Page 69 of Lady Knight and the Thief

Fair Folk danced, ate, and drank the night away below the enormous tree, entirely carefree.

“Welcome to Jinemelle, Lass,” Torren murmured quietly beside her.

“Are all of the Fair Folk settlements this…enchanting?” Cypress asked, itching to explore.

“Not all of the Fair Folk built their towns into a hill, but in short, yes. We have lived amongst these trees for a very,verylong time, Lass.”

Cypress nodded silently and waved Torren to lead on.

“Do you have objections to leaving the pack horse? We’ll make better time back to the Keep without it,” Torren asked stiffly.

“No,” she answered in a hushed voice, unwilling to disturb the peace this place seemed to exude.

Torren nodded, leading his horse slowly through the streets of Jinemelle. As they passed, some of the Fair Folk recognized whonow walked in their midst, bowed their heads, or laid a hand over their heart. And in return, Torren bowed his head, his hand pressed over his heart as well.

The gesture seemed to be the normal way to acknowledge the Prince of Faerie.

Cypress couldn’t help but think about how Caelith and Cade demanded to be greeted whenever visiting a town or village. The people were made to line the streets, to bend the knee with their noses practically pressed to the cobblestone until the carriage passed. And then the settlement would be forced to host the entire contingent that the royals brought with them.

Since the royals rarely visited settlements less populous than Grethnah's seat, this rarely posed a problem. Caelith's favored nobility each had shires that large, and extremely wealthy.

Still, Cypress remembered visiting a village during her early days as a Knight, before she’d risen to the rank of Captain. The village couldn’t have been much larger than this one.

While the contingents were staying at the village, they’d gorged themselves on the food, treated the residents poorly, and had left the place barren. Stores of food meant to sustain the entire village through the winter had been drained in just a fortnight.

Cypress couldn’t fathom doing such a thing to a place, and she suspected Torren felt similarly.

Torren led them down another street toward a larger building that had vines creeping up the far side and moss covering the thatched roof.

“The Inn is ahead. We’ll drop off our things and let the horses rest while we go see Havanj,” he said, pointing down another lane.

“Do you think the horses will beableto rest this time?” Cypress asked, thinking about the inn they’d visited in Dorne Towne.

Torren cracked a wry smile at her. “Don’t worry, Lass. You’re safe inside a Faerie Ring, remember?”

Cypress sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

A wire-framed woman with doe eyes and broad shoulders greeted Torren and Cypress when they directed their horses toward the back of the building, where Cypress presumed the stables to be.

Cypress dismounted her horse and stretched her limbs while Torren spoke with the woman.

“Evenin', Prince. Lady,” the woman said, bowing her head, revealing a pair of dainty horns peeking out from between her russet curls.

Torren nodded to her in return and dismounted his horse. “Ratha. It’s good to see you and to be back in Jinemelle.”

“What can we do for ye while you’re here?”

“Take care of the horses, they’ve been working hard. We won’t need the gelding on our way out, but he deserves a good rub down for all his hard work. Other than that," Torren shrugged, “Just a couple of beds and a hot meal would be fantastic.”

Ratha nodded, taking the reins from Torren. “I’ll let the kitchens know. Do you have business in the village?”

“Yes. We’ll be a little while yet.”

With another bow of her head, Ratha led the horses away, stable hands seemingly materializing out of the shadows to help remove tack and cool them down.

“You’re not even going to feed me before making me square up to my heritage?” Cypress joked while rolling her shoulders.

Being in the saddle for extended periods of time was well within Cypress’s abilities, but these weeks of endless travel had begun to make her feel weary for the next portion of the journey.