This is the thirty-first chapter of Wealthgiver, an alternate history serial romance about nationalism and cave-Thracians. For the back-of-the-book description and an index of chapters, click here. For the beginning, click here. For the previous chapter, click here.
The mountains closed around Kori like a jealous fist.
On each side of the road they rose: gray trees and sheer, pale stone. At times, there was so little room between the western wall and the stream running down the center of this defile that they had to dismount and lead their horses. They could never ride abreast, which Kori took as comfort. As much as she wanted to talk to Andrei, she was afraid of what might drip from her mouth when she did.
Rila Mountain to the west and the Rhodopes to the east. One meaning "little river" and the other "red waters."
Kori found herself remembering Switzerland. Those long afternoons sitting at a table in the library, looking out the window on the mountains across the lake.
How good…
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