Kahor had decided to head South, hoping that they’d gather some new information as they crossed the smaller agricultural villages, and Selina had promptly agreed. The possibility of encountering men of the Northern Armies on the road should they travel closer to the Silver Forest scared her so much that she had hardly gotten any sleep, constantly dreaming about men with dark faces and hateful glowing eyes chasing after her, grabbing her, touching her …

However the first villages they’d crossed that morning had been completely abandoned; the small, wooden houses with roofs made of straw and clay empty; their cringing doors left open as if their occupants had left in a hurry.

The village where they were presently at was no exception, Selina thought in dismay as she peered into a house from one of the open windows and saw a table set for lunch, or maybe dinner, the plates and cups all left as they had been, as if the family who lived there had simply stood up and left.

“I don’t like this one bit,” Kahor said looking out towards the fields where weeds grew freely everywhere, since there was no one to care for them.

“Where do you think everyone went?” Selina asked, her voice sounding eerily high-pitched amongst the general silence and Kahor sighed.

“Don’t know. But it’s clear that the enemy hasn’t come through here or nothing would be left standing. However, for the inhabitants to leave their homes just like that means that they probably feared for their lives.”

“What should we do then?”

“Well, if there’s danger here, north will probably be worse. It’s as I feared, it will be safer if we travel south, for now. I’m really sorry Selina, I know you wanted to reach Princess Allana as soon as possible …”

Selina looked disappointed for a moment but then took a deep breath and shrugged.

“Well, I won’t be any good to anyone if I’m dead. Let’s head south, then,” she decided and Kahor nodded in approval as they left the abandoned village behind.

* If you want to know more about this book or simply access earlier updates, please visit the official site at http://carpersanti.net/arnae/