From the chime tower I could see everything. A bright orange bloom, not unlike the setting sun, except it was much too low and black smoke rose above it into the evening sky. From above I saw the castle's summer guards and stablemen scurrying out to the field like mice. Villagers poured out of their homes at the sound of the church bell. I heard shouts of "Fire! Fire in the fields!" And from behind me the chimes began to ring, the magic in them responding to the bell and the fearful shouting.
The noise startled me from my paralysis. Our grove was burning. If the trees were all lost I might not ever see him again. And what if he was there when the fire started!
I ran down the tower steps, the noise the chimes echoing all around me, heedless of the way I looked. My hair tore loose from its chignon and my dress flapping around my legs as I flew downward. I didn't care who saw me. I had to find him, nothing else mattered.
