Free Blood Witch by Thea Atkinson Page B

each person out of his way. She
had to hurry to keep pace while he seemed to be merely ambling
along. She caught up to him just as she realized the impact of his
words.
    "Do you know many
witches?"
    "You're the only
one."
    They made it to
the main courtyard and were heading to the cottage to the right of
the keep, where Saxa had planted a few lavender bushes. The smell
crept across the breeze to greet them.
    "Is Saxa a witch?"
She asked bluntly.
    He stopped short
and peered down at her, making her belly flip-flop over on
itself.
    "Saxa is a born
sagini."
    "Sagini?"
    "What you would
call a shaman."
    Alaysha was
surprised to get so many words from the man and couldn't help
pressing for more. She imagined the carrion stretched out in the
bathhouse, waiting for her decision. "Do you remember the man who
flogged your father?"
    "Corrin." The name
was acid in the air.
    "Yes," she said.
"I am to decide if he lives or dies."
    Gael made a
noncommittal sound.
    "What would you
decide?"
    "It would depend
on how badly he beat me," Gael said, and his chin quivered, just a
bit, then stopped with a defiant clamping of his jaw.
    Her astonishment
at her companion's guess might have propelled her to ask more, to
find out what he knew of her youth, but she saw Yenic over his
shoulder, coming out of Saxa's cottage, and for a moment she
couldn't say anything.
    He was holding
Aedus by the ear.

Chapter 7
    "It was you," she shouted as she ran past Gael.
Alaysha wasn't sure if she was angry or excited, and she didn't
care which emotion got the blame. She just knew she wanted to pick
the little urchin up and squeeze her so tightly she lost her
breath.
    On contemplation,
maybe it was anger.
    "It was not me,"
Aedus said, avoiding Alaysha's arms and sidestepping very neatly
away from Yenic who had by then let go of her ear. Her hair had
been freshly washed and combed out; still, she found a way to make
it hang in globs about her head and neck. Alaysha wonder just what
kind of people Aedus's tribe really was. She looked so feral,
almost like a raw bit of flesh that hadn't evolved, and yet still,
there was a fierce sort of power about her that Alaysha hadn't
noticed before.
    Fierce was a
perfect description if the girl's face was any indication. Best to
approach this cornered beast with caution.
    "Yenic told you
what we found?"
    Gael didn't wait
for the answer; Alaysha got shoved rudely aside as the mountain of
man swept the girl onto his shoulder and carried her off towards
the center of the courtyard. He pushed through people, shoving them
aside, striding purposefully.
    It dawned very
slowly on Alaysha where he was headed, and it seemed Aedus realized
it too. Her shouts were piercing ones that set Alaysha's bare feet
to a run. She didn't care if Yenic followed or not, but she heard
him behind her.
    "What's going on?
Where you going? Alaysha. Stop. You've been hurt."
    She bumped into a
woman carrying a round of fresh bread and a basket of apples. They
fell with a thud and rolled in a dozen directions. The woman cursed
angrily enough but when she saw the one who had damaged her bread
was Yuri's water witch, her face filled with renewed fury.
    "Stupid witch,"
she shouted, and Alaysha felt the woman's grip around her elbow,
trying to pull her back. "The deities have cursed us with you."
    The woman yanked
hard, twisting Alaysha to face her full on, and she lost the one
last glimpse she had of Gael's broad back as it moved through the
crowds. One last look, but she saw Aedus hanging down, beating him
in the kidneys.
    Alaysha faced the
woman with a sigh.
    "Please forgive
me," she tried patiently.
    Rather than spit
more at her or accept the apology, the woman's gaze narrowed. "You
healed quickly enough for someone so injured. Part of your curse, I
suppose." Rather than keep her attention on Alaysha's side, where
she expected it to be, the woman stared at her tattau before she
bent to retrieve an apple. She threw it with such force that it
struck Alaysha in the