Kiss of the Royal by Lindsey Duga

Author:Lindsey Duga
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy;royalty;opposites attract;adventure/travel
Publisher: Entangled TEEN
Published: 2018-04-17T16:00:00+00:00

PART TWO

The Queen and Her Descendants

Born under holly

Born under thistle

Nestled in blankets of snow

A girl of the moon

A girl of the sun

Together they play and they grow

Deep in the forests

And in golden fields

A brave young hunter is met

A maiden of love

A maiden of hate

Three can never sing a duet

Excerpt from a Romantica ballad

Chapter

Eighteen

The Romantica’s Tale

When the clouds finally dispersed midafternoon the next day, we set out moving west to get back to our main trail. Zach led us through the trees and brush with ease, barely glancing at the marks he had made. It was as if he already knew this forest like the back of his hand.

As we traveled we could see the devastation from last night’s storm. Ice in one form or another seemed to be everywhere—sheets of it on the bark, icicles hanging from branches—and huge cracks where the ground had split apart, showing frozen roots, so we had to go out of our way several times. I just hoped the storm had stayed in the forest and not moved on to any nearby villages.

“I’m really getting sick of these trees,” I muttered, brushing aside a branch. “How much more of this forest, you think?”

Brom plucked our map from one of his saddlebags. He unfurled it and sighed. “At least another day.”

“If we’re lucky, we’ll come across one of the cleared areas by nightfall,” Zach said without looking back.

Brom handed the map to me so I could double-check, and with just a glance, I saw he was right. The forest we were in took up a large portion of the middle of the map, stretching from east to west with tidy illustrated trees to show the wooded areas. There were small patches of the forest without the tree drawings—small but definitely there. “Yes, there’re a few ahead.” I traced my finger across the map and paused at a small cluster of houses. “Those must be the areas this village uses for lumber.”

As I leaned over to tuck the map back into Brom’s saddlebag, I muttered to him, “I’m surprised he remembers that from our meeting with Commander Weldan. He was hardly paying attention.”

“I heard that,” he called back.

Brom and I laughed.

Zach tilted his head to the sky. “With no trees overhead, it looks like we’ll get to see the stars tonight.”

Clear skies at last—perhaps even a sliver of the new moon. Though my enthusiasm for the vast night sky made the day and our travels just grow longer. I felt my mind drift several times as we passed tree after tree.

“Where do you think she came from? What kingdom, I mean?” I asked Brom when we had stopped to give the horses a chance to drink from the nearby stream. It was early evening, and the trees were at last beginning to thin.

“The mage? I’ve never seen her in Myria.” Brom shrugged. “I haven’t heard any rumors about a young female mage, either.”

“She’s definitely been west,” Zach piped in, washing his hands in the stream and splashing water onto his face.

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