Free The Song of Eloh Saga by Megg Jensen Page B

he told us where to go. I only hoped I had it right.
    I pulled the hood up over my head, pushing my wig off kilter. Stray hairs poked my eyes and tangled with my eyelashes. Puckering my lips, I blew the bangs to the side. Success! I could see again.
    “How does it look?” I asked.
    Ivy glanced sideways at me as she stepped over a fallen branch. Her hand flew to her mouth, covering it seconds after a giggle escaped.
    “That bad?”
    Ivy grabbed the sides of my wig under my hood, yanking to the left.
    “There,” she said, cocking her head and beaming at me. “Much better. Your bangs are straight now.”
    We continued on, keeping the path in sight, but stayed far enough into the woods to be hidden from the casual passerby. The canopy blocked much of the falling rain, but drops still broke through, leaving the leafy ground slippery. The musty air was so different from the stale air I grew up with in Kandek’s castle, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It had its own texture, its own definition that to me equaled freedom.
    “At least we have a head start,” Ivy said. “Tania and Jon were talking while we were getting ready and they said the guards were searching the town first. It’s a good thing we were already on the outskirts of the forest with Tania or we may not have gotten out.”
    “How did that cloak work?” I asked, thinking back to today’s events. “I don’t understand how she could walk into the castle undetected and free me.”
    “It was covered in some kind of magic. No one was supposed to be able to see her. It’s a good thing it worked or the two of you would have been in big trouble.” Ivy pushed aside a log with her foot.
    “But I could see her just fine.”
    “I know. Weird, isn’t it? There’s some sort of special magic she worked on it before leaving to get you. I was too nervous to pay attention, but the incantation had something in there about how only friends could see through the disguise.”
    A free gifted couple with the power to enchant a cloak. It seemed unbelievable, but I’d seen gifted slaves use their powers and I knew it was real. Ranee and her invisible whips that left all too real welts. Kandek’s healer had once repaired a gash to his face within a day, not even leaving a scar. I had taken them for granted as tools of the Malborn, never as a force fighting for freedom, no matter what the old prophecies said.
    “Tania was a slave once,” Ivy said. “Someone rescued her long ago just like she rescued us. She has the gift of disguise, which is why she was able to manipulate you into thinking she was a man. Jon has some affinity with nature, that I do know. It’s how they make their living. They sell vegetables at market.”
    “They must be so wealthy with a gift like that.”
    “I thought the same thing, but Tania explained to me how they live modestly and don’t produce too much. They don’t want to be caught. She told me that they just want to live like normal people. Blend in.”
    “Hard to imagine after a lifetime of slavery, isn’t it?” I asked. “Did their masters know about their gifts?”
    “No. I don’t even think Tania and Jon knew until they were rescued. That’s when they were told.”
    “They were rescued and then found out about their gifts?”
    “According to Tania, no one knows what their gift is until they’ve discovered it for themselves. Other gifted can see the spark, but not the specific gift. That’s all up to the individual.”
    Ivy paused after jumping over a fallen tree. She turned to look at me.
    “Tania saw the spark in me once in the market. It’s why she chose to rescue me. And she looked nothing then like what she actually looks. I think she was probably afraid that if I didn’t want to be rescued I might turn her in. Disguise is a great gift to have.”
    “What’s your gift?” I asked. Part of me thought I should already know having spent years with Ivy, but I didn’t have a clue.
    “I’m a soother. I can help anyone who