De Tappras Uppkomst . Морган Райс

Kyra replied. “But now…I honestly don’t know anymore.”

      They continued riding for hours, falling back into a comfortable silence, sometimes trotting when the wood opened up, at other times the wood so dense they needed to dismount and lead their beasts. Kyra felt on edge the entire time, feeling as if they could be attacked at any moment, never able to relax in this forest. She did not know what hurt her more: the cold or the hunger pains ripping through her stomach. Her muscles ached, and she couldn’t feel her lips. She was miserable. She could hardly conceive their quest had barely begun.

      After hours more passed, Leo began to whine. It was a strange noise—not his usual whine, but the one he reserved for times when he smelled food. At the same moment Kyra, too, smelled something—and Dierdre turned in the same direction and stared.

      Kyra peered through the wood, but saw nothing. As they stopped and listened, she began to hear the faintest sound of activity somewhere up ahead.

      Kyra was both excited by the smell and nervous about what that could mean: others were sharing this wood with them. She recalled her father’s warning, and the last thing she wanted was a confrontation. Not here and not now.

      Dierdre looked at her.

      “I’m famished,” Dierdre said.

      Kyra, too, felt the hunger pangs.

      “Whoever it is, on a night like this,” Kyra replied, “I have a feeling they won’t be keen to share.”

      “We have plenty of gold,” Dierdre said. “Perhaps they will sell us some.”

      But Kyra shook her head, having a sinking feeling, while Leo whined and licked his lips, clearly famished, too.

      “I don’t think it’s wise,” Kyra said, despite the pains in her stomach. “We should stick to our path.”

      “And if we find no food?” Dierdre persisted. “We could all die of hunger out here. Our horses, too. It could be days, and this might be our only chance. Besides, we have little to fear. You have your weapons, I have mine, and we have Leo and Andor. If you need to, you could put three arrows in someone before he blinked—and we could be far off by then.”

      But Kyra hesitated, unconvinced.

      “Besides, I doubt a hunter with a spit of meat will cause us all any harm,” Dierdre added.