The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) (9 page)

'Look. We’re nearly at the Inn,' Kassie sounded relieved.

'Girls,' Henja called out, delighted as we pushed through the front door. 'Come on in. Quick, quick, dinner will be ready soon and your baths are waiting out the back.'

Loi’s eyebrows shot up when Henja said "out the back" what did that mean? Henja ushered them out the back of the Inn, past the tables and more staring people. Audi snuck along behind and scooted through the door before it caught her tail.

There, in a concealed courtyard, were four iron baths lined with sheets and filled to the brim with hot, sweet smelling water. Tiny coal fires burned underneath to keep them warm. The girls grinned at each other and Loi felt some of the tension in her shoulders evaporate at the sight.

We thanked Henja profusely and she flushed with pleasure.

'No, not at all, Sian paid generously for your stay so I want you to enjoy it,' she paused. 'And if you could mention it at the castle when you get there…'

'Of course we’ll give rave reviews about you, Henja, how could we not?' I gestured at the private little courtyard, it was gorgeous.

She gave us another wide smile.

'You can lock yourselves in, see? There is a key in this side, so no one will bother you. When you are done let me know and I will bring your supper to your rooms.'

She stepped out the room and shut the door.

I locked it behind her then turned to the others.

'Peace at last!'

'And a bath,' chimed in Loi.

'And food!' cried Sian.

We laughed and started to strip our clothes off.

The boots were a little tricky being so high. I struggled to loosen the laces and ended up hopping around the room, with Audi bouncing along beside me. Kassie and Sian could barely stand for laughing at me as I wheeled my arms madly to keep from falling.

Loi rushed over.

'Here. Let me help before you hop through a wall.'

She quickly worked the knot out of the laces and yanked the boot down to my ankle.

'Thanks, Loi,
you’re
such a good friend,' I said while pointedly staring at Sian and Kassie.

Reaching down, I pulled the boot slowly off, careful not to lose balance again. We slipped into our baths with sighs of relief and pleasure.

The courtyard was silent.

Resting my head, I let my mind drift and shooed away any persistent thoughts, allowing the heat from the water to penetrate my aching muscles. I groaned quietly in relief. I’d never run that hard before. Elgrids were a pretty good form of encouragement, not that I saw them becoming popular in gyms anytime soon. My thigh muscle twitched and I winced.

I will be sore tomorrow.

That word, tomorrow, started the swirls of nausea in my stomach. A panic attack threatened as my brain tried to process everything that’d happened today.

Stop it. One step at a time Cat. Relax,
ordered the rational voice in my mind.
You can’t change anything at the moment; take one day at a time.

Right, slow easy breaths and think of tomorrow.

'So what’s the plan for tomorrow? Siany, any thoughts?'

Sian contemplated Cat’s question.

'We’ll have breakfast, pack well, and then have a chat with the men we met today as to which is the best way to set off. Then I guess we’ll camp in the forest they mentioned, then do the same the following day.'

She twisted her head to look at Cat.

'It’ll basically be like that until we reach the castle.'

Cat frowned and quietly said, 'I wonder what our chances of crossing another lot of creatures are…?'

There was silence as they thought of the horrific creatures they’d seen today. The idea of meeting more was not pleasant, but apparently quite possible.

Kassie sighed inwardly then spoke up.

'Perhaps when we’re clear of the town we should spend some time practicing with our weapons, I realize it means we won’t get as far as we’d like tomorrow, but I’m sure we’ll be able to reach the forest by nightfall and in the event we meet any unfriendlies at least we’d be prepared.'

'I agree,' said Cat. 'I haven’t had as much experience with swords as you guys so it’d make me feel a little more secure.'

'And I haven’t really used a bow like that before,' Sian said. 'Antiquities was more Cat’s thing so I’d like to get a feel for it.'

Cat wrinkled her nose at Sian and the girls chuckled. It lifted the mood back to the relaxed state.

Kassie lay back and felt her muscles relax in the heat of the water. She peeked over to see where Lucky was.

On my clothing, of course, she thought with an internal groan. Lucky looked quite happy curled up on Kassie’s top.

I bet that’ll be really itchy with cat fur now, but I’m too relaxed to care at the moment.
The minutes ticked by fast and she had to fight the urge to fall asleep. There was a splash and Kassie glanced over.

