“There, I think that will do,” Anne announced. “You can have a look if you want.”
Kyrin stood and stepped in front of the mirror. Her brown hair hung as straight as ever, right above her shoulders.
“I think it looks quite nice for what’s there,” Anne said.
Kyrin turned her head from side to side. “Thank you.” Evened out, it did look significantly better than her previous hacked-off locks. At least for now it would be easier to manage.
She turned with Anne and followed her downstairs, sharing breakfast with Anne and her parents just before Trask showed up. His arrival brought yet another round of goodbyes. She’d already had to say goodbye to Tane when he’d left at dawn. This would be equally hard. She’d become so fond of the Wylands.
She said her goodbyes to Sir John and Lady Catherine inside the house. Both wished her the best and expressed their hope to see her again soon. She and Anne then joined Trask outside where he attached Kyrin’s newly acquired possessions to the saddle of a beautiful dappled buckskin with three white socks and a wide blaze.
“This is Maera,” he said as he stroked the horse’s neck under her thick black mane. “If you find she suits you, she’s yours.”
Kyrin’s eyes grew wide. “I can have her?”
“If you like her.”
With a big smile, Kyrin rubbed her hand down the horse’s nose. These people were more generous than any she’d ever known. “I’m sure I will.”
When it came time for the final goodbye, Kyrin turned to Anne. “I wish I knew how to thank you. You’ve done so much for me and risked so much.” She cleared her clogged throat. She wouldn’t cry. That just made it too hard. “I’m going to miss it here. I’m so thankful for how you’ve helped me adjust and get through all this. I’ve had so very few friends in my life.”
Anne smiled, her eyes bright and kind. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know you. You’re quite an inspiration. I’ll miss having you here.” She looked at Trask. “You make sure she’s comfortable out at camp, and see that those boys of yours treat her well.”
“You have my word,” Trask promised.
Anne’s smile returned to Kyrin. “Don’t worry. I’ll come out to visit and see how you are. We aren’t far apart.” Following this statement, her eyes shifted past Kyrin once more. “What?”
Kyrin looked over her shoulder to catch the funny look on Trask’s face.
He shrugged. “You’ve hardly ever come out to visit me.”
“That’s because you used to come around here more often.”
“Ah, I guess it’s my fault then.”
Anne shook her head. “Whatever will I do with you?”
Again, Trask gave a little shrug as he eyed the reins he fiddled with. “Well, you could always marry me.” He peeked up at her.
Anne fought to hide a smile, but it crept out anyway and dusted her cheeks with pink. “That’s something we’ll have to discuss another time. You two really should be going before Goler or his men show up. They have a habit of doing that at the worst times, you know.”
Trask let out a great sigh. “As you wish, my lady.”
He turned and swung up into his horse’s saddle.
Kyrin and Anne shared a quick grin before Anne said, “Goodbye, Kyrin. I’ll see you soon.”
“I look forward to it,” Kyrin replied as she, too, mounted.
“Be careful along the way,” Anne warned, her seriousness returning. “You never know where Goler might turn up.”
“We will,” Trask assured her.
He gave her a charming smile and turned his horse. Kyrin followed him out of the yard and into the forest. He kept them in the trees and out of sight as a safety measure. Since Maera followed Trask’s horse without much guidance, Kyrin took in the scenery—so green and lovely with the wildflowers in full bloom. Tiny, delicate white flowers blanketed the ground like snow in some areas. Deep purple violets peeked up through the grass, and vivid buttercups grew in the marshy areas. Meredith would have loved to be here to pick them. Pain needled Kyrin’s ribs. If Kaden ever managed to get free, the little girl would be all alone, but Kyrin prayed Meredith would somehow find freedom too.
Not wanting to arrive at her new home in such low spirits, Kyrin looked over at Trask and her curiosity took over. Hopefully her question wouldn’t upset him or invade his privacy.
“Why won’t she say yes?”
