Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue Read Online Free Page A

to free your family and any others these evil brutes have imprisoned.”
    Carliss smiled, trying to encourage her distraught friend. Salina still seemed somewhat dazed by it all, but slowly nodded.
    “All right.” She smiled weakly. “Thank you for saving my life back there.”
    Carliss nodded and then went to Rindy for her bedroll. Her trip home had been interrupted and delayed, but at least she would make it home now. Soon they would have the support of many knights. Though the days ahead would be difficult, she was finally at ease with their plan. Sleep was a bit easier to embrace that night.

A FRIEND AND A FOE
    In the morning, Carliss set their course for Salisburg. Though it was in the opposite direction from Moorue, it still was the closest haven. Besides this, she knew that her parents and her brother Koen would never forgive her if she embarked on a mission like this without their knowledge.
    “My parents’ farm isn’t far off our route,” Salina said. “We need food, and I would like to gather a few things before moving on.”
    “As long as we don’t delay too long. I want to make Salisburg by tomorrow night.”
    Carliss tried to engage Salina in conversation as they rode, but her friend seemed too oppressed by the thoughts of her family’s captivity. Thus they rode in near silence. Without the task of tracking, their return trip was much faster, but they couldn’t make Salina’s farm by nightfall. They were forced to camp a half-day’s ride shy of their destination.
    They rose early and began their final leg home. By late morning, Carliss began to sense that they were being followed. At one point she stopped the horses and listened.
    “What’s wrong, Carliss?” Salina asked.
    Carliss held her finger to her lips and scanned left, right, behind, and in front of them. Her sharp eyes just could not pick up what herinstincts told her was a stalker. After a moment of silence that was interrupted only by the natural sounds of the forest, Carliss sighed.
    “Nothing, I guess. I just can’t help feeling like we are being watched.” Carliss looked at Salina. “Keep a sharp eye with me, will you?”
    Salina nodded, and they continued on their way. By early afternoon they arrived at Salina’s farm.
    “I’m going to grab a few things from the house,” Salina said as she dismounted. “Would you check the barn to see if there’s grain for the horses?”
    Carliss dismounted and walked Rindy to the barn. As they neared, Rindy seemed agitated.
    “Whoa, girl,” Carliss said soothingly. “You feel it too, don’t you?”
    Carliss stopped and looked all around them again. She focused her eyes as if she were hunting deer, but once again, nothing caught her eye. She was eager to be on their way back to Salisburg and wondered if the encounter with marauders had unnerved her more than she realized.
    Carliss tied Rindy to a post outside the barn, opened the doors, and went in, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the dark interior. All the stalls were empty—the marauders would have made sure of that. She spotted a large pile of hay in the far corner and walked over. A small creature in the shadows scurried for cover.
    “Carliss!”
    A deep male voice boomed through the barn. Carliss jumped, then whipped around to see who had entered the barn after her.
    “Dalton?” Carliss was shocked to see the man who had caused her no small amount of inner turmoil standing before her at the entrance of the barn. His handsome face bore a look of alert concern, and his sword was drawn as if he were ready to face some vicious enemy.
    He was a hero to many already, and this dauntless picture of him did nothing to assuage her thoughts of him. Carliss’s heart stumbled as his familiar blue eyes met hers, somehow causing both joy and despair. “What are
you
doing here?”
    Sir Dalton smiled and breathed a deep sigh of relief. “All the region is looking for you, Carliss. Where have you been?”
    He began to walk toward her.