𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅

chapter three

Emriana

"Akira, stop scaring the horse!"

The tiger only ignored my words and kept snarling at the horse, backing away from him. I sighed and pulled on the reins to stop the horse from freaking out.

"Calm boy, calm," I repeated as my free hand patted him a few times in reassurance. The horse kept whining in panic as the tiger growled toward him.

"Akira, enough!" I yelled at him, and he seemed to snap out of whatever this was. His gaze moved to mine, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

Remind me why I brought a tiger along. Oh yeah, because he refused to stay behind and followed me anyway! Ever since I had taken the horse out of the barn and got him ready for the trip, Akira had been acting weird.

"What's up with you? Why can't you be nice to the horse?"

He let out a small roar as he lowered his head and trotted ahead of me. I could feel the horse's ragged breathing as he tried to calm down.

We had been gone for almost two days, and I was semi-eager to arrive. I wanted to take a shower and have a proper meal. But I already missed my animals. I let them out in the open field before leaving so they could move around and feed themselves without me being there. I made sure the animals could roam the forest freely while I was gone. I knew it was risky considering there were predators out in the wild but it was better than letting them die in an enclosure. Grandma Roe did that a few times and usually, the animals wouldn't go too far.

A/N: This is the only author note in this book but after over a hundred readers asked, I had to address it! The animals ARE FINE! They are living their best life out there while she's gone! They can ROAM FREELY to get food! Don't worry about them and enjoy the book hehe!

I already missed my home and everything about it, but I knew I would be back soon, so I didn't worry too much.

"Woah, boy," I pulled the reins and made the horse come to a halt. I reached into one of the saddle pockets and pulled out the small compass my grandma used, and opened the top half. The small hand moved around the different directions until it stopped north.

"At least we're heading the right way, Aki," I said as I squeezed the horse's side, and we started walking again.

I took in the slightly different sight around me. The herbs were less dense, and the trees slightly smaller with fewer branches. There were a lot more pines which was a very uncommon tree where I lived. I didn't really know how far away the kingdom was. Grandma Roe had never explained it except mentioning going west.

I was about to pull out my compass again when Akira let out one of his warning growls. My head snapped forward, and I gasped as I took in the sight before me. We were just now reaching the edge of the clearing with thousand of beautiful little white flowers. Up ahead, I could see the hint of a castle.

The castle of Ekudal

Eleven thin, square towers dominated the skyline of this massive castle and were connected by fairly low, chunky walls made of white marble.

I pressed on the horse's side once again and was now trotting toward it as excitement took hold of me. The outlines of the castle were getting clearer as I approached. Stylish windows were placed symmetrically across the walls.

I noticed a small dirt trail leading in the same direction I was heading and followed it. I tried to get a closer look but was again surrounded by trees as we left the clearing. I glanced at the feet of the horse to see Akira walking side by side. I would love to know what he thought of all this.