The Shattered Crown Chronicles Book 1

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The Shattered Realms: Book One - The Awakening Chapter 1: Ash in the Furrows By the time Kael reached Greymere, the wheat had learned to stand dead. The stalks still held their rows. The terraces still descended toward the river in orderly steps. From the ridge, the valley could have passed for a place waiting on rain. Up close, the fields had the color of old paper, and every head of grain bent inward as though listening for a voice beneath the soil. Mira Voss rode beside her without speaking. She had been silent since the second village. At the gate, the reeve bowed before Kael had given her name. His gaze went to the plain brass ring hiding her signet, then to the six riders behind them, then back to her face. “The palace sent word yesterday,” he said. “The palace did not send us,” Kael said. She dismounted. “Show me the south terraces.” “The Seekers inspected those.” “Then they will have left me something useful.” The reeve's mouth tightened. He led them down between the fields. Women cut the dead wheat close to the ground and stacked it for fuel. Two boys carried water from the river to a garden whose leaves had gone grey at the edges. A man stood beside an empty cattle pen…