Flight of the Five Swans

Fear Chapter 5

Throughout the two weeks that the Kyorians had been travelling, Raia had been picturing the border between Kyoria and Deturus as a raging river over which a glorious golden bridge was built. The Deturian side of the bridge would of course be drastically different from Kyoria's green trees and foliage, though Raia hadn't yet decided on exactly how the environment would inevitably change. At certain moments, she pictured glorious golden sands stretching as far as the eye could see. At others, she was certain they would find steep mountains covered in snow all year round, not excluding the summer months.

But the border was nothing like Raia had pictured, and truth be told, she was disappointed. There was no river, no bridge, and certainly no radical change in scenery. In fact, there wasn't much change in scenery at all. Raia highly doubted that she—or any of her sisters—would have noticed that they were even crossing the border had not Alexandre seen fit to point it out. He reined in the company just long enough to show them a solitary tree on the edge of the path. On one side of the tree was carved Kyoria and on the other side, Deturus.

"That's it?" Thaleia blurted out, sounding just as disappointed as her twin. The guards laughed, as did Callia, who had clearly been more informed than her younger sisters as to the markers—or lack thereof—that would be used to indicate the border.

Still chuckling, Alexandre explained. "You must remember, your Highness, that this path is not often used. The main road does, of course, have a sign indicating where Kyoria ends and Deturus begins, but such a luxury would be rather ridiculous here, as this secluded area is seen by less than a dozen travellers a year."

Thaleia shrugged as the company moved forward once again. Raia could tell that her twin was still a little let down, and she couldn't blame her. Up until three years ago, none of the seven princesses had ever ventured much further than the village nearest the Kyorian royal palace, as their father simply hadn't allowed it. Though Gustave had since become much less strict about his daughters' travelling liberties, the opportunity to visit a foreign nation had thus far not arisen for any of the princesses save the two eldest. This was the first time the younger sisters had traveled outside Kyoria's borders, and truth be told, Raia had been expecting more fanfare at the occasion.

Eurielle leaned over to Raia as if to tell her a secret, only to speak in a normal voice. "I asked Baelor, and he told me that we'll be intersecting the main road in just a couple of days and we'll turn onto it then. But we still won't hit any towns or villages until another three weeks, Baelor says. Oh, and we'll get there in about a month, did I tell you that?"

Raia smiled. "'There' being the Deturian palace, I presume?"

"Didn't I say that? I thought I said that."

Raia shook her head in cheerful exasperation. Eurielle seemed about to say something more when she was distracted by the sound of a distant birdcall echoing through the forest. She gasped and kicked her horse into a trot, leaving Raia behind in order to join Baelor near the front of the company. Raia could hear her calling out ahead of her, "A lark! Am I right? It was a lark! Baelor, did you hear it?"

Raia reined in her horse a bit, allowing Callia to catch her up. As usual, Callia was staring intently around at the forest undergrowth—an action, Raia noticed, that was also being copied by Killian and Niall, the guards who rode almost directly behind her.

"There's one!" Killian suddenly cried, a huge smile on his weathered face as he pointed. Niall groaned, while Callia checked the image of the plant in the book to see whether Killian was correct. Raia followed their gaze, immediately recognizing the indicated plant: amaranth. Definitely edible.