Страница 53 из 100
And then she saw the old woman. She was walking in Jy
"You aren't supposed to be alive," the woman said. "It was supposed to kill all of you."
She wanted to shout back at the woman to leave her alone. She wanted to tell the woman that this plague she had brought to her people wouldn't kill her.
But the woman began to cackle, as if she could read Jy
And though the woman was still a few strides away, her voice seemed to come from just beside her. It seemed to Jy
"You're right, child," she said again. "It won't kill you. But I will."
She pulled the knife free, and then pulled a second from behind her. This time Jy
"They're dead," the woman said, laughing again.
But Jy
"Jy
She felt a hand on her arm and struggled to get away.
"Jy
She opened her eyes, saw S'Doryn sitting on the edge of her bed looking down at her, his brow furrowed with concern.
Closing her eyes again, she took a long breath.
"It was the same dream."
"It sounded like it."
Jy
He looked away.
"Was I calling for Mama and Papa again?" she asked, her eyes stinging. S'Doryn nodded. "And your brothers, too."
She wiped a tear from her cheek and made herself smile. "Well, it was just a dream."
He tried to return her smile, but his forehead was still creased and there was concern in his golden yellow eyes. She sat up and looked around the small chamber.
"Where's Vettala?" she asked.
"She woke up some time ago. She and N'Tevva went to the marketplace. Not that they'll find much there, but Vettala wanted to go."
Vettala, like Jy
For a long time, Vettala had been unwilling to speak to anyone or stray from Jy
"So they've gone to the market," Jy
She'd had this dream enough times to know that the images she'd seen would be with her for most of the day. Her stomach still felt sour, and would for a few hours, until she was hungry enough to force down some food. But she knew as well that she'd be better off getting out of the house and doing something-anything-that would distract her.
"What do you want to do?" S'Doryn asked.
She gave him a sly look. "The last time we went fishing you caught one more than I did-"
He shook his head. "Two."
"That small one didn't count. That's why you threw it back. You caught one more than I did and I want a chance to beat you."
He gri
Jy
But when she stepped out of the small room she shared with Vettala, she saw S'Dorvn speaking with U'Selle, Lowna's a'laq.
"Good morning, Jy
This happened to her quite often. Jy
"I understand you're going fishing," U'Selle said when she could speak again. Her cheeks were red and she seemed to struggle merely to draw breath.
"Yes, A'Laq."
"Jy
"He sounds a bit too confident to me, Jy
Jy
"Before you go, though, my dear, I need a word with S'Doryn in private. I hope you don't mind."
The a'laq said this with a smile, but Jy
"The fishing poles are around back," S'Doryn said, forcing a smile as well. "Why don't you fetch them and the bucket and that net we used last time? I'll be out shortly."
Jy
She tried to do just what S'Doryn had asked of her. She retrieved the poles from where she and S'Doryn had left them after their last visit to the lake. She found the bucket and net right beside them, and though she struggled a bit, she managed to bring all of it around to the front of the house in one trip.
The problem was that this left her with nothing to do. She checked the poles for tangles in the line. She made certain the net had no holes.
But her mind kept returning to the same question: What were S'Doryn and the a'laq talking about? Most likely, it was nothing that concerned her. S'Doryn was a member of the clan council, and he and U'Selle had been friends for a long time. The a'laq often came to him to discuss things that Jy
Other times, though, they talked about Jy
After standing there for several moments, looking at the net, and the bucket, and the poles with their untangled lines, she sidled closer to the house. She knew it was wrong; she knew that S'Doryn would be angry with her if he found her trying to listen. But she couldn't help herself.