Read Online The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) by Nicole MacDonald - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nicole MacDonald
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back in shock and watched as the squirming bee made its way down the neck of the flower until it hit a bulge near the base of the plant. Then the squirming stopped. The flower slowly opened its mouth back up. We stared at each other in astonished silence.
I’m so glad I didn’t try to pick one. Ewww . That made me shudder.
Feed me, Seymour, a voice in my mind teased.
Kassie stared at the flower in fascination and revulsion.
'I guess that’s their version of a Venus fly trap?'
'Guess so', replied Loi, looking a bit wide-eyed.
We turned back to the track.
The next couple of hours went surprisingly fast as we chatted away, pointing out anything that caught our attention and there certainly didn’t appear to be any scary creatures or “uglies”, as we took to calling them.
The forest Mentan and Lenol had spoken of came into view and we continued until we reached the entrance, the path trailing on. Deciding it was time for lunch, Sian and I scraped out a circle of dirt for the fire. Then, with Kassie, we went to search for wood while Loi lit the kindling.
Kassie bent down, clutching a pile of wood tight in one arm while groping on the ground with the other. Feeling the dry stick she added it to the pile and pushed through the undergrowth to where Loi was. Dropping the wood on the now rather large pile, Kassie had a seat beside Loi who glowed with pleasure at the fire.
My fire, Loi thought proudly.
'Only took a couple of minutes to light,' she informed Kassie, who laughed.
'Well done, Loi, we’ll have to see if I can beat your time when I give it a shot.'
She nudged Loi with her knee, teasing.
Sian pushed through the bush with her arms full of wood and smiled at the two shoving each other like a couple of kids.
'Now, now, girls, don’t make me put you in time out.'
Loi stuck her tongue out at Sian and reached to pull her pack close, then lifted out one of the bundles Henja had provided and set to untying the cord around it.
Henja had made sure it was well tied. Loi grumbled to herself as she struggled with the knots. When the cord fell off, she spread the fabric out and blinked.
'These parcels Henja gave us will last a week easily,' she turned to Sian.
'How much did you pay her?'
'I gave her two gold coins. She seemed really impressed by it,' Sian frowned. 'We really need to get an idea of what money is worth here, I just didn’t want to draw any more attention to us at the time.'
Kassie stared at the food, her stomach growling.
'We all have a few gold coins, it’ll be good,' she assured Sian.
They turned at the sound of crashing and laughed as Cat half fell out of the bush, twigs in her hair and a big pile of wood locked in her arms.
'Don’t laugh,' I growled. 'My foot got caught in a stupid root.'
I stomped to the wood pile and dropped the wood onto it.
'Can we eat now?'
Loi and Kassie divided the food from Loi’s parcel and put most of it away for another day. I sighed in relief when Kassie finally handed over a sandwich that was bulging with fillings and bit straight in to it, feeling my grouchiness disappear as the food hit my stomach.
We munched away and passed the water around while admiring the fire. My stomach now happy, I lay back on my cloak and studied the sun. It appeared to be past its zenith, but not too far.
One o’clock maybe two?
'I’m guessing it's early afternoon at the moment, what say we practice until nearly twilight then set up camp here for the night?' I said. 'We already have lots of firewood.'
Loi nodded, it was a sensible idea.
'Right then.' She stood, brushing her pants down. 'Bring your weapons.'
Grabbing her sword she marched out to the grassy knoll in front of them, the others following suit.
Sian stayed clear of them, wanting to practice with her bow first and while practice would just be with sticks so as not to waste the quiver of arrows, she didn’t want to take out anyone's eyes.
Roughly measuring out a distance of around twenty yards, she created
I’m so glad I didn’t try to pick one. Ewww . That made me shudder.
Feed me, Seymour, a voice in my mind teased.
Kassie stared at the flower in fascination and revulsion.
'I guess that’s their version of a Venus fly trap?'
'Guess so', replied Loi, looking a bit wide-eyed.
We turned back to the track.
The next couple of hours went surprisingly fast as we chatted away, pointing out anything that caught our attention and there certainly didn’t appear to be any scary creatures or “uglies”, as we took to calling them.
The forest Mentan and Lenol had spoken of came into view and we continued until we reached the entrance, the path trailing on. Deciding it was time for lunch, Sian and I scraped out a circle of dirt for the fire. Then, with Kassie, we went to search for wood while Loi lit the kindling.
Kassie bent down, clutching a pile of wood tight in one arm while groping on the ground with the other. Feeling the dry stick she added it to the pile and pushed through the undergrowth to where Loi was. Dropping the wood on the now rather large pile, Kassie had a seat beside Loi who glowed with pleasure at the fire.
My fire, Loi thought proudly.
'Only took a couple of minutes to light,' she informed Kassie, who laughed.
'Well done, Loi, we’ll have to see if I can beat your time when I give it a shot.'
She nudged Loi with her knee, teasing.
Sian pushed through the bush with her arms full of wood and smiled at the two shoving each other like a couple of kids.
'Now, now, girls, don’t make me put you in time out.'
Loi stuck her tongue out at Sian and reached to pull her pack close, then lifted out one of the bundles Henja had provided and set to untying the cord around it.
Henja had made sure it was well tied. Loi grumbled to herself as she struggled with the knots. When the cord fell off, she spread the fabric out and blinked.
'These parcels Henja gave us will last a week easily,' she turned to Sian.
'How much did you pay her?'
'I gave her two gold coins. She seemed really impressed by it,' Sian frowned. 'We really need to get an idea of what money is worth here, I just didn’t want to draw any more attention to us at the time.'
Kassie stared at the food, her stomach growling.
'We all have a few gold coins, it’ll be good,' she assured Sian.
They turned at the sound of crashing and laughed as Cat half fell out of the bush, twigs in her hair and a big pile of wood locked in her arms.
'Don’t laugh,' I growled. 'My foot got caught in a stupid root.'
I stomped to the wood pile and dropped the wood onto it.
'Can we eat now?'
Loi and Kassie divided the food from Loi’s parcel and put most of it away for another day. I sighed in relief when Kassie finally handed over a sandwich that was bulging with fillings and bit straight in to it, feeling my grouchiness disappear as the food hit my stomach.
We munched away and passed the water around while admiring the fire. My stomach now happy, I lay back on my cloak and studied the sun. It appeared to be past its zenith, but not too far.
One o’clock maybe two?
'I’m guessing it's early afternoon at the moment, what say we practice until nearly twilight then set up camp here for the night?' I said. 'We already have lots of firewood.'
Loi nodded, it was a sensible idea.
'Right then.' She stood, brushing her pants down. 'Bring your weapons.'
Grabbing her sword she marched out to the grassy knoll in front of them, the others following suit.
Sian stayed clear of them, wanting to practice with her bow first and while practice would just be with sticks so as not to waste the quiver of arrows, she didn’t want to take out anyone's eyes.
Roughly measuring out a distance of around twenty yards, she created
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