City of Solis (Beta Read)

Chapter 1

If dawn hadn’t come so soon, I might’ve been happier to find it streaming over the emerald silk of my sheets. I groaned and pulled the covers back over my head, reclosing my eyes to catch even a few seconds of sleep. 

The ‘Guide to Herbs’ beneath my pillow is the culprit behind my disdain and burning eyes. Not that I particularly had interest in the immunity benefits of Echinacea, but it was something other than maps. And it was within the quiet of my room. No endless chatter from the councils, and expectations to be anywhere except beneath my covers.

“Fine,” Resamary replied. Her voice muffled beneath my space beneath the blankets, “It’s your time in the woods, not mine.” I suddenly flipped the covers. Eyes no longer begging for slumber but wide erased of any exhaustion that resided only a few seconds ago.

“You’re letting me go?”  Resa’s golden colored eyes sparkled in the sunlight, peeking behind her smiling cheeks, as her hands worked to bunch up the curtains and tie them into place. Since before I could remember she woke me with open windows and a spread of clothes on my bed. And still, the wrinkles of time didn’t show in her wide doe eyes and golden skin. Resamary has been with us since I could first walk. She stood by my side when my father was lowered into the ground. Seven years prior, she coaxed my mother into her death as well. Minus the gray flyaways she said I caused and the wrinkles forming slightly in the creases of her eyes. She still looked the same as when I could remember. Her hands were still soft. Chin was still sharp. She had no reason to stay through my mother’s illness or my dad’s paranoia and mysterious demise. But she was here, stirring me from sleep and drawing my curtains.

“You’re losing daylight, Ehlea,” she warned, fixing the sheets as I sprung from the bed and onto the cool wooden floorboards. I could practically feel the supple leather in my palms, and the crisp autumn air against my face. Oftentimes, the slight trickle of the creek lulled me to sleep and dreamt of the dancing sunlight behind my eyelids, “You just need to be back before-”

“I will be,” I blurted, springing from the mattress, the maple frame groaning from the sudden jolt of speed. I ignored the clothes she had folded and laid out at the end of my bed to dig through my dresser instead.
“I’m serious.” In my search for a specific pair of trousers and blouse I half listened to what she was saying, “You need to be here, and dressed long before the sun sets,” I already had a new blouse settled over my torso, and pulling my pants up to my hips prior to her finishing the sentence.

“Mhm,” I responded half-heartedly, reaching for my quiver and searching frantically for my boots I normally placed by the door.

“Don’t be late, before the sun sets, do you understand?” Resa reiterated firmly with a hand on my shoulder and the pair of worn boots in her hand. I took the boots with pinched lips and a nod.

“I won't be,” I reaffirmed.

I shot out the back doors of the kitchen towards the stables. Abner was shoveling hay out of the entry. He was the oldest of Resa’s six sons. It had only been a year since Abner started showing up. He always met me here, at the barn, shoveling hay or brushing my horse. When he was finished, he would exchange a hug with his mom, and take off on his rickety wagon. Like his mother, he had her eyes and everlasting youth, but a sturdy build. Abner and I only exchanged a smile and simple nods. Occasionally, I would get a slight laugh, a yes, or a no if I was lucky. But nothing over one syllable. Maybe, I assumed, I wasn’t worthy of anything besides a single-word response and a bright grin. I gave him a small wave and nodded as I walked past him.
My palomino giddied when I came into view. We too, had an unspoken understanding. I cupped his golden muzzle. He was a gift on my sixteenth birthday, Dad walked him into the stables for me, and to this day, I haven’t come up with a name good enough to suit him. Not because I hadn’t thought about it, but everything I thought would fit wasn’t good enough. So ‘Pretty Boy’ has been his name, and until I could think of something he could wear with pride, it would stay that way.