're just curious," said Duncan. "I'd be wondering what we were doing here, too, if I were them."

"Well, I still think it's strange," said Kail. "They hardly blink when we go by."

Duncan and Caleb shrugged.

"I wonder if we'll be there soon," Caleb mused aloud some time later. "It's getting dark...we've got to be getting close, don't you think?"

"Shouldn't be too much farther," Duncan agreed, looking behind him as if to verify how much ground they'd covered.

"I wonder what the palace looks like," Caleb went on. "I've never seen it, have you?"

"Just drawings," Duncan answered.

"Well, I hope we'll be able to recognize it. What if it's just another bump in the grass like the other houses?"

"I don't think that's going to be a problem," Kail replied, pointing forward to the horizon.

Not far ahead, a vast line of tall, swaying willows appeared abruptly across their path, the faintest metallic glint shimmering over their flowing branches. As they neared, it became evident that the sparkle was a product of the intricate design of silver webbing that arched high inside the perimeter of the trees and hung over the interior like an enormous antique birdcage. The hanging vines of the willows held elegant, fragrant white flowers that seemed to glow in the starlight and fell slowly like snowflakes in the soft wind. The path led directly to the door of an elaborate silver gate that weaved between the circle of tree trunks.