By the Moon, page 27
Feyla had tried to pass on her knowledge of the journey, wanting to give them every chance of success at reaching the East Forest. The hunting party leader had only laughed at her, making jokes at her expense to the men near enough to hear. She tried to tell them of the Pit and, the Malachite pixies who lurked in the trees beyond. Of the passage hidden between the ferns that led up through the ice to the Hawked Mountains. The arena of the hawks, and the closest door to the Hold if they passed the summit unscathed. The leader heard none of it, and she was pushed aside as they left. So she retreated to watch from the top of the castle, eyes fixed on the point where the forest began and the slopes of the mountains rose up to meet the darkening sky.
The lights appeared, bobbing a thousand yards below as the men walked the path, unafraid in their numbers, in their certainty as Vail Guard. The sight reassured and infuriated her. Her journey had been a solo one full of terror, while theirs was a talkative mess of bravado and joy. She pushed the anger aside, knowing that she would be grateful for their cocky self-assurance when they reached Seylon.
She thought again of Guthnick and Maya. She put her chin on her hands, a wave of sadness washing over her as she realised she may never know the outcome of all those she had healed in the Hold, whether Rybark had survived after the hawk’s talons.
Instead she was stuck in this barren city, surrounded by people who neither knew nor cared for her. She knew that most would not even see her as equal, only the inferior villager that she was.
There was a shifting of the air beside her and she started at the black figure that materialised to her left. Mage Artur watched the bobbing lights too, his kohled eyes narrowed.
‘They will make it, I think. Youth has many gifts, alongside bravado. They have strength, power in numbers and the crest of Anguard, all of which will help them reach your village. They may have a much easier journey than you did, young Feyla.’
He turned to smile at her and she gave him a tentative one in return.
‘It seems everyone has it easier than I do,’ she told him.
He laughed, a tinkling sound like the chime of a bell.
‘You will be a prodigious mage. I can feel it on you. Once trained, there is nowhere in the realm that you will not be able to travel through.’
She looked sideways at him, confused.
‘After your training, you are free to return to your village. Serving Anguard of course. Although, I cannot imagine why you would return there, when the whole Moon Glade is at your fingertips.’ He swung an arm wide to hold the breadth of the realm before them. Out to the west lay the sea, growing dark in the fading light. The mountains swung from north to south, and in the north Feyla could see the arid desert fading into darkness. ‘There’s a whole kingdom for the taking with your power.’
She gazed out to the desert, sadness lacing her thoughts.
‘We will see. You have not seen me train.’
He laughed again, the sound reverberating into the night. It filled her heart once more with hope. As she stood dressed in the black silks of the mages of Anguard, an entire unknown future lay before her.
She had always yearned for more, beyond Seylon. Always she had thirsted for knowledge that she could not get between the low walls of her village. If this was how it must happen, to train and learn in the Academy of Anguard, then so it would be. She would embrace her rewritten future.
Feyla watched the tiny lights bobbing in the gathering night, getting further and further away from the city, back towards her family.
‘I think I will learn much here,’ she told Mage Artur as she watched the lights disappear into the forest far below, one by one.
‘More than you have ever dreamed, traveller girl.’
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THE END
Acknowledgments
They say birthing a book is like birthing a baby. I’m not so sure about that, but it has taken a small village to bring this novel to life.
Thank you to my editors: Michelle Elvy, Summer Russo, and Amy Boxshall, who whipped Feyla’s story into shape, and cared for her the way I do. Thank you to Rachael Herron for all of the wonderful advice on writing, and to Lynda Tomalin for making that fateful pinky promise. To Holly Dunn, thank you for the incredible cover. And to my family, friends and most of all Oli, for cheering me on through the never-ending words of novel writing. There’s nothing I’d rather do to earn a crust.
And lastly to you, my reader. Thank you for spending your time in Feyla’s world. My dream has always been to help you escape life for a while, so if you were able to spend a few hours in the Moon Glade, I have succeeded.
I’m so grateful for that.
Thank you.
About the Author
Holly Bowen is an emerging author of young adult fantasy and contemporary women’s fiction. This is Holly’s debut novel.
Holly lives in the lakeside town of Taupō, New Zealand, with her partner, two young sons, and a sad lack of a canine companion. When she’s not drinking mochas and writing in a local café, she can be found swimming in the lake or hiding in her garden sauna, making up stories in her head.
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For updates and to pre-order book two, visit: www.hollybowen.com
Holly Bowen, By the Moon