Trask swung his alert eyes from the forest ahead over to her with an open and honest expression. “She has her reasons. I already proposed years ago, but she didn’t think either of us were ready, and as much as I hate to admit it, she was right. Since then, circumstances just haven’t been ideal, what with the emperor, Goler, and what I’ve got going on with camp. So, I keep waiting for the time to be right.” He grinned. “It’s got to come one of these days, so I’ll just keep trying.”
Kyrin shared in his smile. He and Anne would surely be perfect for each other when the right time came.
A half an hour after they left Marlton, they came upon a road where they drew the horses to a halt. Trask looked both ways, listening, but only birds and chattering squirrels disturbed the forest.
“Just another few miles from here,” he said.
They crossed the road and entered the forest on the other side. After some time of winding along this way and that, the scent of wood smoke wafted through the trees. Kyrin’s pulse picked up and her stomach fluttered, though not uncomfortably. They must be close. She rose up a little in the stirrups to see if she could spot camp, but the terrain was too hilly. Besides the smoke, she could find no true sign of human population. However, when they came up over a gradual slope, the campsite appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
Kyrin’s breath caught. This gathering of canvas tents and cabins nestled into a subtle bowl-shaped clearing in the forest would be her new home. She smiled. How peaceful it all looked compared to Valcré. Peaceful and safe. The security of this hidden place wrapped around her, warm and comfortable. Oh, if only Kaden were with her, then all would be perfect.
Their arrival sparked a wave of interest. The men who’d been busy at work set it aside and gathered to meet them as Kyrin and Trask dismounted in the center of camp. Drawing her to the front, Trask announced, “Everyone, this is Kyrin Altair.”
He took the time to introduce her to each of the present members of camp. The men greeted her kindly with a few comments on her actions in Valcré. At their words of admiration, her cheeks warmed. Her actions usually weren’t so well-received, but near martyr or not, she hoped their curiosity and fascination would wear off in time. She had no desire for them to treat her as something special. All she wanted was to live and be normal, and finally she would have a chance to do so.
As kind and welcoming as the men were, the only female face among them drew Kyrin’s greatest interest. A lovely woman in her late forties, she had a quality of wisdom, yet also a spark of youthfulness in her dark blue eyes. She was about the same height as Kyrin and slim. A light brown braid fell over one shoulder. She smiled warmly when Trask introduced her as Lenae.
“Kyrin, I’m so very pleased to meet you. Come, let’s get you settled in,” she said. She looked at a young man who shared her hair and eye color. “Jeremy, will you bring her things into the cabin? And maybe someone else will take care of her horse.”
Kyrin smiled to herself when at least three young men volunteered. Leaving them to sort things out, she walked along with Lenae to the nearest completed cabin. They stepped inside, and Kyrin paused to take it in. The one-room dwelling was small, but cozy and inviting. In just the few days Lenae had lived there, she had transformed it into a home. Shelves held an assortment of cooking and personal items, a good-sized dining room table and benches occupied the center of the cabin with a bed in one corner, and curtains even hung on the windows.
Lenae motioned to the loft above them. “We set up a bed for you up there. I hope you don’t mind. I thought it would offer you some privacy.”
Though no palace bedroom, it would be more than comfortable compared to life at Auréa. “It’ll be perfect,” she told Lenae with a smile.
She stepped away from the door to let Jeremy carry her belongings inside and up to the loft. When he came back down, he turned to her with a striking smile.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, that’s everything.”
He just stood there a moment as if he wanted to say something but did not yet know the words. He fidgeted with his hands, and Kyrin smiled at him. He was cute and endearing—so different from the charming but overly confident Collin—and refreshingly innocent. He didn’t have Collin’s smooth tongue either. Apparently giving up on whatever he’d wanted to say, he glanced at his mother. “I guess I better get back to work.”
On his way out, he flashed another wide smile at Kyrin. When he was gone, Lenae chuckled.
