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

break.”
    “Have you been home to see your parents?”
Johna asked.
    “Not yet,” he said. “I was coming from the
west and happened upon your little drama first. I suppose I’ll make
it home in a bit.”
    “Can I get you anything?” Ivy asked him.
“Some breakfast maybe? Or a drink?”
    “A tumbler of mead would be great,” he
answered, tossing Ivy a huge smile.
    “Now tell me what’s so interesting about you
that Kandek wants you back so badly?” Mark turned to me as Ivy
poured his drink. “I know it’s not your wig straightening
abilities.”
    “I honestly don’t know. I didn’t do anything
important around the castle.”
    “Except for your private conversations with
the master,” Ivy shot out. “What were those all about? Does that
have something to do with why he wants you back?”
    Mark’s eyebrows rose as he looked back to
me. The blush turned to embarrassment. Ivy was the one person who
had always supported me and never questioned my motives. Why would
she bring this up now?
    “You had a private audience with Kandek?”
Mark asked in disbelief. “He’s one of the most difficult men to get
alone, at least according to my captain. Even when discussing
strategy, he prefers a large audience. That’s strange.”
    “I don’t know why,” I said. “He was always
nice to me. In fact, it’s one of the few times I was allowed to see
the outside world. He would open the shutters and let me peer out
into the world. It was the only time I felt free,” I whispered.
    “You’ve never been allowed outside? How can
that be possible?”
    “I don’t know,” I said, looking down at the
countertop. I flicked a speck of dust off of a bottle.
    “Of course you don’t,” Ivy said. “There’s no
good reason for it. We were slaves. We did what he said. Who knows
why he wanted to talk to Reychel? Who cares?” She slapped her towel
on the counter as she handed Mark his mead.
    “And where did you come from?” he asked
Ivy.
    “Same place as Reychel. I escaped the day
before her,” she said.
    “But they aren’t looking for you?” he asked.
“I was only given instructions to find the girl with the amber
eyes. Here she is and here you are. Both missing from the same
place, but only one missed. Strange.”
    “Better if they aren’t looking for me. It
will make things easier for me,” she paused to look at me. “I mean
us. Of course us, we’ll never be separated will we?”
    Ivy placed a hand on my arm. I wondered if
Ivy was trying to soothe me after her rude comments. I shook my arm
free.
    “I’m going into the back room where I
belong,” I said. “Hidden from everyone.”
    As I walked through the door I heard Mark
ask, “Did I say something wrong?”
    “No,” Ivy said. “She’s just a sensitive
girl.”

Chapter Nine

    “Isn’t Mark fantastic?” Ivy sighed while we
were lying on our cots that night. I had a blanket pulled up under
my chin. The damp spring night left me shivering. I couldn’t
complain, knowing that a hot summer was soon to arrive.
    “He’s fine.” I pushed Ivy’s curls out of my
face. The wigs looked convincing, but they weren’t as soft as real
hair. Hers poked my eyes, causing them to itch and water. “Why do
you wear that thing to bed?”
    “It’s my hair now. I’m not taking it off
until my real hair is long enough.” Ivy rolled over and faced me.
Her eyes crinkled as she stared at me. “You should do the same. You
look funny.”
    I rubbed my stubble. It had only been a day,
but the growth was satisfying. It was the most hair I’d ever had,
at least that I could remember, and I was proud of it.
    “If I wear the wig all the time it’ll get
dirty and messy. I’ll have to comb it and fuss with it. I don’t
want to do that.”
    “I do,” Ivy said. “I’ve always had dreams of
having hair to play with and now I do. I’m not going to waste a
second of it.”
    I scooted to the edge of the cot to get away
from her hair and her piercing gaze. They bugged