They had apples and some bread for breakfast and started out again. This time, Willow didn’t need any help folding her tent.
With every league that brought them further west and closer to Shondravar, Willow could feel the joyful anticipation seeping from Caleb’s body in front of her. He seemed more alive and the subtle expressions that usually played on his face like whispers, now exploded forth, loud and sharp each time he turned in the saddle to gaze at her whilst they talked.
Listening to the deep resonance of his voice, she forgot all the obstacles before them. She also decided that he did like her. After all, a man doesn’t tell someone that he wants to keep her with him if he doesn’t like her. For now, she would stay. There was no one available to take her to Beldar, and that was fine with her. Figuring it all out made her feel better, and it also led her to the conclusion that Caleb thought himself too lowborn to ever mean anything to her. Not that it mattered to her at this point. She knew she could love Caleb, and the realization shocked her more than anything else had. She had been so sure that she hated him, hated love.
So where did it leave them? And what of her father? Caleb had said she would hate him when he exacted punishment on the king. What kind of punishment did he have in mind? And would she really hate him? She guessed she would, so it was better to just consider Caleb a friend, until the day came when she hated him.
“Have you lived in Shondravar all your life?” she asked him rather than think about the many reasons they could never be together.
“No.” Caleb raked his hand through his hair and Willow waited for him to say something else, but he was silent after that.
There was no such thing as a beautiful countryside in Predaria, but looking around her, Willow thought that if there were, it would have been in Shondravar. There were more hills here than anywhere else she had seen. And amazingly, they were dotted with patches of green!
Jonas’ horse clattered beside them and when Willow asked if what she was seeing was truly grass, it was the bald Warrior who nodded proudly. “I planted it myself,” he told her. “I plan to build my home on those hills one day and cover them with beautiful verdant grass and blossoms of every color.”
Caleb smiled, listening.
“However did you get grass to grow here?” Willow asked him.
“It hasn’t grown yet, Princess,” Jonas informed her with a long sigh. “It keeps dying, but we’re working on it, eh, Caleb?”
“Your children will be playing there someday soon, my brother,” Caleb replied. And the firm assurance in his voice made Willow search the hills again, imagining them blanketed with the lush green blades.
Suddenly Jonas leaned in to her and smiled secretively. “Have to get me a wife first.”
Turning to his friend, Caleb’s eyes danced with a glint of devilish amusement. “You know where to find her.”
But Jonas ignored him and winked at Willow. “How about you, Princess? Are you available?”
…And then there was Oscar of Lionese, Willow remembered sorely. First, she would have to hide her father from Caleb. Then she would have to give up all her wealth and somehow tell the king that she would rather marry a commoner than an heir to a kingdom. There were just too many reasons not to fall in love with Caleb, she argued with herself. But there came a slight, cool breeze and his hair fanned out across her face. He groaned with delight and Willow could not remember one of those reasons.
“The air smells moist.” She sniffed and looked up at the sky. “Is it going to rain?”
“No,” Caleb answered. “It’s the tanks.”
“Tanks?” She turned to Jonas with a perplexed expression creasing her brow and he lifted his chin toward the hills coming up on their right. There were three of them positioned on the highest point of a distant hill. Their size made Willow’s mouth fall open. Each tank rose to well over one hundred feet in height and their combined diameter was triple that. Each had a wide, tilted lip to give the tanks more surface area.
“Are those the tanks the desert people used to drain the waters?” she asked in awe.
“No,” Caleb answered her. “We just copied them. The first ones