Song of Winds: An East of the Sun and West of the Moon Retelling (The Singer Tales Book 3) by Deborah Grace White

Author:Deborah Grace White [White, Deborah Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781922636652
Publisher: Luminant Publications
Published: 2023-05-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Adrienne woke before sunrise, tingling with excitement. Today she would see her family. She should have asked months ago—she’d honestly never dreamed Herleif would just agree.

But months ago she hadn’t been pining for her family, she reminded herself. Months ago she’d been bizarrely happy in her life at the castle, in spite of its restrictions. Months ago, all her focus had been on the man who occupied her every waking thought, and quite a few of her sleeping ones, if she was honest.

Now, the affection for Herleif that had grown within her made the new distance between them all the more unbearable. She needed a change, a chance to clear her head, or she’d go mad with the solitude, and the constant reliving of Herleif’s rejection. Part of her was sorry Herleif couldn’t stay with her on the visit to her family, but another part was glad. The distance might do them both good.

Although dawn hadn’t yet broken, Adrienne was unsurprised to note that Herleif had already left the room. He was probably waiting for her outside—they’d planned to leave as soon as it was light. Adrienne dressed quickly, donning the same gown she’d traveled to the castle in, and the cloak Herleif had bought her immediately after their wedding. It wouldn’t do to show up to her family’s cottage in the finery of royalty, however worn and faded the gowns might be.

As predicted, Herleif was waiting downstairs, and after a quick breakfast, Adrienne joined him in the clearing. They walked in silence across the grass and into the trees, the mood of the bear impossible to read. Herleif didn’t indicate for Adrienne to ride on his back, and she didn’t ask. Their progress through the woods was therefore slow, and the sun had fully risen by the time they reached the tree line.

Adrienne’s gaze passed over the abandoned city that stood between her and the village where she’d grown up. Strange that she no longer thought of Toveham as home. She turned to Herleif.

“Goodbye, then,” she told him, feeling foolishly emotional. It wasn’t as though it was a permanent parting, or even a long one. So why was a lump rising in her throat at the idea of leaving him?

Herleif dipped his head in acknowledgment of her words. His bright, intelligent eyes seemed to bore into her soul, giving the impression that there were things he wished to say, if only he had his voice.

“I remember the restrictions,” Adrienne assured him, taking a guess at his thoughts. “I’ll be back before dark. And I won’t tell them about,” she waved a hand at his bear form, “this. I promise.”

Herleif’s eyes looked no less troubled, and it was impossible to tell if that was what he’d wished to say. Was it her imagination that she read in his gaze the same sense of impending separation that she felt? Why was she suddenly seized by the sense that their time was limited, that some kind of countdown had begun, and

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