Arriving at a patch of fir trees, Astros dismounted from his horse and tied the reins to the branch of a tree. Then, with a sigh halfway between tiredness and satisfaction, he let himself slide to the ground with his back resting on the resinous trunk of a tall fir tree.
After buying the horse, he had immediately left the village and, with the hope that none of those he had met on the way would discover his true identity, had taken the road to the castle. The route he had chosen was long, but at least by following the river he would have avoided the various villages and therefore the king"s soldiers.
The horse grazed undisturbed at his side, while the boy stared with an absorbed expression at the pond in front of him. Tall reeds rustled under the might of the wind, croaking frogs called
