Ranestone: Return of The Serpent

Chapter Four-Brynn

Brynn Fernway had perfected the art of staring forlornly out windows.

As their carriage rolled along the winding dirt trail through the pines, she leaned her head against the small window pane, her body jolting slightly as they went over exposed tree roots.

The air outside was chilled, causing her breath to form a small cloud on the darkly tinted glass.
Pines, their trunks covered in a thick emerald green moss, shadowed the road ahead. The seats inside the compartment were the same shade of green, a soft velvet, contrasting starkly against her pale skin.

Her mother sat rigidly beside her.

"Sit up straight, your posture is already atrocious." The queen's voice was sharp and commanding, as usual.

It seemed as though Queen Lana always managed to find some flaw in her quiet daughter.

Wordlessly, Brynn straightened her back, leaning against the soft cushions of the seat.

Her mother hadn't always been so sharp-tongued and callous. Brynn attributed the change to the loss of her brother, Wes.

He'd been her only sibling, older than her by just a year, and she'd loved him dearly.

Wes had died four years ago, when she was fourteen, leaving her alone with only her grieving parents in the cold gray walls of the castle.

He'd caught ill with a deadly disease that had swept through the entirety of Drynden that year. It had been called the Red Fever, as the afflicted were always hot and flushed, their throats growing swollen until they eventually suffocated.
Though the plague had only lasted a short time, it took many lives in the kingdom.

Far too many.

Brynn had been spared, along with her parents, but her once lively and joking fifteen year old brother had laid motionless and hallucinating in his bed for weeks until the fever finally took him.

Her mother had never recovered from the loss, and though she was cold and harsh to her remaining child, she could also be overly protective.

Brynn was rarely allowed outside of the castle walls, so today was a rare trip. They were heading into town to be fitted for new, warmer clothing as the kingdom's harsh winter grew closer. The seamstress who usually came to the castle had left  for the fall months, so they were forced to visit one of the many clothing shops in Charlton instead.

She looked down at her hands rested motionless in her lap, then spread out the fingers of her left hand ever so slightly, remembering the feel of the guard's hand on hers.

She hadn't been touched by anyone besides her chamber servants in so long that she couldn't quite remember how it felt.

It was as if she'd been unknowingly starving for it.

An unexpected thrill had gone through her when she'd met the intense gray eyes of the young guard, forcing her to look away.
He was ruggedly handsome, broad-chested and tall, and those eyes had drawn her in and kept her there, as if he was looking into her rather than at her.
It was unnerving.

She'd seen him from a distance before, but then, she paid little mind to the servants and guards.

Now, however, she tried to supress the subtle desire to see him again up close when they stopped.

Perhaps he'd hold her hand once more...

*

Their carriage rolled steadily past the edge of the forest into town, and once again she looked out the window.