Divided Enchantment (Unbreakable Force Book 4) (10 page)

29

Adaryn

I
stood in the Flores gardens, the child standing next to me. It was nearly spring, but it didn’t feel like it. Winter still lay on the land, reluctant to relinquish its icy grip and the gardens were no exception. The flower beds were empty and the trees barren of leaves.

I looked east, even though I couldn’t see far past the property’s iron fence. I hadn’t expected to ever return to Ruis, but hadn’t been given much of a choice. I didn’t owe these people anything, but I couldn’t stand by and let their children die either.

I thought of Aaric, a hollow ache in my heart. I missed him so much.

The little girl standing next to me shivered and I took her hand. “Let’s get you inside, sweetheart.” Together, we went indoors. It’d been a tremendous stroke of luck to find Bran in the city. With his aid, Ruis would stand half a chance. Maybe. The Twyli’s magic was strong. It was their magic that pulled Matias and I to the city, rather than seek the nomads out first. Once in the city, Matias had tracked the sky jewel.

The Twyli were already here. I clenched my jaw. I had thought the collars and slavery an atrocity, but the way the Twyli twisted their magic made the sins of Ruis almost pale by comparison.

“What’s the plan?” Matias—Fyrsil, I corrected myself—asked. He stood just inside the entry. I laughed. Such a ridiculous question.

“The plan,” I chuckled wryly, “is to stay alive.”

Sneak Peek of Book 5 in the Unbreakable Force series by Kara Jaynes

1

Adaryn

A
aric sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “Bran was right,” he grumbled. “We should have waited until spring.”

Snow fell—it had been for the past three days—and twilight was coming on fast. Our horses were knee-deep in the slushy snow, and looked nearly as miserable as Aaric did. I sighed, irritated. “I didn’t want to spend any more time there than we had to,” was all I said as I guided my brown mare, Sorrel, through the icy drifts.

Aaric snorted. He didn’t share my weariness of cities and their politics. I didn’t point out that he’d initially seemed just as eager as I to leave; he had shown immense curiosity about the potential countries and cultures beyond the mountains. His enthusiasm, however, waned with every day of travel in the snow. We’d made good time crossing the mountains, and were now traveling in a sparse wooded forest, some miles east.

“You know what sounds delicious?” Aaric sounded mournful.

“White bread?” I suggested. I knew what he was going to say, but teased him anyway. “Roast duck? Turkey stuffed with—”

“Coffee,” Aaric said loudly, with a scowl in my direction. “Piping hot coffee.” We’d run out weeks earlier.

“Don’t get too attached to the idea,” I pointed out. “What if these lands have never heard of coffee?”

Aaric’s eyes widened in what could only be described as near panic. I half expected him to turn back right there and then. I put my hand out consolingly. “It’s a joke, Aaric, calm down. There’s almost certainly coffee.”

He still looked a little wide-eyed, but continued to follow me down the slope. We had to find shelter soon, or risk a horse breaking its leg in the dark.

I peered ahead in the deepening gloom. There. Through the trees was a faint glow. I thought I might be imagining it, but as we rode through the woods the glow grew to become a lamp, shining from the kitchen window of a cottage. Aaric and I shared a grin. We hadn’t seen another human since entering the mountains.

We eagerly urged our horses to the small homestead. A dog frantically barked from the barn, warning the owners of our arrival. Aaric dismounted and helped me down from Sorrel, and together we walked up to the front door. Aaric knocked and stepped back. I stood behind him.

We heard shuffling footsteps approach, and the door opened a crack. “Who’s there?” a man’s voice asked.

“Two weary travelers, sir,” Aaric said. “We’ve been traveling for some time and are in need of a place to sleep and food to eat. We can pay.”

“Who’s your companion?” The door didn’t open further. If anything, the man sounded even more suspicious.

“My wife, sir.”

The door did open then. A man and a woman stood in the doorway, a cluster of young children peering at us from behind them. The woman held the lamp up to get a better look at us, and made a soothing sound when she saw me. “You poor dear,” she said. “You two will catch your deaths out in the cold like this.”

The farmer hesitated only a moment before opening the door to allow us entry.

The house was warm, deliciously so. A fire crackled in the hearth, and the aromas of baked bread and chicken filled the room. Children seemed to be everywhere I looked, crawling on furniture or hiding behind their mother’s skirt.

