Lord of Fire: #1 The Fire Chronicles by Susi Wright

Author:Susi Wright [Wright, Susi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781503507241
Publisher: XlibrisAU
Published: 2017-07-29T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-three

The atmosphere in the family villa had improved, a little. Everyone was hopeful, since Fralii had eaten something and the following day had taken the company of Simban to go riding. She had spoken a few words to Runo, but she still refused point-blank to speak to her father. To his extreme regret, she would not accept his apology. Runo tried to console Chadren by saying that she would just need time, that eventually she would come around.

In Fralii’s mind, things were still jumbled. The soul-deep ache of loss still haunted her, although the feeling of galloping Spirit on the open grassland had brought a tiny measure of relief. She would go riding again. Apart from that, she still could not decide whether she hated her father, or Luminor, or both of them. Her resentment was a gloomy grey presence, having no definite form. She could not banish it, so she allowed it to exist as it was, for now.

She had taken some small comfort in Sala’s maternal ministrations and gentle encouragement, being plied with all her favourite foods, which enabled her to regain at least some physical strength. Simban was always ready with the samblars to provide morning excursions into the hills, ever wishful to see her laughing into the wind again as they galloped. Runo hovered close, patiently waiting for the return of her complete confidence, while poor Chadren, though recovering well from his injuries, was excluded from this small, hopeful but uncertain circle which orbited the equally fragile Fralii.

As the days passed, one thing Fralii discovered was the more she found active pursuits to occupy herself, the less her thoughts took on their morose inclination. So, riding her samblar for many hours in the protective custody of Simban became a regular pastime, reminding her of happier, carefree times, though the laughter seemed to remain just out of reach.

She had just returned from one such outing, entering the hallway of the villa, when she overheard Runo speaking to Chadren, who had just managed, for the first time since he was injured, to negotiate the stairs with Runo and Sala’s help, and was sitting in an armchair in the downstairs reception room. She held back in the shadow of the entryway, curious to hear the conversation without having to engage in it.

Runo had been out about his daily business early and was relaying some news, while Sala was preparing the midday meal. A messenger had arrived here in the city at dawn, calling for volunteers to nurse those injured by the flame adder. There had been many more casualties, too badly hurt to make it to the city, their villages burned to ash. ‘They are being housed and treated in encampments set up by soldiers from the Capital,’ continued Runo. ‘Apparently, a foreign chief and his men have taken up the quest to kill the beast. Everyone thinks they are mad!’

‘Well, Runo, if we do not have hope…’ Chadren sighed, feeling the sentiment deeply, ‘what do we have?’ He meant that about everything right now.

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