AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tea?” Do barbarians drink tea?
“And pie,” she says, smiling. “My mama makes the best apple pie ever.”
“It is a long fucking way to the clan,” Aston says, shocking me when he uses the cursing word, which is forbidden for children. “She has tiny legs.” He points at my legs, which he cannot even see hidden beneath my dress.
“I’m nearly seven,” I say like this is evidence in my favor.
The lad raises his brows.
Dara grins, takes my hand, and gives a gentle tug. “Come on. Please. This will be fun!”
My mother will be cross if I go and visit their clan. She will not be happy that I have come into the woods at all, nor that I have spoken to barbarians. But, on the other hand, I have missed having a friend. I already like Dara. Her annoying brother, not so much. I look back, but I cannot see my home anymore.
“Her legs are too short,” Aston says. “She is a weak Hydornian lass. You know they are scared of their own shadows. She probably thinks that shifters eat lasses.”
I tip my chin. “I am six and a half, which is almost seven. I can walk a very long way.”
“Fine then. Let’s go,” Aston says. “Unless you need to run home first and ask your mama, like a little girl might.”
“I do not need to check with my mama,” I say, which is a lie. I definitely do.
“Stop taunting the lass,” Dara says crossly. “Or she will never be your friend.”
“I don’t even want to make friends with a little girl,” he says, scowling now.
“Oh, why don’t you run along then?” Dara says. “Go and pretend that you can hunt.”
“I caught a rabbit yesterday,” Aston says, puffing up his chest.
“Pft! You did not catch a rabbit,” Dara says. “You found one that was already dead.”
The lad flushes. My eyes dart between them.
Dara rolls her eyes at me. A small giggle bubbles up from my chest.
“Don’t mind Aston,” she says, as the lad stalks off in a huff. Her voice drops to a conspiring whisper. “He said you looked like a princess, and he would marry you one day.”
She slips her arm through mine while I’m caught gaping, and we follow after Aston.
“Which is nonsense,” she continues. “Because Papa says he will be an alpha, and everyone knows alphas don’t marry.”
“What do alphas do?” I ask, feeling myself soften toward Aston, who thinks I look like a princess.
“They take a lass or two as their mate.”
* * *
The walk takes longer than I expected. I’m soon tired, although I don’t like to admit this, lest Aston further taunt me. He stays attentively close, either scouting ahead or looping behind.
It’s gone well past midday by the time the village comes into view, and then my tiredness lifts, for it is beautiful. Steep slopes lined by pine trees stretch up from the valley, where the many homes are clustered to either side of a river. The lower slopes are given over to farming or livestock with sheep, goats, and horses. The cottages are pretty: a few made from stone, but mostly wood, and in good repair, with wildflowers and briar rambling up the front porches. It is the prettiest place that I have ever seen.
The clan people call out greetings as we walk past their homes. “Hail, Dara! Hail, lass!”
“Good day,” I reply.
Aston chuckles. “Hydornians have funny ways of speaking.”
“It is you who has funny ways of speaking,” I say, a little chagrined that I’m not doing this right.
