Ties of Blood Read Online Free

down for some much needed rest Eloen found a nice seat and watched as the sun began to crest on the horizon. Her mind was still on Thad, as she wondered if he was watching the same sunrise as her.
     

CHAPTER III
    Eloen covered her mouth as she yawned. She was tired from getting only a few hours of sleep the night before. Ballard seemed to share in her misery but Darryl seemed to still have plenty of bounce in his step. She felt jealous of his seemingly boundless energy. They had left camp only a few hours before midday, and had only been traveling for a short while but it felt like it had been much longer.
    None of them had been to Abla before but from maps, she knew that the capital lay in the southeastern corner of the Kingdom. They didn’t have any leads so that’s where they were headed. Hopefully in the first town they could find out something. She knew it wasn’t the best of plans but it was all she had at the moment.
    They continued to press on as the sun moved along its route in the sky. A high overcast began to move in, and the clouds began to thicken. It was easy to tell that an early spring storm was brewing. The only question was how bad was it going to be? A little rain was one thing but Abla was famous from some large storms with winds strong enough to rip houses apart.
    “We need to find shelter.” Eloen yelled over the mounting winds.
    “Where do you expect us to find shelter out in the middle of nowhere?” Darryl yelled back.
    She tried to answer him but the winds began to howl as a light rain started to pour down. Eloen spurred her horse to go a bit faster as the rain and wind began to pick up to the point where she was sure she would be left with a few bruises from the pelting rain.
    The stormed continued to grow in intensity until the rain was so thick she could barely see her horse’s head. To keep from getting separated from the others they rode close together holding a long rope. It was slow and inconvenient but it was better than having to search for them later.
    By sheer luck they came across a small farm. Dismounting her horse Eloen stowed her sword and battle harness in her travel pack. Abla didn’t allow females to carry weapons or join the army like Farlan. In fact from what she had heard Abla was the complete opposite of Farlan in almost every regard. She knew that she would have to allow Ballard or Darryl to take the lead when they dealt with the locals.
    Before they could reach the house the door swung open revealing a rather large man. “What in the blazes are you doing out in this weather?” He bellowed from the doorway.
    “We were traveling and got lost in the storm.” Ballard yelled in reply.
    The large man shook his head. “Well hurry up and get yourselves inside, I’ll have one of the boys see to your horses.”
    As soon as they were inside the house a young boy no more than twelve rushed out the door. Eloen watched the boy slightly worried that something might happen to him out in the storm.
    The large man catching her look gave her a warm smile. “Not to worry Tim may be young but nothing is going to happen to him out here on the farm.”
    Eloen simply nodded her head and followed Ballard and Darryl into the main room of the house. The house was simple, with only a few wicker chairs and a table set in the middle of the room. It wasn’t spacious by any means, but there was a large fire going and the second the warmth hit her, the small house might as well been a mansion.
    “Do we have visitors dear?”
    Eloen turned to see a petite woman coming down the stairs. She wore a simple homemade pale peach dress with flowers embroidered all over it. She wasn’t a great beauty but she was far from homely. She had a simple beauty, with long dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. Eloen was sure she had a fair number of suitors when she was younger.
    “Oh my!” The lady said rushing over to Eloen. “You’re soaked to the bone. Joshua where are your manners we can’t let the