(eng) Patty Jansen - For Queen and Country 01 by Innocence Lost

Author:Innocence Lost [Lost, Innocence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Chapter 11

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A SET OF DOORS at the end of the hallway led to the garden side of the palace. Bathed in moonlight, the paving looked grey save where potted plants cast ink-black shadows.

Kylian tested the doors. They opened, letting a chill breeze into the somewhat stuffy gallery. The curtains billowed inward.

She clamped her arms around herself. “Brrr.”

He slipped his jerkin off his shoulders and draped it over hers. It was leather: heavy and rough and imbued with smells of forest, wood fires and something unmistakably male that made her shiver.

They walked onto the forecourt, where the moonlight cast deep shadows of the walls and clipped bushes. Water burbled in a crystal-clear pond. Three young willow trees lined the water, the type from the south that trailed their branches in the water.

“It’s pretty,” he said, pushing away the curtain of willow branches.

“Yes. I guess it’s very different where you come from.” She was babbling and she knew it.

“Very different,” he said. “We don’t have large cities, only small towns by the river, surrounded by wooded hills. This land around here is so flat. Do you know what hills look like?”

“I’ve seen them when going up the river with Father.” Although she hadn’t gone east into the Rede River, but continued to follow the Saar River to Lurezia. She’d seen forest, too, dense stands of trees much larger than any tree that grew in Saarland. The ground underneath was covered in leaves and moss and her footsteps had made not a sound. It was kind of scary not being able to see far or being in such a dim and dark place where evil could jump on her from behind every tree trunk.

He continued, “The forest is magic. It speaks to me of the things it has seen. It breathes life. Do you ever feel like that?”

She nodded, still hearing the whisperings in the forest when the wind raked its fingers through the boughs. There was a smell of mushrooms and rich soil and magic.

“Did you find the forest scary?” His eyes were dark in the low light, and his red hair looked black. When had he come close enough for the male scent of his body to become so overwhelming?

“I did.” A bit later, she added, in a whisper, “Are there wolves where you live? Bears? Demons?”

“All of those, and more. Ghosts, wraiths, spirits. Magical creatures. Some good, some evil. People don’t belong in the forest. We’re mere guests and live by the rules of the forest.” He sounded almost reverent. His magic was sure to involve forest and trees.

“Sounds scary.”

“It’s not, when you know how to listen, which I’m sure you can.”

There was no point in denying her magic. “I speak to willows. The wood tells me stories.”

His face split into a smile that made his eyes twinkle. “I know. Why else would I single out you, of all girls?”

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