Chapter 37
After lunch, I waited for Thorne to come fetch me for Mistress Ainya’s. He was late, and I soon grew impatient at his absence. Perhaps I’d misunderstood, and he planned to meet me at the edge of the Darkwood. I donned my favorite blue cloak—mended and laundered by the servants, though I’d scarcely been back a day—and headed for the small door in the castle walls.
The stretch of grassy meadow between Castle Raine and the Darkwood was studded with daisies. The afternoon had warmed, though the sky was still skimmed with silver clouds. I pushed back my hood and breathed deeply, welcoming the scent of moist loam, the tang of the evergreens.
To my disappointment, Thorne was not waiting for me in the shadows beneath our customary cedar tree. I scuffed at the needles under my feet, t
