sky pastel pink and orange.
Kalai looked up from the book he was reading in the scarce morning light when Tauran pointed across the landscape.
“See the spot where the two rivers meet and curve around those hills, where the three narrow trees are?”
Kalai nodded. It was a charming little place. Soft grassy hills dotted with wildflowers and fringed by fruit trees. Fluffy sheep wandered the hills, their lambs playing in the shade of the trees.
“Just on the other side of the hill is where I was born.”
Kalai blinked, closing the book and turning to Tauran. “Really? All the way out here?”
Tauran laughed. “Surprised? There’s a village with about two-hundred people nestled on the other side. Syena. My mother still lives there. I was a country brat.”
“So that’s where you stole that farmer’s horse?” Kalai chuckled.
“Oh yes. I got into all sorts of trouble. Drove my poor mother crazy.”
Kalai lit up. “We should visit her!”
Tauran flinched. “Ah, I don’t think so.” He turned away from the view.
“Why not?” Kalai placed the book aside. “I thought you and her got along well after you joined the guard.”
Tauran sighed and looked down. “We did… But that was before I nearly died and then refused to see her.”
Kalai’s brows furrowed. He didn’t push, but waited for Tauran to continue on his own.
“After my fall, she came to visit me in Valreus. But I felt… I was… I couldn’t see her. So I made them turn her away. In the four years since the accident, I never once returned home.”
“You have the chance to change that, now,” Kalai said, gently. He placed a hand on Tauran’s shoulder.
Tauran’s smile was bitter. “And what should I say to her, huh? Hey ma, sorry I ignored you for four years. I stole a dragon and became a deserter, how’s life?” He huffed and shook his head. “Forget it! Besides, the guard will no doubt come to question her about my disappearance. It’s best if we stay away.”
Kalai bit his lip and looked away. He couldn’t think of a way to argue with that, no matter how much he wanted to. So when Tauran flicked the reins and steered the horses back on the road, he didn’t protest.
They were both silent for a long time. Kalai watched the horizon, a red hawk hovering above the meadows, perfectly still in the air.
“I’m sorry.” Tauran’s hand on Kalai’s leg drew his attention. Tauran’s expression was tense. He watched the horses intently. “I didn’t mean to snap.”
Kalai smiled a little. He placed his hand over Tauran’s. “It’s okay. You didn’t.”
“She always did her best for me, and I was never anything but trouble.” Tauran spoke quietly that Kalai could barely hear him over the sound of the horses’ hooves. “When my father got sick…” He shook his head, eyes distant. “I couldn’t stand being at home. It got even worse when he died. I was a selfish idiot, making her deal with both her dead husband and a worthless son.”
Kalai’s stomach clenched. Tauran’s guilt wasn’t only about the guard, but about his mother, too. “You’re not worthless. You were a child,” Kalai said, softly. He took Tauran’s hand off his leg and laced their fingers together.
“Hardly,” Tauran murmured. “I was sixteen.” But despite the bitterness dripping from his words, he held Kalai’s hand tight.
“Once we set everything straight - with Falka and the guard - we can visit your mother,” Kalai said. “How about that?”
Tauran was silent for a long moment, then nodded faintly. “All right.”
* * *
It was getting cooler.
While Kalai was used to the heat that often grew far more intense in Kel Visal, Tauran seemed relieved by the change in weather. Kalai knew he’d be grateful for it, too, once they reached the marshes. Kel Visal was dry in summer, but he could vividly imagine the torture of wading through wetlands in scalding heat with no shelter. The cloud cover was good for Arrow, too, the low-rolling gray carpet shielding him from view.
As was becoming routine, they found a sheltered spot to camp out for midday. The terrain was rugged, and they’d run out of road a few hours earlier. Tauran explained there were no more villages south of them. Beyond the rocky plains, the landscape flattened once more, and then the marshes would stretch out before them. A day or two more, he’d said, then they’d reach the Terror Marshes.
This time, Tauran didn’t lay out his bedroll as soon as they’d eaten. Instead, he fished Kalai’s riding harness from