Hanrey slumped in the saddle as Jess ambled along the road to Ferryton. He had watered the mare at Lower Kelda, and they had not long put the hamlet behind them. The lowering sun filtered through the trees on his left.
Magpies warbled. He smiled at the antics of a flycatcher snatching at insects raised by their passing. It took his mind off his dilemma. He was pondering the best time to enact the ceremony with the sword, when the chestnut mare threw her head up.
Snorting, her ears twitched, and her eyes roved the sky as she pranced sideways. Hanrey checked over his shoulder. Her tail stood erect.
Dragons.
Jess hated dragons. He slid out of the saddle and rushed the horse in among the trees where he backed her under the thickest leaf canopy he could find.
"Jess, stand," he whispered, stroking her nose with one hand while gripping the bridle with the other.
The foliage quivered as a pair of green dragons swooped low, one on each side of the road. From that uncharacteristic behaviour, he guessed the riders, be they the watch or wizards, searched for him. Surely, Cissie's letter was not that important to them.
Jess turned her head, following their progress with rolling eyes. "Good girl," he soothed the groaning horse. He wished someone would steady him. His guts clenched his backbone.
Hanrey expected the dragons would return. He watched the mare's eyes until her whites broadened. "Stand," he whispered, tightening his grip on the headgear. He steadied her against a tree trunk and leaned into her, whispering.
It seemed half a lifetime later when the first dragon coasted the treetops, it wings spanning the roadsides. Broken twigs and leaves swirled in its wake.
"Jess, good girl, Jess." Tail tucked, she sweated under his hand. The second green passed higher up, some minutes after. Still he waited, not daring to move.
Did the wizards really want the letter so badly, he wondered. Perhaps they did not seek his letter. What if Taniel had eluded her captors, returned to Skerby, and found him gone?
Did they think she was with him?
***
8 April 2017 - replaced with revised scene (made a few small changes over Hanrey's last few scenes to fit timeline)
(2016) Do you think Hanrey will get back in time to see Taniel?
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Taniel (The Taverner's Daughter I)
FantasyTHE TAVERNER'S DAUGHTER - BOOK ONE FANTASY, MAGIC, DRAGONS, ROMANCE, WINGED WIZARDS. Please Note: The rest of this series will not be published until the complete series is drafted and revised - probably another four volumes over the next year...
