The sun was dyeing the sky and trees orange by the time they reached the road. At that point, Valerie was very tired of the sight of trees and greeted the wide pounded dirt road with relief. The trees still lined the road but free of their green canopy she felt less closed in. Overhead the clouds had changed colours, ranging from bright pink to purple to blue overhead. She grinned upwards, trying to remember the last time she’d seen such a pretty sunset.
“We’re nearly there,” Darren’s voice murmured in her ear.
As if he’d heard him, Lyel kicked his horse into a canter. Storm followed suit, making Valerie squeak in surprise and grab Darren’s wrist. His chuckle in her ear made her blush. The evening air rushing past soon cooled her cheeks and she began to enjoy the ride. Up until this point they’d been held to either a trot or fast walk due to the narrow game trails they’d been following. She always liked going fast, as two speeding tickets attested, and horseback was no exception. She wondered if the horses could go any faster.
But then they were coming to a fork in the road. They went by too fast for her to read the wooden signpost but Lyel who was getting farther and farther ahead, seemed to know the way. He turned his horse and they were soon thundering down a new road, raising tiny puffs of dust every time their mounts’ hooves struck the earth.
Birds screeched at their intrusion and a rabbit darted across the road to dive noisily into the underbrush. Ahead, Valerie could see what looked like two little brown boxes. As they got closer, the shapes resolved into two little wood shacks about fifty metres apart. As they cantered by, she saw men dressed in yellow uniforms peering out through the first building. Standing outside the second one, two men in green and black uniforms saluted them smartly. Darren raised a hand in acknowledgment and Val copied him hesitantly.
“Who?” she asked.
“Border guards. Which means I get to be the first one to say welcome to Armith,” Darren said, voice only inches from her ear.
“We’re here? Really?”
She felt rather than heard his chuckle through her back where it rested against his chest. “Yes really. But these are just the borderlands. Tomorrow we’ll be riding to the capital and you’ll see more of the country. I think you’ll like Merrity.”
“Merrity is?”
“The capital. It was renamed in honour of Queen Merrit. After she was dead so she couldn’t refuse. There are legends about her temper and her hatred of sycophants. She got the nickname of the Fire Queen.”
Valerie grinned. “Sounds like I’d have liked her.”
This time Darren laughed. “I think you’d have gotten along well. It’s a pity she’s been dead for a few hundred years. Oh, looks like we’re almost there.”
She followed the direction his arm pointed to see Lyel, who was still far in the lead, turn left at the crossroads ahead. She could just seem him kick his horse into a faster pace and in moments, he had disappeared from sight. “Has it been that long since he was home?”
“No. He’s always like that. He hates being away from Miette. He damn near shot me when I asked him to come with me. If I’d been anyone else I think he would have.”
“What’s she like?”
“A cat,” Darren replied instantly then chuckled. “You’ll have to get either Lyel or Miette to tell you the story of how they met. It’s really quite funny.”
Valerie frowned but then they were thudding down the road Lyel had vanished on. Up ahead she could see a tiny figure briefly before it was swallowed by the curve of the road. Small birds trilled as they darted around the trees, catching the last few bugs before they slept. The sun, which had darkened from orange to a ruby red, sent shafts of light stabbing through the trees making the whole forest look like autumn had come early. Or like the whole place is on fire, Valerie thought. She shook the morbid thought away and leaned forward to get a better look at what lay ahead.
She gasped as they rounded the bend. Standing proudly before them was a fortified manor of a stone so dark a grey it was almost black. Two flags flew overhead, one gold and brown, the other gold and orange. High walls surrounded the building, a heavy iron gate that ended in spikes had been raised and double doors of heavy wood with wide iron bands stood open. Valerie couldn’t see much except some stairs that led up to a building of similar stone through the gate. A short figure, too short to be Lyel, held the reins of Lyel’s black horse.
As they got closer, she could see people in brown armor pacing the top of the walls. Within minutes they were inside the walls, giving Val the opportunity to stare. From what she’d seen of the walls, she’d expected the main building to be dark and forbidding. She was surprised to find it almost welcoming. The lower windows were wide and covered by brightly coloured shutters. The higher up they were, the narrower they became until near the top they were nothing more than arrow slits. But as if to make up for their size, there were more of them the higher up you went.
Lyel was to their right, talking impatiently to the man holding his horse’s reins. Behind them a long wooden building stood, a loud whinny from inside letting Valerie know that this was the stables. Turning back to stare at the stone block manor, she caught movement inside one of the windows and looked up. A small face peered out at her but disappeared as soon as their eyes met.
She was about to ask Darren about it when one of the tall front doors opened and a short woman dressed in a pale orange gown came out. Her strawberry blonde hair was swept up into shining twist at the back of her head. She picked up the sides of her dress and swiftly padded down the stairs. When she neared, Valerie could see the young woman had a rather pointed chin and sharp blue eyes.
She slid past them without a glance, moving quickly until she had reached Lyel. Ignoring the fact that he was in the middle of a conversation, she twined herself around him, her arms sliding around his neck. Lyel looked surprised for a moment then he grinned down at the woman and pulled her into a deep kiss.
“I take it that’s Miette?” Valerie said, turning away from the pair to give them some kind of privacy. Not that they seemed to care.
Darren nodded. “That’s her. It’ll take them a couple of minutes to remember that there are other people in the world. I’ll help you down while we wait.”
Valerie made a face as she watched Darren slide off. “I can get down myself.”
“Alright,” he said with a shrug.
Sliding back into the seat of the saddle, she pulled her leg over so they were both pointing to the ground near Darren and shoved off. She slid the short distance to the ground but rather than standing easily, she found her knees buckling underneath her. Darren caught before she did more than stumble, one arm wrapped around her waist to support her.
“Why…?”
“Your legs aren’t used to it gripping on like that. You’ll be fine in a minute.”
“Wonderful. More training for me,” she grumbled.
Darren laughed. “Now you know how I felt in your world.”
Valerie looked up at him, realizing that she’d never considered how much difficulty he’d had adjusting to her way of life. She looked down at his arm where her hands still held on. “Sorry,” she whispered.
He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry about it. We were both stupid in the early days.”
She smiled at that. “What’s this ‘were’? As far as I’m concerned you’re still an idiot. You can let me go. I can stand on my own.”
Darren shook his head, grinning. “If you fall I warn you, I will laugh,” he said, as she slowly released his hold on her.
She spun around to face him, propping her hands on her hips as a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “No laughter necessary. Now what?”
“Now we do introductions,” Lyel’s voice called quietly from behind.