Switched by Amanda Hocking

Author:Amanda Hocking
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 2010-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

14. Kingdom

Other than the garden out back, I’d seen little of the palace grounds. After breakfast, Finn took me outside to show me around. The sky was overcast and gloomy, and he stared up at it with a skeptical eye.

“Is it going to rain?” I asked.

“You never can tell around here.” Finn sounded almost angry, then shook his head and walked ahead, apparently deciding to risk it.

We’d gone out the front door of the mansion this time, stepping out on the cobblestone driveway. Trees overshadowed the palace, arching high into the sky. Immediately at the edge of the driveway, lush ferns and plants filled in the gaps between the pines and maples.

Finn walked into the trees, pushing the plants aside gently to make a pathway. He’d insisted I wear shoes today, and as I followed behind him, I understood why. A rough trail had been made, but it was overgrown with moss and twigs and stones.

“Where are you going?” I asked, as the path climbed upwards.

“I’m showing you Förening.”

“Haven’t I already seen Förening?” I stopped and looked around. Through the trees, I couldn’t see much of anything, but I suspected it all looked about the same as what I was seeing.

“You’ve barely seen anything yet.” Finn glanced back at me, smiling. “Come on, Wendy.”

Without waiting for my answer, he climbed on. The trail already had a steep incline, and it looked slick with mud and moss. Finn maneuvered it easily, grabbing onto the occasional branch or protruding root.

My climb wasn’t anywhere near as graceful. I slipped and stumbled the whole way up, scraping my palm and knees on several sharp rocks. Finn didn’t slow and rarely glanced back. He had more faith in my abilities than I did, but I suppose that was nothing new.

If I hadn’t been mastering a slippery slope, I might’ve enjoyed the time. The air smelled green and wet from all the pine and leaves. The river below seemed to echo through everything, reminding me of when I put a conch shell to my ear. Over it, I heard birds chirping, singing a fevered song.

Finn waited for me next to a giant boulder, and when I reached him, he made no comment about my slow pace. I didn’t have a chance to catch my breath before he grabbed onto a small handhold in the boulder and started pulling himself up.

“I’m pretty sure I can’t climb up that,” I said, eyeing up the slick surfaces of the rock.

“I’ll help you.” He had his feet in a crevice, and he reached back, holding his hand out to me.

Logically speaking, if I grabbed onto him, my body weight would pull him back off the boulder. But he didn’t doubt his ability to pull us both up, so neither did I. Finn had this way of making me believe anything, and it scared me sometimes.

I took his hand, barely getting a chance to enjoy how strong and warm it felt before he started pulling me towards the rock. I squealed, which only made him laugh.

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