Yuragwyn: Ours

---Chapter 24

∞Kaitra∞

                It is the wee hours of the morning before I gather enough yawns to fall asleep.  Gingerly, not wanting to wake Calanthe, I tiptoe over to Maxen’s tent and shake it gently.  After a few grunts, mumbles, and rustles, he emerges as though he’d spent the night in a five star resort, smiling from ear to ear and not a touch bleary-eyed.    

                “Hello, Kaitra!  Enjoy your rest!” He says, inclining his head and grinning. 

                I grip my arms out of habit but can’t help smiling back.  Nodding back to him, I duck into my chilly tent and snuggle down into the blanket to generate some warmth. 

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                “The sun has burned the frost away!” Calanthe calls, tapping the top of my tent.  “Time to rise, Kaitra, rise and face the dawn!”

                I groan and try to throw the blanket over my head to muffle her voice, but instead of tucked in covers, such as I had in my little house in the mountains, my one layer flew off my feet and against the leather end of the tent.  I synch together with the cold before admitting defeat and getting dressed. 

                Digging at the sleep still clinging to the inner corners of my eyes, I untie my tent and clamber out straight towards the kindling fire and the smell of breakfast. 

                Calanthe passes me a biscuit.  “Eat up; we have all of the Agleton mountains to span today.  We should be in Rite by sundown.”

                My stomach queases as I realize how uncomfortably close all of this speaking to strangers and diplomacy really is.  Am I ready to negotiate with a whole people whose customs I don’t know and whose allegiances lie with those out for my life?

                “Ah, don’t worry,” Maxen says.  “We’ll be right beside you.  If they would listen to anyone, it would be you.  The prophesy was writ by the last elf to rule in Yuragwyn, and so the Daughter of Yuragwyn is dear to them.”

                “Then why didn’t they listen to Hiltraud and me the first time?  If I am so great, surely they would have followed us right back over those mountains without stopping to bake a loaf to take with them. “

                Calanthe gives me a reassuring look and gets to her feet.  “Fret not.  All will be well.”

                I nod and say the words even as she does, though without her great conviction: “Today is a peaceful day.”   

                “You catch on quickly, Daughter,” Maxen quips, shooting me a lop-sided smile before moving to take down his tent. 

                I resist the childish urge to stick my tongue out at him and get to work doing the same.  Before too long all that is left of our rustic neighborhood are dying embers and suffocated grass in a semi-circle of rectangles.  I cluck to a pegasus and pet it gently, no longer afraid or perturbed by the unearthly creatures. 

                With a strong leap, I crest its side and land squarely on its broad back and sit erect.  Calanthe swings up behind me, and her strong arms wrap around my waist. 

                “You’ve regained your strength,” I comment, guiding my beast to a long stretch of flat plain. 

                She laughs and relaxes her grip a bit, “I feel stronger out here, where I know I am doing something for my country’s sake.  Does such a feeling come over you too, when we get out to the plains or the woods, camp under the stars, and journey all day for the well-being of our homeland?”