Page 62 of Lady Knight and the Thief

Cypress nodded and kept walking. The forest still shifted around them, ticking like the gears of a clock with every step they took through the wilderness. And with every beat of her heart, Cypress tried to reconcile her apparent heritage with her life and her place in Grethnah.

Would it change anything if Caelith and Cade were to find out about the Pixie blood in her veins? Cypress didn’t know.

So, she kept walking, gazing out into the trees, memorizing every detail of this forest–just in case she never saw it again.

Cypress felt the slight shift in the Wylds only moments before Torren said, “Here we are, Lass.”

They’d stepped into another Faerie ring, this one roughly the same size as the throne room at A’aravos Paravale. The first thing Cypress noticed was the colors.

Everything seemed to bemadeof sunlight. Clear water the color of turquoise bubbled over rocks, filtered through long grasses. Flowers bloomed on the edges of the brook, swaying in the breeze. Cypress spun in a circle, absorbing every detail of the area.

Branches swayed in the breeze, leaves and petals drifting by on an errant wind. Golden sunlight dappled her skin.

“This is…” Cypress started, but couldn’t come up with a word to describe how she truly felt.

Torren chuckled. “It’s just a brook, Lass. Don’t get too poetic.”

“How can you say that when this exists? This iswonderful.”

Torren shrugged. “This is my home, Cypress.”

“So you are immune to the beauty around you?” Cypress asked, giving him a shrewd examination. “I pity you.”

“I did not say I was immune to it. But it is my home. What is new and beautiful to you is known by me, and has been known by my people for centuries, Lass. Your discovery of my lands’ beauty is not something I feel the need to celebrate.”

“So just because your people have known this–” Cypress said, stretching her arms wide, indicating to the landscape around them. “-For their whole lives, I cannot profess the joy I feel at seeing it for the first time?”

“No one said you can’t enjoy it. I merely said it was my home, which you took to mean something derogatory.”

Cypress grit her teeth, scowling at him.

Torren had the nerve to chuckle.

“How long until we are back on the road?” Cypress asked, in an effort to control the urge to strangle Torren.

“Are you ready to go so soon?”

She gave him a scathing look. “No, I was merely asking.”

Torren tilted his chin, gesturing for her to explore. “Go on, godiscoverthe beauty of Faerie. We can rest a while yet. You’re safe in the ring.”

“Oh,thank youfor your permission, your highness. I don’t know what I would have done without it,” Cypress said while rolling her eyes, and stalked over to the edge of the brook.

She deftly untied her boots, discarding them on the bank, and rolled the hem of her pants. Then, she eased into the cool, clear water. It reached her knees,justunder the line of her rolled pants.

Sighing contentedly, Cypress began to seek out any and all pretty or unusual pebbles within the sparkling water. She was methodical in her sweep through the riverbed and found several rocks that caught and reflected sunlight in their many facets.

Cypress thought they would look nice set into jewelry or lined up on her bookshelf.

22

Soft in all the wrong places

Cypressfeltasifher feet were going to fall off, or that her ass would become permanently attached to the saddle.

Finally, though, Torren finally led them off the road and into the Wylds proper.

Immediately, the trees seemed to close in around them, stealing all of the warmth and light of the day. Branches grew so thick overhead that Cypress thought she could probably walk across the canopy without falling through. Vines hung from branches covered in moss so thick the bark wasn't visible anymore.