green cloak over my shoulders and belted my dagger to my waist. Into the satchel I normally reserved for foraging trip

my mother’s evening meal as I exited my chamb

syl to attend her,” I explained. “Let my fath

, mi

entry startled Anre, our cook, taking a moment for herself, her feet up at the table. “Miss Siorin,

polish, the floor was swept and mopped so clean we could eat off its bricks, and the table was scrubbed. The fire here was alwa

ace where my happy memories rose easiest, and I could pretend that the grimness of the rest of the hou

in the middle drawer. I opened it, and took the purse out, tying it to my belt before returning to the kitchen. I put a couple of ap

en,” she tsked. She wrapped some scones and dried fru

nk y

have to w

oad, backtrack my steps, nor w

nd don’t forget, the road has its o

ety in life for us until we married – we were prey to the Fae or the Fairy Brethren, and we were prey to men’s desires. “I have my

she replied, “to fetch Isyl. This

shed a kiss over her che

ell tended and upkept, except now Coryfe was the only horse, where once there had been four. My father’s wealth had dwindled during the y

ver holding my arrows and unstrung bow over my shoulder before leading him out to the side yard, closing the gate behind us and startling a maid from t

ng between. Most houses followed the same techniques passed down from generation to generation, the bottom storey formed of bricks, and t

nto the village in search of food had resulted in the villagers combining together to have lamp posts put up in the main streets of the

. The lamp-lighter was making his rounds, with his ladder and fire striker, and a handful of apprentices smoke

e only illumination. In the shifting shadows cast across the road, many times I thought I saw something move, or the glint of an eye, but I did not paus

below, and I kept Coryfe at a steady walk. Although the road to Isyl’s village was well maintained, I did not want to risk Coryfe

had once spread across most of the land, but our ancestors had slowly cleared it, creating pastures for growing and fields

e could. The Fae held some of the forests tightly, and man would not dare take axe to wood in such places. Ench

forest was well known and oft travelled, and yet still, never completely safe. I

norted u

agreed. Magic was sharp

. I drew Coryfe to a stop and listened intently. There was no Fae music, which would indicate a courtly night

oryfe. “Just a forest fairy pa

at this time of the day would be unwise, it was a thing that many fairy creatu

o the undergrowth by the passage of mankind’s carts and carriages. It had rained recently, and puddles gathered where the

ase,” a man spoke f