Mack into a trot and Lazy Maisie followed.
“Look at you go, girl! You do know how to run.” Brea patted the gentle horse.
Brea enjoyed the warm fresh air and bright sunshine. It was invigorating to finally get away from the cottage and jump into the next phase of her new life. She liked Fargelsi. Sometimes she even thought she felt a connection to the verdant green hills.
“So… what happens when we get there?” Brea asked. “And so help me if you say ‘you will see soon enough’ I may sic my horse on you. She’s a hungry girl, you know.”
Griff’s laughter was a deep, throaty sound she really liked. “When we arrive it will be late. Servants will show us to our rooms, and you’ll likely meet the queen tomorrow or the next day. She’s a very busy woman, though she is anxious to meet you.”
“What is she like?”
“She is a kind and generous ruler. You should strive to be yourself with her, Brea. Well… perhaps save your biting sarcasm for me.” He winked. “I can take it.”
“Is there nothing but rolling hills between here and there?” Honestly, she’d grown quite bored with the trip so far. She’d expected to see more. People. Towns. Something.
“We will reach the Dragur Forest soon.”
“Dragur? That doesn’t have anything to do with dragons I hope.”
“No, no dragons.”
“What does Dragur mean?”
“Haunted.”
“We’re going to the haunted forest? Like with ghosts?”
“It’s not actually haunted. At least I don’t think it is anymore.”
“Oh, well, that’s just peachy.” Brea glanced back over her shoulder.
“Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You’re always looking behind us like you think we’re being followed.” Griff shook his head, as amused with her as ever.
“I don’t even know I’m doing it. There’s just a vibe I get sometimes. Like not everything around me is as harmless as it seems.”
“Probably just your human caution rearing its head. Gelsi is a strange new world for you. Of course you’re naturally curious and suspicious of things you don’t understand.”
They stopped for a break around midday in a beautiful low-lying glen. To the east, the rolling green hills gave way to green mountains with rocky peaks. To the south lay the entrance to the Dragur Forest. As Griff cared for the horses, Brea explored their surroundings, taking the opportunity to stretch her legs. After hours of riding through the hills, Brea was happy to see something that wasn’t green. Gorgeous purple flowers bloomed on shrubs at the lowest part of the glen. Orange wildflowers hung in clusters among the tall grass.
Brea picked some of the orange flowers and braided them into a daisy chain for her hair. She even found what looked like bubble-gum-pink strawberries growing on a vine-covered fallen log. She picked enough to go with their lunch, placing them on a napkin on the picnic blanket they’d brought with them.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Griff came up behind her as she was about to pick some of the purple blossoms. “You’ll be dead before we reach the palace. Even more dead if you eat those berries you picked.”
“What’s wrong with the berries?” Brea stood up, taking a few steps away from the poisonous flowers.
“One or two would just make you sick. More, and you’d fall asleep and never wake up. Some healers make a tea from the berry leaves for a sleeping draught, but even that can be dangerous.”
“What about these?” Brea’s hand went to the flowers in her hair.
“Harmless. And quite charming in your dark hair.”
“No purple flowers. No swimming in Lake Villandi. No pink berries and no Gelsi berries. I should start a list of all the things that might kill me or drug me.”
“Don’t touch anything once we reach the forest. There, the more beautiful a thing is, the more likely it is to be dangerous.”
“Got it.”
After they ate and packed up, they headed into the forest. She wasn’t prepared for how dark it was under the thick canopy of vine-covered trees.
“I feel like we should be traveling a yellow brick road to find the flying monkeys at the witch’s castle.”
“What are you babbling about?”
“Nothing.” She stared into the swaying branches. “It’s too quiet here. There aren’t any birds in this forest.”
“There are some, but most here are nocturnal. You’ll rarely see or hear them.”
“I find that… unsettling for some reason.” Like she couldn’t trust a forest that didn’t have birds.
“You’ll get used to it.”
“So, how long will we be in the forest of nightmares?” She didn’t relish experiencing nightfall here.
“It’s not that bad, is