The Iron Butterfly by Chanda Hahn Read Free Book Online Page A

necessarily by Joss but recognized by anyone. What I went through at the prison made me feel old in comparison to my years and I just wanted someone to look at me the way Vienna was looking at Joss.
    When we saddled the horses to leave, Joss offered for me to ride double with him. His earlier comment still rankled so I ignored Joss and walked over to Darren’s mount. Grabbing the reins, I tried to swing myself onto Gypsy and immediately slid back down, not having the muscle strength it took to lift my own body weight. Ashamed and red faced, I kept my face to the horse. Joss looked a little hurt, but then assisted me onto Gypsy and saddled Anthem without giving me another look. Darren missed the whole exchange since he was attending to the stable boy with the silver piece.
    I didn’t know why I was acting this way. I kept imagining him and Vienna holding hands and laughing at the Singing Swine or Happy Hippo Pub, or whatever it was called that they probably went to last night. I definitely didn’t want to be leaning against his solid back while picturing it. I wanted to be a strong independent woman. Not a sick child that need saving from her shadow.
     

Chapter 4
     
    My first distant view of the city of Haven took my breath away. The Ginger Dragon was on the outskirts of the province, and the scenery slowly changed from forests to rolling hills the farther in we traveled. In the distance, what I took for clouds turned into large, snowcapped mountains. The closer we came to Calandry the more travelers and merchants we met, each giving us a friendly wave as we passed.
    Cresting the last hill laid open the valley below us to a view as far as the eye could see of the city of Haven. It was blindingly beautiful. The city was a mass of shops and tall towers with brilliantly decorated flags. Even from a distance you could see the Queen’s Castle set apart from the city, high on a hill looking untouchable and alone. To the right in a valley sat the Citadel. I had to squint as the glint of blue reflecting from the training arena’s glass-dome ceiling stabbed my eyes. Off in the distance at the bottom of the mountains looked to be ruins set apart and alone from the rest of the thriving community.
    The city itself looked like a rainbow had come to rest upon it, for each building was painted in a vibrant color. I asked Darren and he said that the city was split into color districts; something that began with one thrifty merchant many years ago.
    It began when a young hopeful merchant moved to Calandry in hopes of making his fortune. But since he was new and didn’t have a clientele base built up, he soon struggled to make ends meet like everyone else. So he did something to make his small business stand out from the rest. He painted his shop a very bright green. It was the best bit of advertising he could do, because people came from far and wide to see his bright green shop. It began a trend and soon others started to paint their shops brilliant colors to compete. Soon it became hard to navigate the city of Calandry.
    The Merchant Guild finally got together and formed the color districts. They assigned colors to each vendor based on goods they sold and you were allowed to paint your store any shade of that particular color. If you needed exotic fabrics, you went to the yellow district; if you needed jewelry and accessories, you went to the red; if you were looking for bakers, look no further than any orange stall. And so Calandry was nicknamed the city of light.
    “Who was the merchant that started it all?” I asked, intrigued by the story.
    “No one really knows because if you ask any one person they will swear on their mother’s grave, and boastfully tell you it was their own great-great-grandfather,” Darren said.
    I laughed. I enjoyed the trip through the bustling city of Haven, smelling the fresh baked goods, the sounds of children playing and vendors hawking their wares. There was a general happy and content feeling in