Tree Singer by Jacci Turner (best novels for beginners TXT) 📕

Could she go back to her old life, training under her mother, caring for her brothers and sisters? It all seemed so . . . small. The idea of staying at home felt like wearing a shirt she’d outgrown, tight and uncomfortable.

“That’s how I feel,” the prince said. “I’ve been with Father on a few of his diplomatic visits. I’ve seen a little of the world and I want to see more. The castle feels confining to me.”

Good thing they weren’t headed to her clan. If he thought the castle was confining, a clan her size would likely make him feel like he’d been stuck in a cellar.

“You never answered my question,” he said. “Did the tree tell you anything? Does listening sap your energy in some way?”‘

She thought a moment. “Do you have relatives that like to hear themselves talk? And you kind of avoid them because you know that once they have your attention, they won’t stop talking about their aches and pains and telling ‘Back in my day . . .’ stories?”

He laughed. “The man who runs our livery is like that. Every time I go out to get my horse, I feel like I’m slinking around trying to avoid him.”

“This tree was kind of like that. I asked one question and got a two-thousand-year history of pain, joy, and agony. Having all that dumped on me at once was exhausting.”

“That’s amazing. I didn’t realize trees could talk like that.”

“They don’t really use physical voices. It’s more like sharing visual images.”

“I guess I’d like to see that then. Two thousand years! No wonder you looked so . . .”

She felt her cheeks warm. “How bad was it?”

She had little memory of anything beyond the warmth of the prince’s hand as he guided her back to the camp.

“You looked like, you know, you were sick or something. Pale and weak. Everyone was worried. Count Monroe sat next to you patting your hand half the night.”

“He did?” She’d have to thank the old man. She saw him up ahead, enjoying the view as he walked. She’d been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t considered how the others must’ve felt when she’d been gone so long. Now that she thought back on it, Adven hadn’t even yelled at her. She must have looked pretty bad.

Heat flushed her cheeks again and a lump rose in her throat. She was either going to die of embarrassment or burst into tears if they didn’t start talking about something else. “Prince Thomas, do you have any ideas about why the trees are dying?”

“Please, call me Tom.” The prince—Tom—walked in silence for so long she thought he might have forgotten her question. He glanced around as they walked, his brow furrowed in concentration.

“Not about the trees,” he finally said. “But I’ve noticed changes in the forest itself when Sterling and I go out for a ride.”

“Sterling?” She didn’t remember meeting anyone by that name at the castle.

“My horse.”

Mayten nodded. She chewed her lip a moment, but before she could ask the prince to elaborate, he continued.

“I’ve come across more dead animals lately. At first it was only small creatures—chipmunks and squirrels. One day I found a deer beside the trail. There were no marks on any of the dead animals, except the deer had a broken leg. I guess it could have starved to death. But it didn’t look that skinny.”

Mayten shivered. She remembered the dog that had been killed by the evil singer and her stomach churned.

“It made me wonder if their deaths could have been caused by the same thing that was attacking the trees,” the prince said. “I know that probably sounds crazy. But maybe they ate something that grew on the trees and were poisoned?”

Mayten shrugged and the prince frowned. “Then I saw a dead bear. There wasn’t a mark on him that I could see. Bears don’t eat anything that grows on trees around here. They eat berries mostly—and fish, I guess. I got the heebie-jeebies seeing the bear like that.”

“Heebie-jeebies?” she asked, but her mind had already begun to draw conclusions.

“Like when you think you see a ghost.”

Mayten nodded absently. She glanced up and saw the count walking beside Nan close behind Adven and Rafe. Was he telling her about what he’d seen in Caspia?

She waved a hand at the pair. “I think I need to talk to your sister.”

“No problem,” he called after her as she jogged away.

It didn’t take long to catch up. She slowed to a walk beside Nan, trying to steady her breathing. “Princess, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

Nan looked at her from the corner of her eye, not taking her focus off the trail. The count gave Mayten a nod and dropped back a few paces.

“Count Monroe said when he was in Caspia, they had a similar issue with the trees. He said it turned out to be an infestation of tiny bugs—too small to see with your eyes—that killed thousands of trees.”

“Infestation?” Nan said, her lips turning up on one side as if she’d tasted something bad.

“Yes. He said they’d lost thousands of trees, which frankly has us both worried that the trees your father sent to all the ports could spread the sickness.”

The princess stopped abruptly and planted her fists on her hips. “Do you actually think I’d be that stupid? Any infestation strong enough to kill trees would leave marks, scars, trails, something. I told you these trees had no sign of that.”

“Okaaaay.” Mayten stared at the other girl, blinking in surprise at the princess’s reaction. Nan glared at her, eyebrows furrowed in anger. The count caught up with them.

“My ears were burning,” he said with a smile. “Were you lovely ladies talking about me?”

“Yes,” Mayten said. “I was just telling the princess what you shared with me about the trees in Caspia.”

“Oh my, yes. That was quite a devastating time.”

Nan gave them a grumpy-teacher-with-slow-students look. “Invisible or not, infestations leave traces on