AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He took the reins and led Sky toward the wide stable doors. The boy vanished back into the stalls.
He paused at a whining sound. He spotted several of the crown prince’s hunting dogs in stalls, cocking their heads to one side, whimpering. One licked its lips. They looked… hungry.
Jav sniffed and took a step closer. Glancing around, there was no one nearby. The stable master was out in the field with a horse, talking to a farrier. The place was quiet, save Sky stamping his impatience to ride and the snuffling and panting of these dogs.
With one finger, he quickly unlatched the first dog’s stall. Then the next. And the next. He didn’t open them. Just nudged the latches. If they nuzzled them the tiniest bit, though, they’d swing open.
He got through three of the six stalls before the stable master said, “Just one minute,” and turned in Jav’s direction.
Jav hurried back to Sky, pretending to ensure the saddle was buckled properly, and then once the stable master was past him, he hastened out through the stable doors, walking at Sky’s side, reins in hand.
Maybe he was drunk. Or poisoned. Was this what drunk felt like? What in Nefrana’s name was he thinking, flirting with freeing half the prince’s hounds? The man might be as evil as a mage’s heart—although now, he cringed at that old expression—but the prince was more powerful than Jav would ever be. And he would not be pleased by Jav’s disobedience—or, likely, this dallying side trip.
He needed to get to the temple quickly.
“You there, boy. See to this horse.” The self-important mage-slave messenger from the Northern Kingdoms dismounted before the horse had even fully stopped. He wore a slight smirk as he tossed the reins in Jav’s face.
Jav opened his mouth to correct the man—his light hair made Jav look considerably younger than his fellows at times, but in chain mail, he was clearly not a stable boy—but the messenger had already set off at a run into the stable. The man was out of sight.
Javarin rolled his eyes. Could the man have considered him the stable manager at least? He glanced at the new horse and went still.
She was a beauty, a strong white mare with a lovely snowy mane. She huffed a greeting. Her wise eyes bored into his own, unafraid.
White. Like Nefrana’s horse in the tapestries in so many temples.
Or the horse in his dream.
As he stared, another thought came to him—a strange one. If they were determined to kill her, they weren’t likely to listen to any proof of her innocence. Alekur had been clear that that was barely half his motivation. The prince knew she was older than he was, and that if she were married to the right suitor, she or her children could be a danger to his reign. Facing the right competition, anyone’s throne could be jeopardized. They’d probably just kill Jav, too, even if he had his proof.
But Nefrana always protected children and innocents. What if they were wrong? What if Iseris truly wasn’t a mage? Perhaps this beautiful horse of Nefrana’s was a sign. He needed a better plan.
He blinked. The horse blinked slowly back and huffed.
Mounting Sky, he kept both sets of reins and led the white one by his side at a brisk walk toward the temple.
Let the messenger find out his mistake the hard way.
Chapter 7
Temple
Rows of white candles burned in the shrine, casting a golden shimmer across the white stone walls. Many were lit for fertility in the fields. Spring was still far away, and this was the dead of winter, but the farmers seemed to believe that starting early couldn’t hurt. An alabaster statue of Nefrana rose from delicately carved grasses, preserved forever mid-sway.
This shrine was but a small part of the grand temple to Nefrana, but this spot had always been his favorite. Behind him, out of sight at the moment, was a gorgeous tapestry of the goddess astride a white steed. Everything in the room was bathed in flickering candlelight, but it was otherwise dim, even though it was still midday.
Javarin had been kneeling in the Shrine of the Fields for a quarter of an hour before he saw anyone at all. The effects of the mead hadn’t yet worn off, judging by the way the world and its golden glow tilted every so often. In fact, the condition seemed to be getting worse. He knew the sheaves of wheat beneath the statue and carved into the walls and the floor were all still, but the mead fever made them seem to wave and bend. He wiped a cold sheen of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Ah. You’ve come.”
Jav jumped, then glanced over his shoulder. “Head Priest Rifan. You were expecting me?”
“Yes. The queen preceded you.” Rifan clasped his hands behind his back.
“Just a quick prayer,” he muttered, hoping the elder priest would leave him alone. He had… hard questions he wanted to ask. But the head priest? Couldn’t there be someone lower in the hierarchy he could confide to? And what was that he had said about the queen? “Wait, she was here?”
“Yes, she was quite upset herself.”
He found that hard to believe but said nothing for a moment.