“I think you’ll have many of the young men in camp enamored with you for a while, including my son.”
Kyrin looked over her shoulder, out the door, to the men milling around. “That will be different. Only one boy at Tarvin Hall ever paid much attention to me, at least that sort of attention.”
“Well, you’re a lovely young woman.”
Kyrin’s eyes jumped back to Lenae. No one but her father had called her lovely before. All she’d ever heard and believed was that she was very plain, except, of course, when she was all painted up. But then she wasn’t even herself. Warmth filled her chest with the knowledge that a beautiful woman like Lenae thought she was pretty, especially considering how she looked right now. Most would look at her and see only the shame of her shorn hair.
Lenae’s bright expression softened, her voice gentle. “You know, I’ve always wanted a daughter. I prayed for one for many years. I only ended up with sons, and Jeremy is all I have left, but perhaps Elôm has answered my prayers with you.”
Kyrin’s lips lifted, but moisture prickled her eyes. “Growing up at Tarvin Hall, I really haven’t had much in the way of a mother’s care.”
“Then I’d say Elôm is fulfilling the needs and desires of us both.”
The afternoon hours passed with a comfort and peace Kyrin had not found since living at home as a child. Lenae helped her unpack her things and turn the loft into her own personal space before they shared lunch at the table with Jeremy. Though the young man struggled at first with just what to say, once he got going, he and his mother told her all about their life in Landale and transition to the forest. They’d lived such simple, yet fulfilling lives. Would it have been the same for her back in Mernin had she and Kaden not had to leave? Perhaps, but she would never know.
After lunch, Lenae showed her around camp. They stopped to talk along the way with the men who had many questions about the emperor, Valcré, and Kyrin’s abilities. The afternoon flew by, and evening soon neared.
“I usually start supper about now,” Lenae said on the way back to their cabin. “Trask insists I don’t have to cook for everyone, but I enjoy it, and I know they do too. It’s my way of contributing to Trask’s vision for this camp.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Kyrin asked, anxious to make her own contribution. “I’m afraid I don’t know anything about cooking though. That wasn’t the sort of thing we were taught at Tarvin Hall.” She frowned. There were a good number of life skills Tarvin Hall didn’t deem important.
Lenae gave her the heartwarming smile she was coming to love. “Of course, and I’ll be happy to teach you.”
They visited the supply shack and began making supper. Lenae showed Kyrin how to prepare venison and cook it over the fire. While it heated, the two of them peeled potatoes, sharing stories and laughter. The shadows lengthened around them, and by the time the forest grew dim, they had enough venison, savory gravy, and mashed potatoes for everyone. The men gathered from all around camp with eager eyes and filled their plates while expressing their gratitude for the meal. Everyone found seats around the fire on long benches made of half logs. They squeezed in, chatting and laughing companionably. With the entire camp together, many requested Kyrin recount what had taken place in Valcré, both of her promotion and standing up to the emperor. She ducked her head at their attention and fussing, but couldn’t refuse them.
They paid close attention to her and quickly became engrossed in her words—so much so that she alone spotted another man entering camp. The growing darkness made him difficult to distinguish, but he was tall, and the shape of a slain deer draped his shoulders. A shadow moved to his right and drew Kyrin’s eyes to a black wolf trotting at his side.
She fell silent in distraction, and everyone else looked up. With one glimpse of the newcomer, they just as quickly refocused on their food, except for one man, Rayad. He rose to meet the other man. They spoke quietly and passed close by the fire on the way to the supply shack. The firelight provided Kyrin a better look at the younger man’s powerful build and raven black hair. Curiosity and intrigue tugged at her mind. There was something different about him.
“That’s Jace,” Lenae said. “He came here with Rayad.”
“He’s half ryrik,” Jeremy added in a low tone.
Kyrin’s eyes widened. “Half ryrik?”
Jeremy just nodded and stared at his plate.
