Between them lay the hamlet of Franberg, her current destination.Even though whatever had been following her had come awfully close to finding her in the trees, she still felt more comfortable within them, as if the Arbor itself had sent its children to protect her. But out there, in the fields where there was little cover and an unusual bout of light rain, she would be exposed and vulnerable, an easy target for whatever strange entity it had been that had decided that stopping her reaching Heartwood was its ultimate goal.Still, she couldn’t stand there all day. Her only hope, she felt, was to keep going and put some distance between her and her stalker.She nudged Mara forward with her knees, aware that the horse also appeared strangely reluctant to leave the forest’s skirts, and guided her along the pathway leading between the two hills ahead of her. The rain, which was more like a heavy mist really, soon soaked into her cloak and made it hang heavily, but Horada didn’t mind the weather.
