Call of Kythshire (Keepers of the Wellsprings Book 1) by Missy Sheldrake Page A

tack.
    As I tie Mya’s cantle bags to the back of the saddle, I’m aware of the approach of clomping hoof beats. I look out into the soft light of sunrise to see Rian leading a horse I immediately recognize as Thunder.
    “Good lad,” Bryse calls from inside the passage that runs to the guild hall. He strides up to his horse and strokes his gleaming neck, “Hey, beaut,” he murmurs affectionately before throwing up his own bags and fixing them to the saddle with ease.
    Rian barely has time to greet me as the others filter in. There’s a flurry of activity as they make last moment preparations, and Rian and I are sent running for this and that. Then they’re gone, and we’re left alone in the quiet.
    “It seems strange to send them off that way,” Rian says as he leans into my shoulder. “No banners, no trumpets...” No Mum or Da, I think to myself. He turns to me and picks a bit of straw from my hair. He gazes into my eyes and I feel my cheeks warm. Here, so close to him, all of my pain and fear seem to fade away. I find my gaze trailing to his lips again.
    “Wow,” he whispers, drawing my attention back to his eyes. His brow furrows. “You look awful,” he says with exaggerated gravity.
    “Oh! Such a charmer you are!” Mouli bats at him with her kitchen towel. “Course she does with no bath for almost a week and no sleep all night and all morning in the stables mucking about. Look at yourself, little sir! You’re not all blossoms and blooms, either.”
    “Ah, Mouli,” Rian winks. “I love it when you call me little sir.” He takes her by the waist and spins her around and she yelps in protest and beats him away playfully. I can’t help but laugh at the scene of the two of them sending straw dust swirling in the sunbeams that filter through the thatched roof of the stable. This is why I’m so glad he’s here. Rian can always make me laugh, no matter how dark things might seem. Mouli eventually fights him off and takes me gently by the elbow.
    “Come on, dear. I have a bath ready for you.” I catch Rian’s eye and he wriggles his brows up and down. I bite my lip and shake my head.
    “Don’t worry about me, Mouli,” Rian says, dejected. “I guess I can find my own bath.”
    “Get out of here!” Mouli shoos him off and Rian skirts out of the stable, flashing a mischievous wink over his shoulder.
    “Knock after you’re all cleaned up, Azi,” he calls with a wave as Mouli leads me back inside.
    Later, alone in my room, my thoughts wander to the dream I had and how real it was. The memory of the diamond’s hard edge against my palm entices me. The pitcher where I stashed it yesterday gleams in the sunlight, and I reach in and take away the coverlet fashioned from scraps of lace. The facets of the stone send glittering beams dancing all across the walls of the tiny house. I nudge it with my finger and the droplets of light wiggle and flash and mesmerize me. They remind me of the glimmer I thought I saw earlier, outside of the stable. Rian knocks on the hatch and I nearly jump out of my skin. The pitcher falls with a clatter to the floor and the diamond skids across it and rolls under my bed. I swear I hear a sound, something like a sneeze, as the knock comes again and I jump up to slide the hatch open.
    “What are you doing in there, throwing things?” He cranes his neck to look into my room.
    “You startled me!” I pick up the pitcher and set it upright on the shelf beneath my window. I’ll retrieve the diamond later.
    “Jumpy,” he says as he rests his chin on the edge of the opening. “I like you better this way than sleeping beauty, though.”
    “Me too,” I say honestly.
    “At least you smell better now.” He wrinkles his nose.
    “Thanks,” I roll my eyes.
    “Are you ready?” he asks. “We have work to do.”
    “I just want to check on Da. I’ll meet you downstairs.” We slide our hatches closed and I crouch to lift up my bed skirt and look for the diamond. It winks