Page 89 of Light and Shadow
Aaran stills.
“Oh god, is it the blackbirds? Has Venora found us?” My pulse races, and I try to judge how far it is to get under the bridge and out of sight.
Shading his eyes, he looks up. “We’re safe.” He sighs, lifts to one arm, and grabs my clothes. “You should get dressed. That’s not a blackbird. It’s a raven. Mother and the ravens are connected. I’m sure she sent it.”
Taking my clothes, I scramble out from under him and run under the bridge to dress. “Your mother, she sees through the raven?”
He rises slowly and pulls on his pants. It’s hard to look away from how male and perfect he is. Shrugging into his shirt, he says, “When she wishes.”
The raven lands on a rock at the base of the bridge. “Kraa-kraa.” With shiny jet-black and curious eyes, it looks at me, then at Aaran.
Taking a knee, he pets the bird.
It fluffs and bends its neck for more attention. Then it flaps its wide wings and cocks its head.
“Tell her we’re on our way.” Aaran gives it one last pat and turns to me. “We can make the Naomh Spring before dark if we leave now. It’s a full day’s walk.”
The raven flaps its wings and takes flight. It speeds west until it’s only a speck in the purplish sky.
Sitting, I pull on my shoes. I can’t decide if his mother knowing her son and I are intimate bothers me or not. She was very kind in the vision, giving me hope and making me wantto hang on. All of that may have changed now that she knows. Mothers are protective of sons, especially those meant to rule one day.
Aaran’s shadow blocks the rising sun. “Stop worrying. You’re giving me a headache.” He grins at me so brightly that I know he’s not serious about the headache.
As cool as it was at night, the rising sun makes the plains fairly hot. “Does it snow here?”
“It does. More here than it did in the east. It’s beautiful at home when the snow is fresh.” A hint of his worry that they may never see another winter in Domhan niggles at me through our connection.
Wishing I could assure him it will be fine doesn’t make it true. We may all die, and then perhaps we won’t care what happens to this world. “I’d like to see Domhan covered in snow. I always love how the world gets quiet when it snows at home. Fewer cars, the birds are silent, and the snow mutes much of the commotion in Princeton. I bundle up and sit on my patio with cocoa and watch until I’m wet through.”
“I would like to see that.” He narrows his gaze and stares ahead.
Something is moving toward us fast. “Oh, god. What now?” My gut knots, and I crouch, ready to run.
“We’re safe,mo chroi. I think Mother has sent some transportation.” He continues walking.
Following, I narrow my gaze to see what he means by transportation. The black spot approaching becomes a beautiful horse, bigger than any I’ve ever seen.
It lowers his head affectionately toward Aaran, and Aaran runs his hand up the beast’s nose, then pats his neck. “Hello, Gaofar. It’s good to see you.” Grabbing a handful of thick black mane, Aaran swings onto the horse’s bare back.
“Hand your pack up.” He wings my pack over his shoulder and extends his hand to me. “Come on.”
Drawing a deep breath, I wonder if my sore muscles can take the pounding of a horse’s hooves. I take his hand, and he swings me up in front of him. A small squeak escapes as I adjust to the change in altitude. “This is the biggest horse I’ve ever seen.”
His arms cradle me on either side. “Have you ridden before?”
“It’s been a while. We went on trail rides when I was little, and I took lessons as a teenager.” I take hold of Gaofar’s mane and hope my grip and Aaran’s arms are enough to keep me astride.
“This will be like riding air.” We start at a light trot. “Gaofar is the king of the horses of Siar Fàilte.”
“He’s very beautiful, and my feet are grateful for the ride.” I lean into Aaran’s chest. “I’m a little worried about my ass though.”
His chest shakes as he laughs. “Hold on tight.”
They must have a signal that’s imperceptible to me. Gaofar leaps into a gallop. I yelp at the sudden change, but an instant later, realize this is not an ordinary horse. His gait is so smooth and easy that it’s as if we’re flying. Still holding on, I relax into the ride.
The countryside whizzes past in a blur of green, brown, and blue. I breathe in the scents of this strange world. This is the first time since leaving my home that I feel safe. Perhaps I’m fooling myself, but a sense of ease surrounds me. Maybe we will live through this, or this could be the calm before the storm. Whatever it is, I’m relieved to slip out of fight-or-flight mode.
Idon’t know exactly what I expected from the spring that feeds a second large river on this continent, but it’s more of a stunning oasis. The land before was beautiful, but this is another level of green and lush. Kelly-green grass covers the ground, and several rock outcroppings have water running down them as if the rocks are capping a water spout. Flowers bloom in lavender and yellow along the base and on the bank. The spring itself is fifty feet wide and twice as long. A lake, big enough that I can’t see what’s on the other side, lies just south of the spring.
