Immolation, Volume 1 by S.D. Diastrefo

Author:S.D. Diastrefo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: S.D. Diastrefo
Published: 2024-10-18T07:00:00+00:00

46

O

utside the western gate, the sun was beginning to set. The rolling hills and dusty roads had grown quiet as workers wandered their way home, as windows began to glow with firelight. Philip and Jael rode through the twilight at a leisurely pace upon the backs of two hardy horses.

Philip was enjoying the sound of his own voice too much. He talked about the shifting of the fields from fallow to fertile, the way the wheat would paint the hills gold come autumn. Even as a Hunter, he couldn’t quite escape his miller’s roots. He had quite the opinion on the Sunderman mills and their operations for having never once operated a mill, or business, in his life. Jael smiled at his commentary nonetheless, only motioning for him to stop talking when she spied a familiar silhouette on horseback on the road leading back toward the city wall. The silhouette, in turn, recognized her, and moved to close the gap.

Emre and Jael were identical twins in every possible way. Their dusky gray skin and petite builds, their pointed ears and moonlight eyes. Those eyes had occasionally given the pair trouble, looking a little too close to the clouded, reflective eyes of vampires for the local’s tastes, especially in the dark.

“Why are you out here?” Emre frowned at his sister as he turned his horse about to walk alongside her. “I thought your patrols were keeping you close to the church while you recover.”

Emre sat only slightly taller than his sister upon his horse, with his lamplighter’s cloak and scarf wrapped about him, and his rod resting in the designed slot of his stirrup. He held it as proudly as a knight might hold a lance, and none could fault him for it. The guild took great pride in their most essential work.

“We just were speaking with a family out by the hamlets,” Jael said, replying with much the same disapproval in her tone. “What brought you this far? A new route?”

“Just a delivery. Come on, let’s hurry and get you back to your church. It’ll be dark soon.”

“Philip wanted to stop by –”

“He can stop, then,” Emre cut her off. “He won’t get lost without you, will he? He’s a big boy.”

Philip inhaled and had to force his usual smile. “Go on ahead.” He patted the leather satchel attached to his saddle. “More for me.”

Jael gave him an apologetic smile, and then she and her brother urged their horses on faster. Philip was content to continue up the hill toward the city gate at a much more relaxed pace.

He was not born with eyes that warranted suspicion. And while Jael had the blessing of being clergy, Emre had not quite the same reception in the public eye. Not even being a lamplighter could entirely assuage the locals’ superstitions. Therefore, Philip attempted to find it in himself to forgive Emre’s ever-abrasive demeanor. At least, that was the sort of thing his uncle had always encouraged him to do. Whether Serge set a good example of that practice … Well, that was debatable.

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