Four figures stood at the edge of a patch of wild grassland. Two men and two woman, silhouetted against the weak morning sun. The grass hissed in rising wind, rolling back and forth like waves on the ocean.

Elyna’s cheeks were pink with cold and she wore a woollen hat, scarf and gloves even though it was still too early in the season for heavy snow to fall. Elyna kept her arms wrapped around her chest, as though she could keep warmth trapped beneath her tunic and jacket. She stood on a small mound and looked across two acres of grassland. She grinned to herself and looked up at the man who stood beside her.

Ronan was half a head taller than she was. His wild red hair was pulled back into a tail at the back of his head and his thick beard covered most of his face. His pale blue eyes surveyed the landscape and she watched him, fascinated and eager for his verdict. Elyna shifted her weight from foot to foot and clapped her hands together.

‘Well?’ She couldn’t wait any longer, ‘will it be any good?’

‘It’s a reasonable piece of land,’ the man nodded his slow agreement.

Liam, the second man laughed and Ronan in the upper arm. ‘It’s better than reasonable,’ the younger brother teased. He held one arm on Emily’s shoulders, and she had looped her arms around his waist. Emily like Elyna was wrapped up against the cold weather that Frost promised.

‘Is there a lot that can be planted at this time of year?’ Emily looked around at her friend.

Elyna nodded, pleased with the research she’d completed in the library between shifts with the Skyriders. ‘Peas, green-leafed plants like lettuce and cauliflower.’ She glanced at Ronan who simply shrugged in agreement. He was a man of few words, but the son of a farmer and a farmer in his own right. When Elyna had announced her mad plan to her friend, she’d been lucky that Liam had overhead and recommended his brother as an assistant. Especially as their work with the Iron Hand often called them away. Elyna knew that she would have little time to tend fields alone.

‘If you’re wanting to plant this Frost, we’d best get started.’ Ronan bent and collected a handful of tools he’d carried with him from his own farmlands earlier that morning. He handed out shovels and rakes. ‘Need to clear the grass, hoe the land and sow.’

‘We’re away in a few days,’ Elyna frowned, she didn’t want her new project to suffer so quickly.

‘That’s what you’re paying me for,’ Ronan shrugged again and pushed the shovel into her hands.

Elyna nodded, she turned the wooden handle over in her hands before walking back to the boundary line, marked in string. She tucked her scarf into her jacket and started to dig. Luckily, the ground wasn’t yet so frozen that it was impossible to break through. Still, it was hard work and even with four of them working through the morning, she was dismayed at the speed of their progress. Ronan merely shrugged away her concern. It seemed to be his most expressive way of talking.

‘It’ll get done,’ the heavy-set man assured her.

‘Any idea what you want to plant?’ Emily worked a little way down the field, trying to clear the longer grasses away.

‘Cauliflower maybe?’ Elyna stamped on the shovel before easing it back. There was a satisfying crunch as the grass roots snapped and a lump of earth came away, only to be flipped over and set back down.