Mistress of the Solstice Read Online Free

my guards lead the girl into the wagon and bolt the door
before mounting their heavy horses and taking positions on the outside
for our long ride back. She didn’t try to fight. She
didn’t even turn to look back as she bent her head and
climbed in, settling on the straw mattress inside. Good. No trouble,
then.
    Sighs of relief followed me all the way to the village gate. I could
still hear their echo in my head as I sent Sunset into a trot along the
road, winding over the nearby hill. I shut them out as I rushed to
leave the village behind.
    Another gruesome task done. I did not need to dwell on it any longer.

    When we finally made it back to the paved streets that led up into the
palace plaza I felt exhausted. A day in the saddle, with very little
food and no time for a proper rest stop took its toll. I did not look
forward to facing the crowd that I knew would be waiting at the palace
walls. I barely held up in my saddle, too tired to think straight. So,
when a young man stepped out of the crowd right in front of my horse,
it took me by surprise.
    I pulled Sunset to an abrupt stop not to run this man over. My disbelief
at his audacity gave way to surprise and, belatedly, to irritation as I
saw my guards rushing to my side. Dawdling fools, too slow to keep up
with my horse.
    Instead of cowering and retreating back into the crowd, the young
villager stood his ground. My heart raced in alarm, but he showed no
sign of attacking, just stood there with a smile on his face. A rather
stupid smile, in fact, as if he had encountered a long-lost friend. My
curiosity piqued again. A simpleton? A village idiot—likely
banished from his own village for stupidity. He certainly looked the
part, from his disheveled straw-colored hair, to his simple linen shirt
and trousers, ragged as if he had been wearing them for months. And
yet, something about his smile held my gaze. I stopped my guards, ready
to trample the man, so that I could look at him just a moment longer.
    His smile held childlike wonder of one beholding a miracle. It creased
his freckled face and lit up his eyes, blue like cornflowers in a field
of ripe wheat. I felt warmth wash over me, echoing through my tired
body as I looked into those eyes. It made me feel invigorated, as if an
invisible stream of power emanating from him cradled me it its beams.
    I shook it off.
    “You’re in my way,”
I said.
    His smile widened. “You are so
beautiful.”
    His voice was so clear, so intense, even though he spoke quietly. It
echoed through the plaza that had grown deathly still, watching us.
Against reason, his words sent shivers down my spine.
    I recognized trouble.
    I had been complimented many times by men much more impressive than him.
And yet, they’d never made me feel like this.
    They’d never made me feel .
    I struggled for words, but he seemed to have no lack of them.
    “Can I come and visit you in the castle? I would very
much like to get a chance to know you better.”
    His eyes continued to draw me in. Their cornflower blue held warmth, a
mischievous vigor I had never seen before. I knew I should stop
looking, but instead, I looked closer and saw something else I had
missed at first. Beneath his childlike wonder, his eyes held sorrow.
Old pain, surely older than he could possibly be. I felt an urge to
come closer to him, to touch his hand.
    Stop it, you fool . I
forced my eyes away from his face and looked past him at the crowd
of frozen onlookers, then at my nearest guard.
    “Don’t harm him,” I
said. “Just get him out of my
way.”
    I urged Sunset to side-step the man and continue on towards the palace.
A whip cracked behind me, followed by a grunt and gasps in the crowd,
but I never looked back.

    My room occupied the entire floor of the East Tower of the palace. Its
gray, roughly hewn walls lay in a circle, covered by plain hangings to
keep out the worst of the drafts. As I stepped in, smells of herbs,
stone, and old parchment enfolded me, soothing and