The Curse of the Mekori by Brooke Clonts

Author:Brooke Clonts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Second Star Press

—1603—

I tied Dantes outside the alehouse. Dusk crept into the horizon, and cool air brushed my cheeks. I rounded a corner and collided with a pair of skirts.

Someone gasped.

I stumbled, and my breeches brushed the hem of a lady’s dress. As I righted, I apologized and helped a laughing lady with fair curls to her feet. Another woman with darker hair, gentle eyes, and glowing skin supported her arm. Both had merry smiles—breaths of fresh air after months of smog.

The dark-haired woman asked if I was lost, but I was found. That’s the problem. I knew not where to hide.

I told her I was travelling and planned to stay the night and continue on the morrow.

She promised to pray for my safety on the road.

As she inclined her head, the two ladies stepped past me.

They did not know me, so they had no reason to stay, though I would have liked it very much. I needed company and fresh conversation, specifically from women who didn’t waylay me in the forest with cats. The bright rays of the setting sun settled to dull greys. No lady should be out after dark, so I called after them to stay.

They turned as I offered to escort them.

The fair-haired woman’s smile widened and introduced herself as Katherine, and the other as Alice.

Alice’s mouth curved with a shy smile that brightened her eyes.

I told them my name is Guido, and they asked if I have a surname. I lied, of course, and said that I did not.

They both gave me odd looks, and any fool would know they did not believe me.

“We shall call thee Master Guido, then,” the girl called Katherine said.

Whatever they called me, it made no difference. There was something behind Alice’s expression when she looked at me; a secret room in a chapel; a buried sorrow.

I led the two women to Dantes, and Alice stroked his nose while the horse snuffled and shook his mane. She told me her brother would love my horse, for he has only seen one, that of his father’s.

Katherine gave Alice a quick look, and a faint pink seeped into Alice’s cheeks. I did not know how to interpret it, so I asked where we should go as I helped the two girls climb onto the saddle.

Directing me to West Close, Katherine said she wanted to introduce me to Chattox, for she thought it might be advantageous for me to hear my fortune. She said this with a laugh and a wink, and I realized she was joking.

I had never heard of Chattox, nor did I care to meet a seer. Nothing but ill lies in my future.

A hesitant smile broke through Alice’s subdued expression, but she shook her head and said she would not choose to travel near Chattox for the world. Thus, Katherine decided on Foulridge instead.

I led Dantes as he trotted along the road with two riders on his back. The surrounding trees created a jagged silhouette against the dusk. An owl hooted while the steady clop of Dantes’ hooves filled my ears.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.