Page 9

Jasmine

It was so early, the night guards were still manning the gates leading out of the village. There were more guards than usual because some of them would be travelling with us to make sure this journey went along without any hiccups. And to protect us from any unfortunate occurrences on the road.

Not to mention the fact that Reese also had a group of guards going with her caravan. It was a little chaotic. I took a deep breath and headed over to one of the night guards, glad to see Agatha Porter directing the guards about. I left her to it and drifted over to her daughter, Sonja, whose bat familiar was hanging from a branch above her.

"Hey," I said.

She flashed me a relaxed smile. "Hi, Jasmine."

"Is everyone here?" I knew Sonja well enough to be certain she'd listened to everything her mother said about what was going on today, and she'd know the answer.

"We're just missing Ronnie and Sika but knowing them, they'll be here soon," she said.

I nodded, taking her at her word. Sonja was reliable and very good at her job. If she was confident the two missing guards would be here soon, there was no reason to doubt it. "That's good. Are you coming with us?"

She shook her head. "I'm needed for the night shift," she responded. "But Margot is one of your guards." She nodded over to where a double of their mother stood behind Agatha, looking proud with a hawk perched on her shoulder.

"Ah." I didn't have as much to do with Margot as I did with Sonja, so I wasn't sure exactly how that would go. But the Porters took their positions in the guards and scouts seriously, and I doubted the elder daughter would be any different.

True to Sonja's word, Ronnie and Sika appeared. She barely looked awake and yawned widely, causing the bird nestled on her shoulder to look into her mouth as if it was expecting food. She quietly joined the rest of the guards, unlike the frantic man arriving with her.

"Sorry, sorry! The baby wouldn't stop crying," Ronnie exclaimed, the dark bags under his eyes proof that he was telling the truth. He tripped over his own feet and bumped into the donkey that was pulling the cart with medical supplies.

Spooked, the animal moved forward and almost knocked me off my feet. I stepped back to avoid being trampled, right into a muddy hole. Great. What a chaotic start to the day and to make matters worse, my backpack was already starting to hurt my shoulders even though I'd tested it to make sure I could deal with the weight. I clearly hadn't considered the continuous strain, and we hadn't even gone anywhere. This was going to be a long journey, and I refused to make my belongings anyone else's problem.

Reese jogged towards us and calmed the donkey down with a few pats and a firm tug on his halter. She shouted something and directed a few people, moving some of the chaos further ahead. I felt relieved and wished she was coming with us the entire way so she could be in charge of the journey. Instead, that burden was falling on my inexperienced shoulders.

If I was lucky, Ryburn would take the lead since he'd already made this journey once.

I approached him, hoping to find out where he stood on that. He was chatting with Ford but turned in my direction as soon as he noticed me.

A smile lit up his face as I approached, and a rebellious part of me hoped that it might be because of me, and not just what I represented in terms of his hopes for the alliance between our two settlements.

"Good morning, Jasmine," he said.

"Morning. Are you and your people ready for the journey?" I asked.

"We are." He glanced past me at my cousin and her caravan. "Are they all coming with us?"

"No, Reese is only travelling with us for a little bit. They'll be visiting nearby villages that we offer medical help to," I explained. "It would be Reese and her people who would travel to Grower's Cove if healing was part of the deal."

He hummed thoughtfully. "Not you?"

"No, I have way too much on my plate for that. I keep my younger brother organised, there are family meetings, I coordinate with the day and night guards. And that's just some of the things that I'm keeping in the air."

"So, do you have time to travel to Grower's Cove?"

"Not really but I have to go. There's nobody else who could do it." I thought about that, briefly considering if my sister Cami could've done this instead. But then, she wasn't the best at dealing with people and might've already insulted or hit on someone from the delegation.

Though I guessed I wasn't doing so well on avoiding the last part myself.

Ryburn cleared his throat. "Well, I'm glad you're able to come along."

I rearranged my backpack, giving my shoulders a second of respite. "Me too. Shall we get going?" I proposed because the weight wasn't going to get any lighter.

He nodded and turned around, waving and shouting at his people to get them moving. His usually smooth and even voice took on an admirable commanding quality that got the Grower's Cove delegation on their feet.

I gave Reese a thumbs-up, and she got everyone on our side in motion, meaning our journey had officially started.