Excerpt from CHAPTER 1

The Girl from the North Country

As the cold canopy blocked out James, I twisted in my saddle to face Tye. He didn’t use a crop as I’d seen my sister do, and didn’t wear a helmet like the one now itching the top of my own head. The heels of his leather boots dug firmly into the horse’s side, urging both our mounts up and up and up the forested trail. He was too far ahead to talk easily, so I settled into the rhythm, enjoying the hum of birds, the sound of our horses’ heavy breathing, and the impossibly green woods.

And the green crawled over everything.

Ivy dangled from branches, moss spread over rocks and fallen logs, and even the soil seemed alive with the snails cracking under hooves. A viridian world filled to the brim, where nothing the rain touched didn’t flourish. Ferns as tall as my waist spilled across the path, only to be crushed by Tye’s horse, but they’d probably reach for their friends again tomorrow. The air was heavier, too, weighing of the thick mixture of peat and worms and the ever present pitter-patter of rain from last night’s storm. The uneven sound like fistfuls of rice tossed from the sky.

“Roe, I gotta question for ya,” Tye said as our horses drew alongside.