BooksBarbecue
Back Road of the Lost Save as PDF
Contents ( 41)
  1. CAST OF CHARACTERS
  2. ACT ONE
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. ACT TWO
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. ACT THREE
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. EPILOGUE
  39. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  40. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  41. ALSO BY NAFIZA AZAD

Welcome.

Thank you, Croi’s other self replies. The Caisleán hums with pleasure at the response. When the procession is perhaps ten steps away from the entrance, the large golden bell in the tower begins to peal crystal notes that echo throughout the valley.

The Talamh soldiers who had remained stone-faced at their approach are undone by the sound of the bell. They start, and some of them look over uneasily, their eyes lingering on the Fire Princess, who holds herself straight and proud on her beast. She’s the picture of deposed royalty returning home to claim her heritage. The gates remain barred, though the Caisleán extends her welcome with the ringing of the bell.

Croi waits impatiently for the Talamh soldiers to move aside and pull the gates open. They don’t move. Minutes pass by without action. She grumbles to the Caisleán, asking her to hurry the Talamh soldiers.

The Caisleán does not disappoint. She throws the gates open, and the bell peals anew. The Talamh soldiers scatter from the path, and the Fire Princess leads the way into the Caisleán. It pricks Croi to let her go first.

I told you not to covet the things that don’t belong to us.

Croi scowls. “I know.”

She makes sure the veil is tied on and obscuring her face, pats Enbarr, takes a deep breath, and follows the Tine King through the gates into Talamh Caisleán.

ACT THREE

TWENTY-EIGHT

THE GATES OF THE CAISLEÁN open up to a narrow path lined by more Talamh soldiers. Unlike their muscular Tine counterparts, the Talamh soldiers are slender and wiry, carrying bows and arrows instead of swords. The Tine kin, with the king and Ceara leading them, are directed up a path flanked by stately beech-trees and into a wide courtyard in front of the entrance to the largest building in the collection of buildings that make up the Talamh Caisleán.

These buildings are connected to each other through roofed corridors and flower paths. Croi looks around avidly, trying to absorb as much detail of the place as she can while also trying to see if she can catch a glimpse of Irial. He should know the Tine King and his retinue is arriving. He told her he would see her when she came to the Caisleán.

Or it may all be your wishful thinking. Do you think you dreamed him up…? Wait, you did dream him up.

“Don’t talk to me.”

The air has the smell of roses, though there aren’t any blooming that she can see. Murmurs increase at the approach of the Tine kin. Croi looks around and is startled by the number of kin amassed in and around the courtyard. It seems as though all the kin in the Caisleán have turned out to welcome the Tine royalty. They fill the corridors, gardens, pathways, and patios; they’re peering out windows and crowding balconies, each of them shining bright, each of them becoming the word “beauty” and moving beyond it. All the Talamh kin are shades of green, brown, gold, and gray. Some have wicked antlers with sharp prongs, and some have leaves instead of hair. They wear strange and beautiful clothes fashioned from the petals of flowers, the silk of spiders, and the barks of trees. Several of them are veiled like Croi, though in their case, it is to increase their mystique rather than to hide their flaws.