The Spell of Rosette - Kim Falconer [40]
The two slid off the horse’s back and stretched. Rosette looked up at the now cloudless sky. ‘It’s an hour before midday. How close do you think we are to Treeon?’
‘We’ll make it.’ He pointed a ropey arm into the distance. ‘It’s only a couple of miles.’
‘You’ve been there before?’
‘I have a map.’ He straightened his shoulders. ‘A bard has to know his way around the world, milady.’
‘Yes, and that too is a trait of the Water-bearer.’
‘What?’
‘Always knowing where they’re going, always in control.’
‘And that’s a bad thing?’
‘It’s not a bad thing.’ Rosette smiled at his perplexity. ‘It’s not a good thing either. It’s a Water-bearer thing.’ She winked to make him smile back. ‘Let’s eat.’
Clay flipped up the stirrup to loosen the girth a few notches, giving Dozer a chance to breathe deeply between gulps of water.
‘Our first picnic!’ he said, cocking his head towards the carpet of recently mowed oat grass. It was tasselled here and there with bells of lavender flowers from the late-blooming flax.
‘A meal…not a romp.’ Rosette pulled a loaf of bread from her pack and split it in two before unwrapping a small parcel of cheese. ‘Hungry?’
‘Yes, please. I’ve got red apples, fresh from my family’s orchards.’
Does he have any mice in there? Drayco eyed Clay chomping into the crunchy fruit.
No, Dray, but I have more dried beef.
Chewy meat?
Yes. Come and let me pick the grass seeds from your belly while we eat.
Clay cleared his throat. ‘Can’t at least one of you speak aloud? It’s unnerving.’
‘We’re discussing lunch.’
‘I’m not on the menu, am I?’
Rosette laughed. ‘Don’t worry. It’s only your pockets that interest him, for now.’
Clay took the bread and cheese she handed him in exchange for one of the apples and settled next to Rosette on the grass. He was careful to keep her between himself and the temple cat.
‘Come on,’ he said around a mouthful of food. ‘What happened next?’
They lounged in the grass by the creek, eating and talking, Rosette telling how she’d rescued Drayco. While she spoke, the temple cat chewed on strips of dried beef, his white teeth flashing in the sunlight, red tongue licking his chops. Dozer did what he was named for. He dozed.
‘Mother of the plains and rivers! And you say I can’t tell anyone? Are you kidding? It’s worthy of an entire ballad!’ Clay protested as they packed up their bags.
‘I shared it with you, not the world. Keep it to yourself or I’ll…’
‘I just think it’s a waste, locked away like that.’
Rosette looked at Drayco stretching in the sun. ‘It’s not a waste.’
Clay shook his head then scrambled up onto Dozer. He held Rosette’s staff, and hauled her up behind him.
‘I’m honoured you shared it with me.’ His voice took on a different tone.
‘You’re welcome.’ Rosette smoothed her dress. ‘Now come on. We only have half an hour by my mark. I don’t want to miss the welcoming.’
With that, Clay pulled the horse’s head out of the grass and clucked to him. They didn’t move. He reached his arm behind Rosette and slapped the horse’s round dappled rump, sending a cloud of dust skyward. Dozer accelerated into a smooth trot.
‘Trust me, milady. Clay Cassarillo will get you there on time.’
CHAPTER 6
‘Sacred demons,’ Rosette whispered as they came to a halt at the top of a cliff. ‘Look at it.’
‘It’s bigger than I thought.’ Clay pulled off his cap and stuffed it into his back pocket. ‘Looks like a nest of ants from here.’
She braced an arm against Dozer’s haunches, leaning back from Clay to get a better view of the valley. Swarms of people in dark robes flowed out of buildings and into the courtyards surrounding the main temple. Some on horseback, most on foot, they filled the pathways and thoroughfares, all intent on a common destination. Rosette traced the course of traffic and saw that everyone was headed to a raised oval at the west end of the valley.
‘That’s where we’re going,’ she said, pointing towards the manicured field.
Black and green flags snapped in the breeze around the perimeter where a drill team warmed up their mounts. They