9. Red Sky in the Morning
Red Sky in the Morning
Cypress awoke with Torren’s booted heel lightly nudging her calf. Dawn’s barest golden rays cut through the window, illuminating his gray- blue eyes.
“Time to move,” He whispered, then stood and quietly strapped his sword to his waist and grabbed his pack.
Cypress quickly slipped from the bed and began gathering her things. “Did you hear something?”
Torren nodded, “It was quiet until a few minutes ago. Loud men who still sound drunk from last night. That kind of hubris never ends well, I fear.”
She nodded, gathering the lengths of her hair and tying it off with a small strip of leather cord. A glance out the window revealed a sky painted blood red, the wash of color stealing her breath.
Quickly and silently, Torren led them down a set of stairs to the rear of the building, which led to the stables. Without breaking stride, he tossed a pair of gold marks to the stable boys who’d been sleeping in the stalls next to their horses.
“Thanks, lads,” Torren said before double-checking the various straps and belts on the saddles.
Satisfied that all was as it should be, Cypress and Torren left the inn under the cover of dawn's earliest lights, the beating of horse hooves louder than the pounding in her heart.
The mattress hadn’t been anything special. Compared to the bedroll she had been using, Cypress could admit that the mattress was superior.
Though nothing compared to sleeping under nothing but a canopy of leaves.
These nights on the road had been some of the best sleep Cypress could ever remember.
The sound of the wind blowing through the trees did something to soothe her soul and calm her mind and spirit, making sleep as easy as breathing.
“How much further to the edge of the Wylds?” Cypress asked after they stopped for a short while to relieve themselves and grab rind fruits from their saddle bags.
It had been a long day in the saddle already, so she decided to walk beside Seren for a while. Cypress could use the time to stretch her muscles, and her horse deserved the rest.
“We’ll need to make camp tonight, and probably tomorrow on the road. Depending on the weather, we could be with my people within the week's end.”
“Your people?” Cypress drawled, cutting a look toward him.
“Yes. My people. You think I’m the only one trying to keep the Old One sleeping?”
“You never mentioned them. How was a girl supposed to know?”
“Don’t play dumb with me, Lass. I know ye better than that.”
Cypress huffed a laugh. “You see what you want, Thief. No more, no less.”
Torren laughed at her and shook his head, but said nothing more as they strode side by side.
Cypress watched the day turn into evening, the sun lazily drifting across the sky while they walked farther and farther away from the only home she’d ever known, and yet…
She couldn't say if she had ever felt so… calm in all the past years, certainly not more than she currently did, merely traipsing through the trees.