Read Online Souls of Aredyrah 1 - The Fire and the Light by Tracy A. Akers - Free Book Online

hadn’t been allowed to see it since, but he remembered it well
enough to make up childhood stories about it. On more than one
occasion he had found himself at the end of his mother’s wagging
finger for drawing chalk pictures of it across his bedroom
wall.
    Dayn stared at the brooch, unable to take his
eyes from it. An overwhelming guilt washed over him. He had treated
his father so coldly this past year, and now the man was giving him
this precious gift. “Father, I . . .” But a rising lump in his
throat prevented him from saying the rest of the words, words he
didn’t know how to express anyway.
    “You don’t have to say anything, Dayn,” his
father said. “It’s yours now.”
    “Here, son,” his mother said, leaning toward
him. “Let me help you pin it on.” She reached over and removed the
bronze brooch Dayn had pinned to his shirt earlier and replaced it
with the gold one. She stood and stepped back, smiling, but there
was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
    Dayn gazed down at the shiny beast clinging
to his breast and traced it with his finger. “Thank you,” he
whispered. “Thank you.”
    Alicine descended the last few steps of the
stairs, holding her full skirt up over her slippered feet. Dayn
rose, grinning, and glanced at his parents who were staring,
misty-eyed, in their daughter’s direction. His little sister did
indeed look radiant.
    “You look…nice,” Dayn said, then felt his
face blush. He wasn’t accustomed to complimenting his sister on her
appearance.
    Alicine displayed a smile of satisfaction.
“Well, I should. I certainly worked long enough on this dress.
Goodness knows how many bottles of potion I had to sell to buy the
material for this thing.” She laughed and strummed her fingers
across the skirt.
    The dress was of harvest gold and decorated
at the bodice, hem, and sleeves with hundreds of tiny white
flowers, each meticulously embroidered. She had worked on them
every day for months. The bodice was laced with a dyed yellow cord
pulled into a bow, accentuating her developing bust. Delicate,
ivory lace trimmed the collar that reached to her chin as well as
the tips of the long sleeves that stopped in a point at her wrists.
Her ebony hair was braided into one long plait woven with colorful
ribbons and embellished with flowers strategically placed. She had
even dotted her lips and cheeks with pink and outlined her eyes in
black as her mother had.
    Dayn felt uneasiness in the pit of his
stomach as he watched his sister. She was no longer a girl, but a
young woman, and he wasn’t particularly pleased about it. It would
only be two short years before Alicine was seventeen and allowed to
court. She would have no difficulty finding a beau. Dayn was
certain of that. But what of himself? He might never find someone
willing to accept his differences. What would he do then? Spend the
rest of his years with only his aging parents to keep him
company?
    “Well, what are we waiting for?” Alicine
said. “It’s getting late.” She lifted her skirt and pushed open the
front door with her foot, taking herself, as well as the flowing
yards of golden material, through it.
    Dayn followed his sister and helped her up to
the bench of honor in the back of the wagon. The wagon was hitched
to the stubborn mare that snorted and stomped the ground. The old
gray was the only horse they owned, and for a moment Dayn wondered
if the poor thing would be able to manage the load. In addition to
the four passengers, the wagon was loaded with food, water, and
bottles of remedy to sell at the festival. Dayn shook his head.
They could get to town faster by walking, but he plopped himself
onto the open gate of the bed anyway, and dangled his feet into the
dirt.
    Gorman flicked the reins and the horse
lurched the wagon forward. Dayn faced out the back, his feet
dragging, but he lifted them in a hurry when he noticed the damp
dirt of the road begin to replace the polished shine of the
leather. He folded his legs in