Dreamer's Cycle Series by Holly Taylor

Author:Holly Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Medallion Media Group
Published: 2012-03-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 3

Ogaf Greu and Arberth

Kingdom of Prydyn, Kymru

Bedwen Mis, 499

Llundydd, Lleihau Wythnos—late afternoon

Gwenhwyfar ur Rhoram var Rhiannon, Princess of Prydyn, daughter of the House of Llyr, winced in pain as she scrambled to her feet. Rolling up her woolen skirt, she gravely examined her wound.

Another skinned knee. Queen Efa would kill her.

Even in her thoughts Gwen styled her stepmother as Queen. Efa had always insisted on being addressed by that title. Even though Efa no longer ruled over a kingdom, her insistence had not changed. Actually, she was worse than ever.

Once—and only once—Gwen had made the mistake of asking Efa just what she thought she was Queen of now—the seagulls? Her stepmother’s reaction hadn’t bothered her in the least, but Gwen had repented of her thoughtless words instantly, for the look on her father’s face had almost broken her heart. Once again she had not thought before she spoke, and so had hurt someone she loved. It seemed to happen to her a lot.

But, she excused herself, as she always did, what can anyone expect of a person who had spent the first eleven years of her life in hiding? What could you expect of someone who had grown up in a cave?

She sighed. Not many years after she had left the cave in the forest of Coed Aderyn, she had returned to another cave. This one was on the shores of Prydyn. But a cave was a cave. Full circle her life had come, it seemed.

The cry of a seagull made her look up to track the bird’s lazy flight. The waves washed up to shore with a regularity she found monotonous. The sun had begun its flight to the sea, and the shadows cast by the rocks began to lengthen.

Sixteen years old, she thought, as she moved through the sandy rocks, stepping delicately with her bare feet. Sixteen years old, and still hiding. She wondered if the time would ever come when they could go home. Wondered when—and if—she would ever see the fair, white walls of Arberth, the city from which her father had once ruled the Kingdom of Prydyn. She wondered if, in the next raid on the enemy, or the next, or the one after that, someone she loved would die. Maybe her father, whom she loved so. Maybe her half brother, Geriant, who was so kind to her. Maybe Achren, her father’s Captain, dark and fierce in battle. Maybe Gwen herself would die.

She would not think of her death now. And she would not think of the dream that had come to her over a week ago. Even now the remembrance of it still frightened her. She would not think of anything except for the fact that she was out of the caves. For she hating living here, hated being inside the earth itself, hated the feeling it gave her. Once, she had loved the caves. Almost her entire childhood had been spent exploring the caverns that laced the earth beneath the forest of Coed Aderyn.

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