[ 𝙞 ] 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

Chapter One

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the rill

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One year later...

"Ronin, care to join me for a ride?" Grian asked her brother just as he'd returned home. Their father Lunin had recently bought a small flock of sheep and Ronin had been appointed as the shepherd. After Heirsa's disappearance, he fully welcomed the distraction.

"Ride to where?" He asked, shoving a hand over his dusky, buckskin-colored hair. The hair of the sides of his head was kept very short and that on the top was thick and full, in a style common among soldiers or marksmen.

"Maybe the rill," Grian suggested, her eyes tracing her brother's expression. It was the same as it had been for the past thirteen months; vacant. An abstracted portrait of the empty spot in their household.

"Go on Ronin, your sister's been cooped up all day." Delen prompted from the chair next to her daughter's. The wife of Lunin knew her children's pain. She felt it too, every day. She only concealed it better for the sake of both of them. Ronin slowly nodded without speaking a word. Grian set her needlework in its proper place before hurrying to the loft above the kitchen to change into her riding pants. She'd been wearing that wide skirt for so long...but as soon as she slipped into the cool leather-like material, she remembered what it had been like; riding, trekking the forest, hunting with her brothers. It brought tears to her eyes that she hurried to wipe away.

Ronin and Grian saddled there horses in silence, then mounted and started in the direction of the stream. The rill was outside of the family's property, but they had always considered it there own. Kyril had a great many small creeks, and this particular one had been adopted as "the Luninson Rill" because the siblings visited there often.

"Did you ever see such a day?" Ronin asked open-endedly. His stallion, Tor, walked at a relaxed pace just beside Delwen, Grian's stallion. Grian studied her brother. His words seemed sincere, but his eyes told her that he was feeling the same as she was. The feeling of Spring only seemed to make the pain of losing Heirsa even worse.

The two arrived at the rill and let their horses drink some water from the slow stream. "I'm glad we have a place like this," Grian said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. She thought of the wars being waged in the nearby kingdom of Shard, all at the hand of Queen Irisa. Kyril was governed under Shard's rule. It made Grian consider how glad she was not to suffer the pains of those wars.

"If we were any closer to Shard we'd be pulled onto the battlefield." Ronin seemed to read his sister's thoughts. Grian nodded. She loved these woods with all her heart. The Ashwood and Burke-tree leaves that littered the forest floor and turned red after they fell, the peacefulness when the mist fell, the scampering hare and deer, it all seemed heavenly. But despite her love and passion for her home, her heart still lay broken in her depths. Broken for her brother.

Ronin prompted Tor to walk once more, heading North. "Let's see how the deer are doing?" He offered.

Grian bid her steed to follow after her brother's. "It is fawning season," She said. The thought of seeing the frail young deer hobbling after there mothers on their spindly legs brought a faint smile to her face.

The deer were indeed in the northern clearings, feeding on the moss and dry grass. There were several new fawns, laying among the pale brush with their large ears pricked at the slightest sound, their eyes as big and black as the night's sky. Ronin had always thought that they reminded him of Grian with their wonderous eyes.

A distant sound of wagon wheels caused the deer to suddenly jerk, their heads popping up as they listened. Grian and Ronin both turned towards the noise, seeing movement among the trees as the herd of doe hurried into the woods with their young.

"A wagon train?" Grian turned to her brother. "Here for trade perhaps," she suggested. The two waited as the wagons approached, and when they had gotten closer along the path, they saw that the wagons were filled with people. Dozens of what appeared to be young adults, mostly Southerners, like Grian and Ronin. None of them looked very happy.

"Who goes there?" Ronin called to the wagon heading the train.

"A drafting train." An official-looking man answered, then nudged the wagon's driver, bidding him to halt. All the other drivers took the cue and pulled up in a line behind him. Grian watched with uncertain eyes, her heart pounding out of her chest. A drafting train meant it had finally happened; the war had reached the southern forests.

"By the word of the Queen, all single men and women of the ages of 18 to 30 are required for observation in Shard's capital. That includes the two of you." The official jumped off the wagon. He had a serious demeanor with his bulky figure and black eyes, however, he was at least a head shorter then Ronin.

Grian wanted to cry in agony. "We can't be drafted!"

"You have an obligation to your country and refusal of the drafting will not end well for either of you." The drafting officer barked back at her.

Ronin's dark eyes met his sister's. He swallowed hard. She looked so afraid. Grian hated being afraid. Despite his own uncertainty and fear, Ronin nodded at the officer. In a matter of minutes, they had said their final goodbyes to their parents, shed many tears, all knowing that this may very well be the fate of them both. Grian kept herself from crying as the two joined the rest of the people in the third wagon. She wouldn't be afraid. She would fight with all her heart.

Author's note .

Thank you for reading chapter one of The Destiny of Three, I really hope you enjoyed it!
Which of the siblings is your favorite?
Let me know in the comments!

All my love,
Kori Kalon .