Chapter Twelve
Vonetta
The following two days pass slowly as we take meetings at the inn. A storm moved in and grips Nerine with vicious force, and it hasn’t stopped raining the entire time. I am fascinated with this, as the weather on the Isle is temperate and mild, even in a late spring such as this.
The stagnation of our journey begins to eat at Chiron, and his restlessness affects us all. His tension and worry from our traveling have returned, so when Chiron suggests that we consider starting our journey to the lake for the second trial, I am not surprised.
“I don’t think this storm is going to let up. I feel…ready. I can’t explain it.” He tells us over our morning meal. Wren and I do not need much time to consider his proposal. Chiron has proven himself throughout our time together, and this is his element.
Jessah and the other attendants have brought us many things over the last two days, including a fine and weighty trunk to store our new possessions in.
Everything Jessah procured for me is in muted tones, shades of ashy greens and cool, hushed purples.
A slate tunic to go with the white and cream colored ones.
There are saffron and clay-toned breeches, which I immediately approve of.
Even the woad blue gown is slightly greyed, and I’m sheepish to admit even to myself that I have never seen a dress more appealing to my senses.
I notice that most of Chiron’s things are in blacks and coals. Wrens are earth-toned, not so dissimilar to my own. I imagine that together we will look intentionally coordinated, but not matching. But today is no day for fine dresses and detailed coats.
We all don the simpler breeches and tunics for the journey northward, and I ask Jessah if she can find a cloak that is more suitable for our journeying.
Chiron asks the guards if our horses have arrived from the stables near the cabin, and we are all frustrated to learn that they have not.
I join Wren at the small table in our rooms, where he consults his map.
When I sit next to him, he slides the map closer to me so that I may see.
“We’ll do our best to ride through the city, but once we’re closer to the lake, the ground will be too wet to take the mounts.” Wren’s knowledge of the terrain wherever we go is bolstering.
“Is this your first time in Nerine?” I ask him, inspecting the map as well.
Wren looks up at me, and for a moment, I’m unsure if he’ll answer my question. But he does so with calm surety.
“No, it isn’t. I lived here for a time when I was a child. My parents were farmworkers, but we didn’t own land. So we moved from town to town chasing work. It was difficult to make a home when you moved, as we did. But it makes for a good understanding of the land.”
This personal detail surprises me, but I strain not to show it. It makes so much sense why Wren was so attached to his own home on the Isle. The first thing he had chosen all for himself.
“Your journeys have kept you well informed, then. I trust your judgement on the mounts. You should tell Chiron and the guard that we will require an escort to the lake.” Wren’s smile is genuine, not the wide grins of Chiron, but something entirely Wren.
Understated and appreciative of my trust in his plans.
Jessah returns quickly with a grey woolen cloak; it’s sturdy with a thick lining and will hold up to the rain well. I thank her profusely for her effort and quickness.
Wren takes great care in packing his bag, setting things aside for us that we might need or want with us.
I notice his pen next to his journal on the table, ready to come along, and that small detail makes flutters form in my belly.
I begin packing up as well. It’s only been three days in Nerine, but it feels like we’ve been here much longer.
I place my gloves from Chiron with my new cloak.
I ask Jessah to pack my bow for the time being—to be sent ahead with our trunk to Ilyora.
I do not have many possessions, but my bow and my cloak from Vestera mean everything to me, and I find myself anxious to be reunited with them before they are even gone.
Within an hour, we are equipped for our journey to the lake.
Chiron returns from speaking with staff and guards, preparing for not only this leg of our travel, but also our eventual move to the capital.
The pace at which things change off the Isle creates a strain in me which I haven’t experienced before, so I take a few private moments to myself in the washroom to brush my hair and prepare it for travel.
There is a quiet knock on the door. Jessah stands in the entryway.
“May I, lady?” She says, coming forward and holding out her hand for the comb.
I hand it to her and turn around, allowing her to brush the thick locks until they are smoothed from my scalp to the ends.
It is soothing to have someone else take such care with your hair.
