Bow Before the Elf Queen by J.M. Kearl

Author:J.M. Kearl [Kearl, J.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J.M. Kearl
Published: 2022-04-25T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

Being on the road this time was much different than the long carriage ride from Briar Hollow. Layala wasn’t trapped in a carriage. She rode Midnight and was given a sword, and her daggers and throwing star back. The ground shuddered with the steady march of a battalion of five hundred and sixty. Armor and weapons glinted in the sunlight. Layala swiped at her eyes when dust billowed up from the stamp of horse hooves. All around her, wagons full of supplies creaked and groaned. In the front and back, soldiers held the blue and white flags of Palenor. The air around her was tense; no one had to say it, but they were all nervous and angry. Bogg’s Landing was a small swampy town closest to the Void. A couple hundred elves lived there, among other creatures such as centaurs, gnomes, sprites, and a handful of rogue dwarven families who left the mountains, or at least this is what Thane told her the night before. But Doonafell was what worried Thane. She saw it in his eyes. Thousands of elves lived in the southernmost city. If the pale ones got to them, not only could it be a massacre, but they could turn a vast number into the horrible creatures.

Layala, Thane, Fennan, Sunshine, Piper, and to Layala’s dismay, Talon, rode in the center protection of the troop. Talon whined to Thane all morning, insisting she go since they’d ridiculed her for never having seen a pale one. Tifapine hid in the folds of the bag strapped behind the saddle. Apparently whining worked because Layala gave into her protests as well.

“This is so amazing.” Tif poked her head out enough to see everything. “Look at all the jumbos. And the gleaming weapons and uniforms and wow, it’s like a painting.”

After what happened the day before, Layala was nervous about being surrounded by so many elves. But the soldiers were different from the common folk. When she mounted Midnight and rode up beside Thane, the males in their gleaming uniforms all dropped to one knee. Not a single one dared step forward. Either they feared Thane or respected her, perhaps both.

Now as they rode out together, already hours on the road, her uneasiness faded. No one bothered with her. There was enough on their minds, like the possibility of dying in battle, being eaten by a pale one, or worst of all, turning into one. Many of the soldiers joked with each other, and carried on conversations about menial things, no doubt to take their minds off the worst. Thane and Fennan were to her right and they both started laughing so hard they almost fell off their horses. She was sad she missed the joke.

“It is pretty amazing,” Layala agreed. “You should come out of that bag and sit where you can see better.”

“Nope, nope, nope,” Tif said, dipping back in. “Too many, too many. And if I fell off the horse it would surely be my end. I’d,

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