Chapter III Reading 1

As usual, Dakra was the first one in the house to awaken.  She had always liked to greet her family in the morning with a hot breakfast.  Today it was even more important to her for this would be the last hot meal Flindra would have for many days.  It was also the last meal the family would share together for Leudh and his family would be coming over for breakfast to see Flindra on her way.

The little cottage soon was filled with the rich aromas of fried ham and eggs, bread warming by the fire, and hot spiced cider.  Dakra wanted Flindra to have a filling meal so she cooked half again as much as she usually did.  It would be much easier for her to spend a long day in the saddle if she started off with a full belly.

Flindra awoke with the delicious aromas seeping up from below.  She got up and splashed cold water on her face to finish the process of waking up.  After drying off, she started the mundane job of getting dressed.  Her movements were slow and unenthusiastic for she wanted to delay the moment of her departure for as long as she could.

After she was dressed, she sat on her bed for a while and watched the morning stars slowly fade as the sun neared the horizon.  It would be a cool day but the chill would help her stay alert.  Her journeys into the crystal made her feel uneasy and she knew that there was danger approaching her.  She would have to keep her wits intact if she wanted to reach Kewero safely.  That meant she couldn't allow herself to dull her focus with grief.  She would have to watch herself closely.

She left the bed when she heard Brehwan arrive downstairs and looked once more around the room.  The things she was taking were packed and ready to be stowed behind her saddle.  There was nothing to bring her back here once she went below.  She turned around slowly and tried to memorize every feature of the room so she would never forget her life here.  It was important to her to remember.  Her memories were her anchors, which would always stabilize her in the storms of her future.

When she was finished, she walked through her brother's old room and down the narrow staircase.

"Good morning," she said in greeting, trying to keep as much cheerfulness in her tone as she could manage.

"Morning Flindra," Brehwan answered with a forced smile of her own.  "Leudh and the boys are in the barn."

Flindra nodded in understanding as she went to give her mother a hand with the cooking.  "Morning, Momma."

"Morning, dear.  Did you sleep well?"

She smiled, this time with genuine feeling.  Her mother's question spoke volumes of concern and love.  "I did.  The sprig of lavender you put next to my pillow made me sleep well and brought me pleasant dreams."