Gaia's Secret by Barbara Kloss

Author:Barbara Kloss
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: romance, coming of age, young adult fantasy, fantasy action, sword and sorcerer, magic and romance, magic adventure
Publisher: Barbara Kloss

Chapter 17

The Fiori

We didn’t see the guards again. Still, the Del Contes walked with one hand on a weapon and their eyes never stopped searching the forest. And that feeling, the one that makes you think someone’s watching you? It nagged at me like a dripping faucet, but every time I looked, I saw nothing but shadows.

The trees were also starting to get on my nerves. Maybe I was going crazy but it seemed like they were alive. Not in the way normal trees are “alive”, but in the get-out-of-my-forest sort of way. I could’ve sworn a few branches conveniently swung into my path as I passed. I’d be walking, minding my own business, then all of a sudden—smack.

After a few hours of getting sideswiped by the trees—well, me getting sideswiped—our horses returned. The moment started out with a fright, but when we realized the strange rustling and crunching sounds were the result of moving horse hooves, relief presided over all else.

Poor Calyx. He was still so shaken and upset. It took me about two hours to calm him, and after that, all I felt was his regret. “It’s all right,” I had told him. “I’m glad you ran away. They would have killed you.”

That seemed to make him feel better, at least for a little while.

The trees didn’t attack me again after that. I didn’t know if it was because of the horses or because of something—or someone—else. Every time the trail allowed it, Alex rode beside me.

We spent the entire afternoon reminiscing and laughing. Alex reminded me of one particular day—I had been five and he had been seven—when he had decided to give me a haircut. Dad had never able to bring himself to cut my long dark hair. That day, my hair had been in one long braid, so Alex’s job had been quite simple. One snip of the scissors, and my braid had vanished. Alex had been so pleased with his handiwork, but my dad hadn’t seemed to share his enthusiasm. He had promptly accused Alex of turning his only daughter into a boy. I laughed so hard at the memory I earned myself a funny look from Cicero. Actually, he looked a little irritated, though I didn’t know why.

Alex and I revisited all of my favorite memories: hours in their library, forts we had built, fights, food we had cooked that always ended up looking more like vomit. Even the squirrels hadn’t eaten it. Neither of us had been adept at following directions. Well, as Alex liked to remind me, I was the one that was terrible at following directions, and I also happened to be bossy.

The sting in Alex’s arm had lessened, at least from what I could tell. He was pretty good at keeping that arm hidden from view. Every so often I would feel a shock of his pain, but it would always fade just as quickly.

Evening cast its predictable shadow over the forest, and we stopped for the night beneath an enormous tree.

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