“Eight,” the woman said proudly, “and the oldest only twelve.”

After the horses were put in the stable, silver was passed to the farmer, and Aaric and I were seated at the table. Hot bread, chicken, and some root vegetable I didn’t recognize were given to us on tin plates and we dug in.

Dinner was a cheerful affair, the farmer’s wife and children chattering nonstop. They talked about everything: the weather, the family dog, the neighbor—who lived five miles away—and everything in between. The farmer occasionally got a word in edgewise, but for the most part was content to sit back and let his wife do the talking.

It was pitch black outside now. The fire crackled merrily, filling the home with a flickering light and homey feel.

“So where are you two from?” the farmer asked when his wife paused for breath.

“Ruis,” Aaric replied, using his bread to soak up the chicken juices left on his plate.

“Where’s that?” the man asked, puzzled. The children watched us, big eyes shining in the firelight.

“It’s over these mountains,” Aaric flapped a hand in the general direction of our city. “It’s quite far. We’ve been traveling for several weeks already.”

“Over
these
mountains?” The farmer looked impressed. “They’re near impassable. I’m surprised you two made it.”

Aaric shrugged. It had been difficult. There were times when there wasn’t much of a path, if any, and the going was slow, but we’d persisted, and had come through. A party much larger than ours would have a hard time of it though.

The farmer scratched his chin. “Now that I think of it, my grandfather left me a map of the lands beyond the mountains. Let me see if I can find it.” He stood and walked over to a large chest, and after rummaging through it procured a worn scroll. He rolled it open on the table and leaned over it, eyes squinting in the dim firelight.

“Here, let me help.” I called up the magic, and a small ball of soft light appeared in my hand.

The reaction I received was not at all what I expected. The farmer fell backward out of his chair with a startled yell, and the children screamed in shrill terror. The mother started weeping. “Please don’t hurt us!” she wailed. “Don’t take the children, they’re only babies.”

Aaric and I stared at them in confusion. “It’s . . . just a light,” I said, perplexed. “It won’t hurt you.”

The farmer stared at me in horror. “You’re one of the Twyli,” he whispered. His face hardened in determination, though stark fear showed in his eyes. “I won’t let you take my children. I won’t!” He stood and pointed a shaking finger to the door. “Get out.”

“What?” Aaric sputtered. “Speak sense, man. What in blazes is a Twyli?”

“Are you one too?” the man said turning to him, hands balled into fists. “What kind of sick, twisted game is this you’re playing, pretending to be a Denali?”

Aaric’s face was so bewildered I would have doubled over laughing in any other situation. As it was, I felt ill; the children were scared out of their minds. Five of them clutched their mother’s skirts like a lifeline, sobbing. The older three were trying to be brave, but their faces were ashen, their eyes wide.

I stood, placing a hand on Aaric’s shoulders. I wanted to know what was going on, but these people were in no state to answer any questions. “We need to leave.”

Aaric’s face twisted in indecision. He clearly wanted some questions answered, but he could also see these weren’t the people to ask. He nodded curtly, and rose. The family leaned away from us as we did so.

“We won’t hurt you,” I said soothingly, but their terror-filled expressions didn’t change. I sighed and followed Aaric outside.

Continue reading Adaryn and Aaric’s story in

Twisted Enchantment

by Kara Jaynes

Adaryn and Aaric have left their city and traveled over the Dragon's Tail mountains, looking for a fresh start in their lives. They hope that they will finally be free of prejudice and persecution. But what they find in the lands beyond is nothing short of a nightmare...

About the Author

Kara Jaynes is a fantasy and children's book author. She lives in Colorado and loves taekwondo, long walks, and fairy tales. She's been writing since she was very young and has more stories in her head than she could possibly write.

Please visit the author's website for more information on upcoming books and news
at
www.karajaynes.com
.

The adventure continues in book 5: Twisted Enchantment: Coming soon!

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Divided Enchantment by Kara Jaynes

Copyright Kara Jaynes 2015.

All Rights Reserved.

Cover Designer: Aeternum Designs

The stories, characters, and incidents mentioned or depicted in this publication are entirely fictional.

No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the copyright holder.