Asher rose with the sun. Finn was already up, but Galen was nowhere to be found. They nibbled on breakfast, waiting as long as they could. The mustang lurked nearby, but no sign of the Healer. No one responded to their timid calls.
Asher stepped into the shack for the first time. The dark, little room was cluttered beyond reason. Shelves from floor to roof held jars and bowls and wads of strange substances. A pile of cloth and dead leaves comprised a bed of sorts, and strange artifacts were scattered from wall to wall. Among them, Asher found a round, hand-held mirror.
He’d never looked into a true mirror before, and he stood staring at his reflection. His face was dirtier than he thought, smudged from ear to ear. Soft hair spread over his lip. He looked into his own eyes, trying to recall those of the Queen’s.
When he emerged, Finn declared Galen, “Crazy, like I said.”
Asher was relieved to avoid the awkward farewell. Perhaps Galen had guessed his decision and was keen to do the same.
It took moments to pack. With a caring stroke of Harriet’s head and a final glance around the clearing, Asher followed Finn east into the woods.
They returned to the valley. As the great capital appeared before them, smiles crept onto their faces. It was their first time abroad on their own. Asher’s twinge of guilt at leaving Galen and his father behind was trumped by the possibility of finding his mother.
“Give me one day,” Finn said. “Once I’m in, I’ll get you in.”
The City’s morning streets were already swarming. Fishmongers fouled the air; the needy had their sad faces on; the chaos of commerce pummeled them from all directions.
At a branching path in the Pretty, the two boys stopped to part ways. They hugged. It was the moment they’d talked about all their lives, and Asher knew what it meant to Finn. He wished he could share his own hopes.
Finn gave a wink, straightened his back, and strutted off. As he passed over the Institute threshold, Asher silently wished him luck. Suppressing the urge to follow, he turned away to the looming castle, where the Queen’s Tower reached for the clouds. He had his own future to attend to.
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The Queen of Grass and Tree (Southwind Knights #2)
Teen Fiction★ Book #2 in the Southwind Knights series. If you haven't read Book #1, stop now! ★ Southwind is in uprising, and Asher is lucky to escape alive. With an orphaned Finn and the exiled Healer, he journeys north to the Queendom’s ca...
