whatsoever. The object of most men's attention in the village, Sara would have been justified in being conceited — she was anything but, her ardent belief in the Adorians giving her an almost childlike innocence. Ariana tried not to condemn her too often for such foolishness, but with the festival approaching, it always became a sore subject between them.
Koen made himself comfortable beneath their feet, having waited until Bella was distracted to make his entrance, and chewed on pilfered bits of bread with the kind of silence that only beasts who eat stolen scraps are able to manage. Ariana reached down to graze the fur of his head with her hand.
'Ari, you'd better not be feeding the breakfast that I just slaved over to the dog, or you'll be eating his supper instead of your own.'
'Sorry, Bella,' Sara offered, having fed him as well.
'It's not your fault, dear. It's the influence of the spoilt child beside you.'
Ariana frowned. 'I am only spoiled on Thursdays and that's several days away, thank you.'
'What mischief are you off to today?' Ariana knew what Bella meant to ask, and she didn't appreciate it in the least.
'Whatever I'll be doing, I won't be doing it anywhere near here.'
'Alright, then. I suppose you'll be leaving me here to patch all of these costumes myself,' Bella remarked.
'You know I hate this time of year,' Ariana tried to soften her tone, but the words still sounded coarse.
Bella shook her head and turned back toward the hearth, a reprimand rasped under her breath. 'It's a shame for such a pretty young girl like yourself to be so sullen all the time.'
'What are we celebrating, Bella? Please, tell me it's our ill fortune, tell me that we're celebrating years of near-famine and hardship. Say any word to me, anything but victory. Never has there been a word I've loathed more.' Why did they all insist on discussing this with her when nothing had changed?
Bella heaved a great sigh. 'I just want to see you happy — everyone does. I cannot tell you how many of your friends have made mention of your disposition as of late.'
Ariana sat in silence for a moment. She looked at Sara, who cringed. Though Bella's comment wasn't unfair, it still seemed poor taste in regards to her timing.
'I'm sorry to disenchant everyone so. I can keep the anniversary of my mother's death reverent without your help.' Ariana rose from the table and started toward the door, when Bella intercepted her.
'Do not leave this house ill with me.' She handed Ariana her cloak with a look in her eyes that defied her to refuse it. Ariana, accepting the cloak, reached for her satchel where she'd hung it on the wall and slung it over her shoulder. She had one foot out the door when Bella spoke again.
'I am not insensitive, child, nor have I forgotten your mother. I loved her, too.'
'Then be reasonable, Palingard has not been blessed. Ours is a dying realm, in case you've forgotten that as well — a realm that needs to be cautious with what little we have. This festival is nothing but disgraceful when you consider its cost.' She dropped the cloak and spun to cross the threshold to the dry dirt beyond.
Ariana walked the short distance to the stables, eager to be free of the whole world as she knew it, at least for a little while.
Palingard wasn't very big. The houses were modest, with thatched roofs and stone walls. All things considered, Ariana had grown up a child of relative privilege. Her father had been an important member of the hierarchy and had led their men against the Ereubinians. He was periodically absent throughout her childhood, but stayed with her more often after her mother died. The last time he had left was more than ten years ago. Most understood him to be no longer living; rumors held that he'd been killed in the Netherwoods by Ereubinian scouts, but she'd never believed that story.
Her father had never met Koen, but would have liked him. She had found the dog at the edge of the woods, dirty and homeless, a short time after her father left. None of the other villagers wanted anything to do with him, he was nearly as big as she was and closely resembled a wolf. Other than livestock and horses, feeding animals wasn't high on the villagers' list of priorities.
Sara leaned over the side of the stall as Ariana tended to her horse, Shadow. 'She didn't mean anything by — '
Ariana was not in the mood to hear it. More specifically, she wasn't in the mood to hear it from Sara. Both of her parents were alive and well. 'I don't care what her intentions were,' she said sorely. 'I should just stay out of everyone's way for the next few days.'
The streets had already begun to transform. Ribbons reached from the corner of one roof to another, draping down in the middle to create a bright canopy. It wouldn't be long before villagers would start to hang red-leafed wreaths on their doors and once nighttime arrived, each threshold would harbor blood-red candles to be lit in honor of the Adorians who they fancied were their protectors.
'I was afraid you would say something like that,' Sara said, 'so I took the liberty of telling Jeremy that you would be attending the dance tomorrow evening and were in dire need of an escort.'
Ariana took her time responding. 'You did not.' She wanted nothing to do with Jeremy. He was lazy and a poor swordsman. In fact, there wasn't a single thing about him that appealed to her, save perhaps the sound of his footsteps whenever she was gifted with his departure.
'And just what would you have done had I been telling the truth?' Sara laughed. 'I caught that fleeting moment of horror.'
'Oh, I don't know, I'm sure I could think of something equally cruel.' She'd intended to keep a straight face, but failed miserably. 'Like perhaps telling your betrothed in order to marry you he'll have to grow wings — and learn to keep an eye on his opponent.' Sara's intended, Jonathan, had lost a practice joust in recent days and Ariana had teased Sara without mercy about it ever since.
Sara frowned. 'I was not imagining things. There was a white-winged Adorian knight in those woods as sure as I stand here now. In regards to Jonathan, as I've already stated, it wasn't his fault.'
Sara's recollection seemed convincing for a moment, but there was nothing about the hallucination that warranted merit. She hadn't mentioned him in months, leading Ariana to believe Sara's reasoning had won her over. Plainly it had not.
'I'm sure you weren't imagining things. Why wouldn't mystical beings have sympathy for the realm of man? We are such beautiful, brilliant creatures.' Just then, several disheveled men tore through the fields just beyond the entrance to the stables, chasing a young boy.
Ariana groaned as she realized who was among them. 'Speaking of beauty and brilliance.' She grabbed the boy as he skirted toward them and threw him into the stall with her horse, just as the men came around the corner. The men stopped, having lost sight of the boy, their breath coming in staggered pants.
'Have you seen a boy come through here?' Jeremy approached with an instigative look on his face and leaned in as close to Ariana as he could without being improper.
'A boy?' Ariana grinned wickedly, unable to imagine this opportunity presenting itself twice. 'What would you want with a boy? Or have you finally grown tired of losing to the other men in your swordplay?'
His left eye twitched as he turned to Sara, 'Have you seen him?'
She shook her head, an innocent expression on her face that would have fooled even Ariana if she hadn't known better. 'No. What are you chasing him for?'
'It is the stuff of men. Proper initiation, if you must know.'
Ariana couldn't help herself. It irritated her that he felt the need to address Sara's question but ignore hers. 'Perhaps I've been unfair in my assumptions,' Ariana said. She did her best to sound at the very least cordial. 'It sounds like such a noble thing. What might this initiation consist of?'
Jeremy smiled and took her acknowledgment as an invitation to move closer. If it weren't for the feel of the boy's breath on her back as he cowered behind her, she would have moved.
'Far too gruesome for a fair maiden such as yourself. It's simply something to prove the boy's valor.'
'Fair maiden?' Ariana laughed. 'My! Someone has been filling your head with fantasies.' She narrowed her eyes at Sara.
'He's probably half into the woods by now, we're wasting our time.' Jeremy gave her an awkward nod. She'd quietly moved both herself and the boy a good foot backwards. It wasn't as far as she'd have liked, but it was enough to remove her from the stench of breakfast that lingered on his breath.
'Safe journey then, noble sir. Fare thee well.' She said it with more dramatic flair than she'd thought she had
