Bk 1, Ch 4: The Beach
Chapter 4: The Beach Alena couldn’t believe she’d drawn guard duty on Harvest Day. She’d turned seventeen a few weeks ago, so she was finally old enough to find a partner to celebrate with. Well, she got off shift at sundown. Maybe she’d be able to find a nice guy during the night bonfire. Alena smiled. Emily, a blooded warrior of twenty-one summers, had promised to introduce her to several good-looking men that night. Alena could hear the roar of the crowd in the town square as she looked out over the river and she was stabbed with another pang of jealousy. She glanced around at her similarly unlucky comrades. At the westernmost end of the beach stood Loni. Loni was fifteen with long dark-brown hair and naked. Despite being two years younger than Alena, …