Free Anathema - The Song of Eloh Saga, Book 2 by Megg Jensen

taking his arm and maneuvering him back towards the door.
“Just go.”
    “I’m not going anywhere until I know that
you’re okay.”
    Mark pealed Johna’s fingers from his arm and
faced the other guard.
    “Can you identify that woman?” the guard
asked him, pointing at Ivy.
    Mark’s gaze settled on Ivy. I felt her
twitch slightly as I waited for Mark’s ignorance of the situation
to give us all away.
    “Of course,” he said, “that’s Madame Johna’s
niece. She arrived recently to apprentice in herbology. Why? Has
she done something wrong?”
    “No, apparently not,” the guard murmured.
“My apologies, madam.”
    He walked to the doorway and then stopped
and turned.
    “She doesn’t fit the description of the
missing slave anyway. Your girl has blue eyes. The one we’re
looking for has amber eyes. If you hear anything, send a message to
the outpost. Good travels,” he said and left the cottage, closing
the door behind him.
    Not ready to emerge yet, because I didn’t
know if Mark could be trusted, I stayed under the counter, watching
him through the hole.
    “Mark, how did you know just what to say?”
Johna asked, pulling him into a hug. His sword clanged at his side
as he lifted his arms to squeeze her back.
    “I was walking by and heard you outside the
door. Good thing he didn’t think to shut the door behind him or I
couldn’t have backed up your lie. I overheard everything,” he said
with a smile.
    “You’ve saved us,” she said.
    “From what? Obviously she isn’t the slave
they’re looking for,” he said, gesturing to Ivy. “Eyes are the
wrong color.”
    Mark moved to the counter until all I could
see of him were the tips of his boots.
    “Or did you do something to change them?” he
asked.
    “I’m Ivy,” I saw Ivy’s arm disappear above
the counter to shake his hand.
    “Reychel, come on out, dear,” Johna said.
“Mark is safe. Probably the only person in town I’d trust you
to.”
    I crawled out from under the counter and met
Mark’s eyes. Seeing him up close, not through a knothole, caused my
heart to flutter. I swallowed hard and held out my hand.
    He didn’t take it. Instead he reached to my
head with both hands. I didn’t flinch as he straightened my
wig.
    “No one’s going to believe you’re not a
slave if you don’t keep your wig straight,” he said, grinning.
    “Mark is the son of the potter down the
road,” Johna explained. “He’s been irritating me since he was a
little boy.”
    “Yep, I made it my life’s mission to keep
Madame Johna from her work. Lucky for me, she was kind enough to
humor a curious little boy who ruined her herb garden.”
    “You didn’t ruin it,” she laughed. “You just
trampled it. There’s a difference.”
    She paused for a moment. “Mark knows about
us.”
    “Then you’re like us?” Ivy asked. Her
eyelashes fluttered and she cocked her head to the side. Ivy was
known for her flirting with other male slaves and they couldn’t
resist her. Not even Grey. For the longest time, I thought he was
interested in her, not me. I still wasn’t sure because I didn’t get
the chance to find out.
    Mark laughed. “Oh no, my only talent lies in
fighting. I’m a soldier at heart and by trade.”
    “Are you looking for me too?” I asked
quietly.
    “Yes, but I don’t put too much effort into
searching for missing slaves. It’s not like I turned him away so I
could have you to myself,” he said, winking. I felt a blush crept
over my neck. I was grateful for the long wig that covered most of
my bare skin.
    Mark sat down on the bench and propped his
boots up on another chair.
    “Your cottage hasn’t changed a bit since I
left,” he said. “Did you know I just got back today?”
    “And thank Eloh you did,” Johna said.
“Though I would have thought you’d learned some manners in the
military. Get your boots off of my chair.” She swatted him with a
towel.
    “Sorry,” he said, grinning. “Old habits are
hard to