Cat had sat up, coughing and Loi laughed at her.

'Did you doze off?'

'Yes and took a decent mouthful of water,' she grimaced then coughed some more.

'Ewww.'

Sian ignored the others as she listened to her heart beat, thrumming soft and steady in her ears. She’d have to ask Henja what herbs were in the water, she could feel the medicinal properties working their magic. The thudding of her heart seemed strangely loud now. Sian opened her eyes confused.

Why doesn’t that sound right?
She noticed Loi staring at her.

'Can you hear that?'

Sian gulped in surprise.

'Wha—?' she started.

Henja pounded on their door.

'Girls! Look up, a dragon is flying over!'

There was a moment as we stared at each other in disbelief. Then our heads snapped up. In the small square of visible sky, a huge reptilian body came into view with an enormous wingspan.

OH MY GOD. I gaped at the sight. Gleaming emerald, the dragon vanished from view, its huge wings carrying it away swiftly. You could still hear the sound of its wings beating. Like a helicopter, but with a different rhythm. We sat there in a stunned silence.

It was real. This isn’t a movie, I’m not asleep, that was real.
Everything around me seemed more vivid. The water lapping against me, the smell of the herbs, the strange scent of a different land. It was real.

It had to be the most bizarre and exciting moment of my life. Even compared to the elgrids. I let out a sigh and shook my head then turned to look at Sian. After all, this was her dream come true. Still staring upward, her mouth open a hint.

'Sianus,' I called. She turned to stare at me, her eyes glistened, totally enthralled, I thought and I said, 'That was once heck of a spell, Siany.'

Yes. Yes it was. Sian couldn’t get the image out of her head. It was so huge, so majestic. And… She couldn’t think of a word adequate to describe, that.

The most beautiful thing she’d ever laid eyes on.
The tacky line, from one of her mum’s romance novels, sprung to mind. It brought home the reality of them been on a foreign planet and she slumped back in the bath.

A different planet. Oh Goddess, what happened? Why was this so different?
It’d been the same format as all the other spells she’d cast. She’d used all the tools before in rituals and nothing like this had happened. Feeling a horrible wave of despair, Sian pulled her knees up, not wanting the others to see her cry.

We’d all turned when Sian pulled her knees up and somehow the three of us were out of our baths, drying sheets wrapped tight around our figures and crouched by Sian’s bath before you could blink.

'Siany,' I could feel my own tears lump at the back of my throat as I wrapped an arm around her wet back.

'Don’t cry honey,' Kassie squeezed Sian’s knee gently as she reassured her. 'I didn’t mean it, what I said before. I know it’s not your fault. Really, hun, please don’t cry.'

Loi was on the other side her head bent just touching Sian’s and Audrey stood beside Loi, peering anxiously at Sian.

'I’m sorry,' Sian half sobbed. 'I don’t know why it happened. And I don’t know how to get us back.'

She gulped then lifted her head; those red rimmed eyes stared at us.

'What if we’re stuck here?'

There was silence as we avoided each others gaze. It had certainly occurred to me already. Lifting my head, I looked at Kassie. She stared back with a determined "we’ll make the best of it" look.

I nodded and looked at Loi with an arched eyebrow. She nodded too, then gave Sian’s head a gentle nudge with her own. Sian lifted her head to stare morosely at us.

'We’ll live with it,' Loi gave Sian a firm look then glanced at the others. They nodded back to her.

'We will, Sian.'

Cat tossed her head and declared, 'We’ve survived so far. Let’s get to the castle and then figure out what’s next. One day at a time.'

'Exactly,' chimed in Kassie. 'And just think, this is supposedly to meet our soul mates, this could get really exciting.'

The three of us froze for a moment as we gaped at Kassie. Holy Cow. I’d forgotten about that.

How do you forget something like that?
Wondered the rational voice in my mind.

The spell brought us to another planet to find our soul mates? Our soul mates are aliens?

Stop!
bellowed the rational voice,
back up, let’s forget all that and go back to our one day at a time plan, breathe easy, Catherine.

Breathe easy, breathe easy.

Right.

'Shall we forget about that at the moment and instead get some food?' Kassie suggested.

Good idea, thought Loi as she banished the hysterical voice in her own mind.

Food.
She headed to her pile of clothes and pulled them on. The boots she left loose, bunched around her knees.