Kyrin, however, turned to look over her shoulder, though she couldn’t see much of Jace in the deepening darkness. Who had ever heard of such a thing? The people in Valcré would be astounded.
Her eyes drew back to her companions and scanned each of them. A definite hush had overtaken the previously eager and talkative group. The men either ate their food in silence or murmured and whispered amongst themselves. All except for Holden. He sat across the fire from Kyrin, and his eyes bored a flaming hole into Jace. She’d received some pretty scathing looks herself in the past, but this made her shiver.
The murmurs all died and everything fell silent but for the crackle and snap of the fire. Jace approached the nearby table and dished up a plate of supper. A pang of discomfort constricted Kyrin’s middle, the weight of the silence pressing on her. How many times had she met with such silence in a group? Jace acted as though not a single one of them existed, but when he looked up, his eyes met hers.
She stilled under the clear, startling blue gaze. Ryrik eyes, yet lacking the fiery hatred she’d always attributed to them. Without that burning, devouring light, she could appreciate their unique brightness and beauty—just like the vivid aqua waters along the coast in Valcré. However, though hatred was absent, something just as great filled them. Pain. Despite their bright color, pain and hopelessness lurked in the shadows behind it.
The moment seemed to freeze around them, but Jace turned abruptly and snapped Kyrin from her thoughts. Still, she watched him. He didn’t even look for a seat among the men, instead walking off to sit near a tree at the far edge of camp, with the wolf following. She then looked around the fire. Lenae sent her son a disapproving look, to which he hung his head, and Rayad returned to his seat, but never did finish his supper. He just sat with his brows furrowed and shoulders hunched, as if carrying a heavy weight. Conversation resumed around Kyrin, but her eyes drifted back to Jace’s lone figure in the dark.
Kyrin stood outside in the sun and scrubbed the breakfast dishes while Lenae swept and tidied the cabin. It was lovely to be outdoors without the bustling of a city full of people—only the happy sounds of conversation and the men working on the second cabin nearby. She gazed around camp and took mental note of each man present. So far, she’d seen no sign of Jace this morning. She placed another plate into the washtub and looked around again. He was probably gone hunting, considering the deer she’d seen last night. She would have liked to catch a glimpse of him though, now that it was daylight. His incredible but pained eyes had floated in and out of her thoughts ever since the moment at the fire.
When she finished the dishes, she dried her hands and stood for a long moment as her thoughts drifted. She looked up as one of the men named Mick approa
ched. They hadn’t spoken beyond greeting each other. He left the impression of being one of the quieter men, but kind and friendly. Kyrin offered him a smile.
“Jace always sleeps off in the forest and is gone hunting all day,” he said. Kyrin stared at him in question, and he shrugged. “You seemed to be looking for someone. I figured it was Jace, since he isn’t around.”
“I guess I was.” She frowned, processing his words. “Why doesn’t he sleep in camp?”
“Nightmares. They wake him up at night. I think it embarrasses him to wake the rest of us, so he took to sleeping away from camp.”
Kyrin glanced toward the trees, where Jace spent so much time alone. “Everyone acts like they’re afraid of him.”
“Most are. They think his ryrik blood makes him dangerous. It started with Holden. His parents were killed by ryriks, and he doesn’t think Jace is any different. He’s got a lot of the others believing the same.”
“But not you?”
Mick shook his head. “Not me. I don’t judge a man by what type of blood he has. Besides, humans can be just as cruel as any ryrik.”
Kyrin’s mind flashed back to the crowd gathered around her in Valcré—how they chanted for her death and reached for her in an attempt to kill her themselves. Ice prickled up her arms.
“That’s true,” she murmured as she rubbed the goose bumps.
“I’ve tried to make him feel welcome, but I don’t think he trusts any of us. The Korvic brothers over there”—Mick gestured to three young men working on a cabin—“beat him up pretty bad a couple of weeks ago.”