Ever So Lightly- Book 1

7

After two days of riding in the cramped wagon she had procured for her journey to Faron, Saria was in a very foul mood. Since the money her father had sent along with his letter to her hadn't been enough for a  private carriage to take her past the first two towns, she was forced to now sit on a soggy bale of hay, smashed in between a very large, very smelly man who hocked a glob of who knew what over the side of the wagon every few minutes, and a small boy of maybe five years who thought it was the funniest thing in all of Auros to pinch Saria's arm every time she looked away. The boy's mother, who of course was very aware of his deplorable behaviour, simply murmured a slight "Now stop that," or "Leave the nice lady alone now," anytime Saria caught her eye. The boy never listened, much to Saria's consternation.

As she felt her temper dangerously approach the point where it would boil over, she thought of what she had left behind in Bremerton. Saria was already missing Zephyr something awful. Her friend could always calm her down, keep her from snapping other people's head off.

Saria had to pull her thoughts away from Zephyr before that too fueled her irritation. Why did her father need her to leave? And why so quickly? Saria hated not knowing things, and even more than that, she abhorred having to wait for the answer. Patience was not one of her virtues. Her lack of forbearance was going to make this trip seem even longer, she just knew it. Despite that realization, she couldn't control her desire to know why her father was calling her home.

She also couldn't seem to control her intolerance for the increasingly aggravating people surrounding her. As she once more heard the fat man next to her begin to gather mucus in the back of his throat, the boy on her other side pinched her arm again, this time harder than he had before. Saria let out a shriek, stomping her booted foot on the boards of the wagon floor. She stood suddenly and everyone else seated on the hay bales stared up at her. The fat man swallowed whatever it was he had been about to spew over the side of the wagon. Saria let out a sound of disgust, then shot the boy a piercing glare as he shrank back against his mother, who was trying her best not to meet the glare that Saria turned toward her.

Trying to keep her balance and dignity as the wagon bounced along the uneven dirt road, Saria stomped to the open rear of the cart and plopped herself down so that her feet were dangling above the road trailing out behind.

Only twelve more days of this, she thought to herself. She glared back over her shoulder to see if the other passengers were still gaping at her. They had turned back to their own business. Only twelve more days, as long as it doesn't rain, she smiled to herself in an effort to dampen her anger. I can make it that long, she thought. Then, still peering over her shoulder, she noticed the dark, brooding clouds in the distance up ahead.

Saria let out another shriek, this time startling several of the passengers and waking an old man from his loud, snoring sleep.

~

The morning after their narrow escape from the queen's soldiers, Jasper roused Zephyr and Bennet from much needed, if rather uncomfortable, sleep just before the sun rose. Zephyr groaned as she stood from where she had lain against the tree's roots, her joints cracking of their own accord as she stretched her limbs. Bennet jumped up from where he had slept as though he had been on a feathered bed all night and flashed the grin Zephyr was beginning to expect from him.

"Good morning, my lady!" Bennet said with much more cheerfulness than Zephyr thought was necessary, considering the earliness of the hour. She made a small wave in his direction and tried with everything she was made of to not scowl at him. Thankfully Jasper seemed ready to leave as quickly as possible and was able to divert Bennet's attention from Zephyr.