Prince of Malorn (Annals of Alasia Book 3) by Annie Douglass Lima

Author:Annie Douglass Lima [Lima, Annie Douglass]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Annie Douglass Lima
Published: 2014-05-07T22:00:00+00:00

Part 3: The Army

Chapter 14

It was a breezy afternoon, with scattered puffs of cloud chasing each other across a brilliant blue sky. Ernth and Thorst had been enjoying the crisp autumn weather as they hunted rabbits on the hillside.

Frost had begun to blanket the ground at night, and if they left a pouch of water out, a crust of ice often rimmed its surface by morning. Except for the evergreens, the trees on every slope had changed color. Everyone in the family had started wearing shoes and jackets. Winter would be here soon, and with it the snowstorms, the scarcity of food, the necessary move to lower elevations and more frequent interactions with Lowlanders. But for now the weather was still beautiful during the day, though Ernth could see his breath as he and his cousin trudged back toward camp with two rabbits each in the early evening.

They were still a long way away when he sensed something different. From the top of the slope, he could see the distant figures of his family members clustered near their tents. His parents had returned earlier with the goats and the milking was apparently finished, so why was everybody just standing around there?

It was too far away to make out their expressions, but from the way the children were jumping around, excitement was apparently in the air. And the horses were prancing about too, the way they sometimes did when they met horses from another family. Ernth counted them and frowned. Twelve? That couldn’t be right. Where had the extra one come from?

“Do you see that?” Thorst demanded, beside him.

Ernth nodded. “There must be some other family camped nearby, and someone’s come over to visit.”

But even as he spoke the words, another thought occurred to him. Could it be?

No, surely not. That was impossible. He couldn’t have made it.

As they drew nearer, Ernth sniffed the breeze and frowned again. He smelled roasting meat, but not rabbit or venison or any of the meats he was accustomed to. This was the distinctive aroma of roasting goat. His favorite, but a delicacy normally reserved only for special occasions. The last time they had roasted a goat for supper, Ernth recalled, was a year and a half ago, to celebrate his Acceptance. Before that, it had been the previous summer, when Thorst was Accepted.

It was about the time of year when they would cull their flock, saving a few goats for breeding and milk. The rest would be butchered, the meat carefully dried and saved for the winter when other food was harder to come by. It was rare to actually roast a haunch of goat for supper, as he could see his father doing now, crouching beside a spit over the coals. And the family knew he and Thorst had gone hunting. True, they were returning a little late – they had turned it into a contest and Ernth had been determined to shoot one last rabbit to keep Thorst from beating him – but the family should still have been waiting for the meat they were bringing.

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