Free Shadows Book 1 in the World of Shadows by Cheree Alsop

almost like listening to a
story.
    Jatha nodded. “It was actually a
continuation of the previous war, the one in which the Sathen were
freed; but they’re considered separate because the first war was
under Prince Axon’s grandfather’s rule, and this one is under his
father’s.”
    “ Let’s just hope the trend
doesn’t continue,” Staden said as though repeating something he had
said many times before. He put new, thinner bandages on my neck and
wrapped it up again, then made me turn so he could reach my back
while Jatha checked on my side. “You really should change this
shirt. If anything, it’ll be the cause of infection.”
    I touched the hem, suddenly partial to the
coarse fabric in a way I had never been at the Caves; but it was
tattered and worn, barely even resembling a shirt after all it had
been through. I felt like the shirt.
    I winced when one of the bandages pulled on
the deep claw marks.
    “ Sorry,” Staden said
quietly. He worked more gently, freeing the final bandages with
care. “What do you think, Jatha?”
    Jatha stood from putting new bandages on my
side and walked around to join him. They both stood silent for so
long I began to feel uncomfortable.
    I was about to ask them what they were
staring at when Jatha spoke, his words soft as though tightly
controlled. “How could anyone do this to another person?”
    I glanced back at him. “I’m a Duskie,
remember? Not a person.”
    But when I met his light green eyes, I could
see he didn’t appreciate the joke. He studied my back as if an
answer to a pressing question was written in the lash scars. I
turned away and clenched my hands.
    Jatha touched my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Nexa.
I just forgot how bad it was.” His words were so apologetic I
instantly forgave him. “I just don’t get it, that’s all.”
    Staden sighed and began cleaning the wounds
with ointment he had brought with him. “We’re doctors, remember? We
heal, not harm. Don’t lower yourself to the mind of someone who
could take out their frustrations on another person’s back.”
    I let out a grim laugh. “I earned the
lashes.”
    Staden and Jatha both fell silent and I
wondered what look they shared behind my back. I waited in silence
for them to finish the bandaging, and heard the door to one of the
dressers open.
    “ All done,” Staden
said.
    I lowered what was left of my shirt and
turned around. “Thank you both. You’ve done so-“
    Jatha stood in front of me with a dark blue
dress edged with black lace in his hands. “You should take
advantage of the clothes here.”
    I shook my head. I couldn’t even picture
myself in clothing so fine, let alone a dress, which was something
I had never even worn before. “I can’t.”
    Jatha frowned in thought and surveyed me
with a frank gaze I found unnerving. He then turned back to the
closet. When he returned this time, he held a pair of simple light
brown pants and a white shirt with ruffles at the front and on the
sleeves. “Is this a little better?”
    I was about to protest again that I couldn’t
wear the clothes, but the thought of the soft fabric against the
many wounds along my body made me hesitate. My clothes also carried
a certain odor from the trek that didn’t belong in the castle.
“You’re wearing clothes from the closets in your rooms?” I
asked.
    Staden and Jatha exchanged looks of triumph
and I realized they must have been trying to be polite about my
attire. “We changed the second we reached our rooms yesterday,”
Staden said. “It’s nice to wear something clean after a long
journey.”
    Jatha waved the clothes at me. “If you don’t
wear them, they’ll just go to waste.”
    I doubted it, but allowed myself to be
persuaded. Jatha grinned and handed me the clothes on his way
out.
    Staden paused by the door. “There’s scented
water in the bowl by your mirror. It wouldn’t hurt to scrub a
little.”
    I blushed, but thanked him. When they shut
the door, I sat on the bed and stared