Free Ravenmarked (The Taurin Chronicles) by Amy Rose Davis Page A

You’re my first. I do my research. I knew I’d be sneaking you out at night, and I knew you had to get off Taura as quickly as possible, so I found a cave and arranged for a boat.”
    She panted with the effort of climbing. “The boat—those were water talents?”
    “Yes. No more talking—just climb.”
    When they reached the top of the cliff, Connor hoisted himself up over the last hurdle in one fluid movement. He reached down to offer Mairead a hand up. As he pulled her up to level ground, she slipped. He steadied her with a hand on her arm. “You all right?”
    “Yes.” Her hands tightened on his forearms as she regained her balance. “The ground is slick.”
    He grunted an acknowledgement. “Keep moving. We have a long way to go before dusk.”
    The first hints of early autumn had descended along the shore. Mairead followed Connor’s lead, trying to avoid trampling the dry leaves that littered the ground. A brisk breeze wafted through the few tendrils of hair that had escaped the leather strip, and once, she shivered and drew her cloak tighter about her. “The wind smells like autumn,” she said.
    “What does autumn smell like?”
    “Apples and squash. Dry leaves. Rain.”
    He laughed.
    “What’s funny?”
    “I think you’ll be tired of smelling rain by the time this journey is done.”
    They walked in silence for some time. “Can I call you Connor?”
    “Most people do.”
    “How did you come by this task?”
    “Sayana Muriel asked the Brae Sidh queen to find someone who could escort you to a safe place. Queen Maeve chose me.”
    Then Muriel believed in the Sidh all along. Why would she lie to me? “Did she choose you for your magic?”
    He scoffed. “No. I’m only half Sidh. I don’t have much magic.”
    “But there was that palmlight.”
    “All Sidh can do that. It’s just a trick.”
    “What about in the tunnel? I saw something.”
    He turned to her. “What did you see?”
    “It looked like a braid of violet threads. And then I saw blue and green ones when we were in the boat.”
    He frowned. “You shouldn’t be able to see the braids unless you have Sidh blood.”
    “There are stories that say Queen Brenna was part Sidh. Perhaps they are true.”
    “It would have to be very thin by now.”
    Mairead shifted her feet, nervous under his piercing stare. Does he think he can see the Sidh blood if he looks hard enough? “Why ask you to do this if you aren’t strong in the Sidh magic?”
    He started walking again. “I was trained by tribesmen and I’m good with a sword, and I know how to get through the Wilds of Culidar.” He paused. “Muriel said certain things were kept from you.”
    Heat crept up her neck. A naughty child caught in a lie—that’s all I am. “She tried, but I read a lot of books.”
    He snickered. “So my charge isn’t as innocent as everyone thinks she is.”
    She focused on the trail ahead and adjusted the straps of the pack on her shoulders. “I’m descended from the line of Queen Brenna. I have a responsibility to be educated about my ancestry.”
    “But you thought the Brae Sidh were a myth.”
    “I know the stories, but I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. I asked the sayana about the Sidh after I read the First Book of the Wisdomkeepers. She said they were a myth.” She paused. “The kirok would have us believe that there is no magic in the world.”
    “It has always confused me how the kirok could refute the magic when Alshada is the one responsible for it.”
    “Do you believe in Alshada?”
    He hesitated. “I believe he exists, but we parted ways several years ago. And I don’t believe in the kirok.”
    His tone suggested she should leave that line of questions aside. “Do you know why Sayana Muriel waited so long to send me away from Taura?”
    “Two reasons. The first was Braedan. He was wilier than anyone thought. When Fergus banished him six years ago, everyone said it was because he was a drunken whoreson. It turns out