‘Would your friends help us travel to Waidu?’
‘They would if I asked them to,’ Astrid said slowly, her tone implying it was possibly the very last thing she wanted to ask them. ‘I could ask Bugual to come with us, or Loba, but they would all want to come.’
‘All of them?’
‘Vârcolac travel in packs. It’s safer that way for them.’
Jarl said nothing. The thought that he might have to leave Knud in the care of complete strangers made him feel sick to his stomach. This was Knud, his best friend’s son. His own son, almost. He couldn’t leave him with complete strangers. But if Knud stayed with them he would be in a lot of pain and would slow them down. He wouldn’t be able to run; he could barely walk. What if taking him got him killed?
‘We would be taking the Three Sisters’ Pass anyway, wouldn’t we?’ Jarl asked, and Astrid nodded.
‘We could stay with them for a few days and give Knud time to rest. Bugual might be able to help me make a peg leg for him if you want him to come. But he would have to wait till his leg heals. At least a month.’
‘We can’t wait that long. If I’m right about the goblins, then Bjargtre only has a few months at the most. How long will it take to reach Lǫgberg?’
‘We can reach Waidu in two weeks if we don’t stop in the Aldwood. With ponies it should only take another two weeks to pass through Kentutreba.’
After a few seconds silence, Jarl took a deep breath and turned back to look at her. ‘Do you trust them?’
‘With my life,’ Astrid replied firmly.
‘Then we should stay with them for a few days. It would give Knud time to heal, and if he wants to stay then he can. But what about you?’
‘Me?’ Astrid asked, confused.
‘Will you come back with me to Bjargtre?’ he asked, a small smile at the corner of his mouth.
Astrid said nothing, looking away for a moment, her eyes flicking over the nearby tree roots as she tried to think. The soft little voice goaded her on while the harsh voice screamed at her that she was crazy to even consider making such an important decision.
She turned back and looked into his eyes. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’ll come with you.’
The End
Acknowledgements
Firstly, because I promised you years ago that I would dedicate my first story to you, I would like to thank my English teacher, Mr. Ronald Warwick. I was absolutely terrified at showing my work to anyone who wasn’t family or friends, and I told myself that if you didn’t like my work then I wasn’t good enough and should stop writing. You not only liked it but enthusiastically encouraged me to keep going. Thank you.
To my mum, who has always encouraged me in all of my hobbies and passions, despite my constant mood swings and self doubt. Thank you for always pushing me, even when I felt I wasn’t good enough and came close to giving up. I would have quit a lot of things a long time ago if you hadn’t helped and encouraged me.
And lastly, I would like to thank my editor, Elaine Denning, who had to put up with my horrific, dyslexic spelling. I’m sure it probably made you want to cry at times! And thank you to Harrison Davies for formatting the book. I would never have been able to do any of this without your help.
Web Links
Website:
www.klairedelys.com
Elaine Denning (Editor):
www.facebook.com/ElaineDenning
Harrison Davies (Formatter):
www.harrisondavies.com
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