Excerpt: The Somber Throne

I could hear the raindrops pattering steadily on the leaves above, but miraculously, my path stayed dry. I tugged the borrowed cloak tighter against my skin as the dwindling light of the forest pressed at my otherwise unprotected back.

‘Only cowards run in shadows,’ I reminded myself with a sigh. Did that thought make me a coward, someone who absolutely needed a weapon to defend herself? Of course, I had been forbidden to bring any means of protection. This was too important—too dangerous—for me to be discovered carrying some sort of arms.
But then again, had I been allowed a dagger or a bow, I probably would have forsaken the cover of the trees for the dirt road off to my right, just visible in the foggy, damp autumn evening. Coincidentally, the same dirt road that could now be better described as a sopping puddle of mud.

“Cowards may hide in shadows, but only a fool would take the unsheltered road when it’s pouring rain,” I declared brashly, smirking as my voice broke through the ominous atmosphere. Really, just because night was falling and I was an unarmed young woman, traveling alone through the dark woods to a perilous destination… I had no reason to be cowardly. Or foolish.