by DAVID B. COE
She nodded, the dazzling smile spreading across her face. “Let’s go to the Lower Horn,” she said. “I bet it’s beautiful there, and besides, Baden needs us.”
He grinned, and then shrugged. “All right.” It felt strange in a way to come to a decision so suddenly, after so much deliberation. “So, we’re really going to do this?”
“So it seems,” she answered. And then, as if to validate their choice, she stepped forward and kissed him. He, in turn, put his arms around her, and they stood holding each other for several moments, allowing the decision they had reached to sink in.
“Should we tell Baden that we’ve decided?” Alayna asked after some time.
Jaryd nodded, smiling; unable suddenly to stop smiling.
They hurried across the First Mage’s yard to where Baden stood, and by the time they reached him, both of them were grinning broadly. “We’ve decided,” Jaryd announced as they stopped in front of the Owl-Master. “We’ll go to the Lower Horn.”
The relief on his uncle’s face was palpable. “Good,” he breathed. “I’m very glad to hear that.”
“We’d like to go to Brisalli first,” Jaryd added, “and Accalia, to see our families.”
Baden nodded. “Of course,” he said. But even as he did, he glanced back over his shoulder to the west, as if he could see past the city and the forests and the mountains to the alien land that lay beyond Arick’s Sea. And the smile on his face faded, leaving lines of concern and a look in his pale eyes that was a match for the dark clouds overhead. “Of course,” he said again. “Just don’t take too long.”
About the Author
David B. Coe grew up just outside of New York City, the youngest of four children. He attended Brown University as an undergraduate and later received a Ph.D. in history from Stanford. He briefly considered a career as an academic, but wisely thought better of it.
He is now a freelance writer. He lives in Tennessee with his wife, Nancy J. Berner, their daughter, Alex, two lazy fat cats, and Buddy, the wonder-dog.Children of Amarid is his first novel. He is currently working on the next volume of theLonTobyn Chronicle.