Chapter 16
The road gently sloped downhill, and as the sun crested, the first farms that made up Trudid’s outskirts appeared behind cleared lanes where the forest had been carved away. Some peeked through the trees like shy woodland creatures, rabbits caught in a dew-covered hedge. Others were bold, leaping out from the landscape like entitled castle squirrels darting across the arboretum. The paths to the homesteads wove through the trees of the Stormside Forest and opened onto plowed fields and orchards.
At a bend in the road, they encountered a farmer returning from town, walking beside her donkey with an empty cart trailing behind. The middle-aged woman avoided eye contact with them, leaning down to pat the donkey instead.
“I hate to trouble you,” Iellieth said when they neared her.
