Free Frey by Melissa Wright Page A

brushed my hair
behind an ear. “Don’t worry, Sunshine, I will see you again.”
    I smiled a little and he winked at me.
Chevelle stiffened at my side as he often did when Steed touched me
so casually and I couldn’t help but think of being alone with him
after tonight. My stomach tightened and suddenly in comparison the
mountains didn’t seem like such a big deal.
    The next morning Steed said goodbye privately
to Chevelle and then both came to where I stood with the horses,
stroking one’s neck. “You’ll remember me, Butterfly?”
    “ Always,” I smiled in
return.
    “ Yes, well, at least as long
as he’s yours.” He patted the horse.
    “ Mine?”
    He smiled and swung onto his horse, nodding
to us as he spun and galloped east.
    My horse knelt and Chevelle offered his hand
to help me get seated. My grin widened as he mounted his horse and
he looked back at me questioningly.
    “ I’ll name him Steed,” I
announced proudly. Chevelle rolled his eyes as I patted the horse’s
neck.

     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Eight
    Mountains
     
    We rode quietly through the morning hours.
Chevelle seemed content not to talk but I was twisted up in anguish
trying to decide whether I was brave enough to ask him questions
and then which to ask. How much would he put up with before he
called it all off and hauled me back to the village for sentencing?
Our path began to get more defined, pushing us through trees and
between rocks, trailing upward so minutely I didn’t even realize
until I glanced back and saw we were now looking down on the base
of the mountains. I appraised the narrow path ahead, snaking high
through the vast rocky mountain, and turning back didn’t seem so
bad after all. I clenched my fists and pushed out the question I’d
been most concerned about asking but I was so tied up it twisted
into an accusation. “Watcher.”
    My face flushed red with embarrassment and
fear as the word came out harsh. He spun to see me and I could not
place the expression on his face.
    I panicked, and then I tried to recover.
“You’re my watcher.” It still sounded angry. “Why?”
    He hesitated. “Frey…” His voice was gentle
and he seemed to be searching for a way to answer. He must have
decided I had no right to anger. His face turned hard and his tone
formal, “The council was concerned after you tried to choke Evelyn
of Rothegarr.”
     
    I gasped. “What are you
talking about?” I was completely taken aback but the shock was
quickly turning to anger. I was offended; did he really think I choked Evelyn? I
remembered the speaker, his face as he struggled for air… I thought
of the thistle I’d grown in the back room at Junnie’s… Evelyn’s
face as she ran from the garden. I swayed; my eyes went out of
focus. I didn’t even realize I was falling until I felt Chevelle’s
arms around me; he was quick, catching me before the rocks
did.
    He was kneeling, one arm
around me, my back against his leg as he bent over me. “I’m sorry
Freya. I thought… how could you not know ?”
    Embarrassment flooded through me. He was
right, and not only had I wished her to choke, I was too stupid to
see I had caused it, just as I had caused the speaker to choke. I
squeezed my eyes closed tight with shame and rolled away from him,
curling onto a rock. He didn’t speak but I heard him step away,
unsaddle the horses, and settle onto a rock several feet away. We
were both still until nightfall, when he retrieved a blanket from
the pack and laid it over me. I didn’t thank him, fearing what
would come out if I spoke.
     
    The next morning, we were both quiet as
Chevelle saddled our horses. I had plenty to think of besides the
questions that had seemed so important the previous day.
    I’d been convicted of practicing dark magic.
I had thought it was a mistake.
    The images rolled through my
mind as we continued up the mountain. The lifeless body of a small
gray bird. A garden of weeds with roots as black as soot. The faces
of