The last time this probably happened was when I was a child.
She plaits it deftly, quick fingers making easy work of the mass until it is one solid rope down my back.
She sees my bone pin on the stool nearby and coils my hair at the base of my head, pinning it there tightly.
“Jessah?” I ask her before she returns to the main room. She smiles expectantly, waiting for me to continue. I do not want to appear prying, but I do have questions, and thus far, she is the only person besides Wren and Chiron that I know, and the only woman I feel I can confide in here.
“What is the capital like?”
Unbidden, my mind says where do I fit into it? I cast that thought away as I wait for her response. It is immediate and full of enthusiasm.
“Lady, it’s beautiful. The land is rich with life, and the castle is too.
Nerine is large to be sure, but Ilyora is nearly twice the size.
People from all over the country come to do business and trade in our markets.
I’ve already started preparing your chambers there, ever since we were told of your choosing. ”
The vision she paints is at once exciting and foreboding. A subtle reminder that before I had even considered what all of this would entail as the chosen, things were in motion. I take a moment to sit on the small stool, folding my hands together and taking a deep breath in.
“How long have you worked in the royal house, Jessah?”
Jessah tidies around her as she speaks.
“Since I was a girl, lady. I have served her majesty Queen Arianelle since I was thirteen years—I’m seventeen now. She is beautiful and kind. I believe she will like you very much.”
That relieves me. I hadn’t much considered it until now, but meeting Chiron’s parents feels very…official.
I do not have time to dwell on my realizations, because Chiron comes to the open door and says,
“The escort has arrived. Are you ready?” I nod to him, following him out of the room and donning my new cloak and gloves. Guards carry our bags and place them into the smaller, covered carriage. I wave goodbye to Jessah, who stands with the other attendants just inside the doorway to the inn.
The rain beats down hard, and I know that before long, there will be no escaping it.
Wren helps me in, and the ride is mostly spent going over what we know about the second trial—which isn’t very much at all.
The storm outside rages on. There is quite a bit of rumbling in the distance, but the lightning is scarce.
It’s midday, and so we will have plenty of time to make it to our destination.
I consider what Jessah told me today about the capital and steel myself to ask Chiron about his home. He seems surprised by my question, but responds in earnest.
“Ilyora is a large city, certainly. As a boy, I didn’t actually get to do much exploring of it; the castle is a different story, though.
” He smiles broadly, remembering his childhood fondly.
“But now, I spend a great deal of time within the different neighborhoods talking to the business owners and farmers. Much like what we’ve been doing in Nerine, but as the heir.
I imagine it’ll be different when we go there, together.
” His expression intensifies, anxiety creeping into his features.
I want to ask him about that, why he sometimes becomes nearly overcome with worry, but the carriage slows, and his attentions are taken by a rap on the side of the carriage. It signals that we are arriving near our destination.
Wren was sound in his thinking; there is no way we could take horses closer to the lake.
The soil is soft, and our feet sink into it, squelching with each lift of my boots and holding me to the land.
The rain isn’t hard, but it’s steady and cold, soaking my hair through within minutes of being out of the carriage.
I’m relieved to see that the woolen cloak from Jessah is dispelling the rain for now, but I have a suspicion that it cannot hold.
We walk for a time, long enough to be chilled to the bone, before the surface of the lake is clean before us.
It’s a vast body, dark and alive with movement.
Without trees on this side of it, the wind rushes up to us, cold and harrowing from the north.
The expanse of mountains above is truly breathtaking, just as it had been at the cabin.
It’s hard to truly appreciate its great size, but the lake is almost small by comparison.
Chiron turns a small craft over at the one small docking point.
There is hardly room for three. Two thin oars are underneath, and Wren picks them up before Chiron asks.
He pulls the craft to the water, hopping in and holding the dock tightly.
Wren follows him, and after he centers himself in the small vessel, reaches his hand out for me.
I take it tightly and step into the boat.
The surface is already slippery in the steady rain, and the rocking as we distribute ourselves from front to back has my nerves firing off.