The Iron Butterfly (Iron Butterfly #1)(42)

“So do you recognize him?” she asked.

Nodding my head, I felt sick to my stomach. “Crow.”

“It’s as I feared. With the attack in the alley with the dogs, and the assassin in the stables, we can only form one conclusion. That the Septori know you’re here and they aren’t going to stop until they get what they’ve come for.”

“Which is?” I barely whispered the words. I needed to hear her say it before I could believe it. It wasn’t true unless Adept Lorna said it.

“You!” she spoke firmly without compassion. “Not only you, but I believe they want you…dead.” She didn’t sugarcoat it. It was as I feared.

The saucer and cup slid from my fingers to break upon the cold stone floor. The remaining tea splattered against the bedpost and white sheets, but I didn’t care. Despair seemed to overtake me and I sat shaking in my bed. All along didn’t I know this would happen? That my freedom and life were really only temporary. I couldn’t hide forever before the Septori caught up to me and finished me off. I think I knew all along, that safe was a foreign word and never included me.

Her words froze me to the core, and I felt as if the room began to close in on me. My eyes started to lose focus and I forgot to breathe. Panic started to overtake me when a hand touched me and all of the feelings melted away. In their place, warmth spread over me leaving no room for terror. Adept Lorna was controlling my emotions.

“I must speak with the Council and with Pax.”

She stood to leave but I grabbed her hand in final act of desperation.

“Faraway?” I asked. “They’re not going to put him down, are they?”

Adept Lorna gave a solemn smile. “After that crazy beast saved your life, we wouldn’t dream of it. He still won’t let anyone go near him, and Master Grese is determined that he is to be given to you. So, Thalia, it looks like you got yourself a horse.”





Chapter 16





I spent the next couple of days in the Healer’s wing and was kept busy with guests. They distracted me from my fears of the Septori, and Adept Lorna came to check on me often and kept the terror at bay.

Avina entertained with her lovesick chatter about Niclas. Donn snuck in from time to time bringing me sweetbread, saying that how do they expect me to get well on tasteless broth.

Berry visited and brought fresh cut flowers to brighten up the dreary white, starched room. And Joss brought my homework and read my textbooks to me, even though I could read them myself.

He just grinned and said it was really an excuse to hide out so that way he could avoid the swarm of girls that always seemed to follow him. But the most surprising guest was Darren.

“Ah, so how is our friend doing today?” he sang as he burst into the ward in a flurry of motion and color. His short blue cloak billowing out behind him and he moved to the side of my bed, grasping Joss in a friendly hug, slapping his back and leaning down to give me a fatherly peck on my forehead.

“Darren, I’m so glad to see you, but I must apologize for the things I said before you left.” I felt heat rise to my cheeks.

“Nonsense, I know why you said them, but it seems to not have deterred Joss at all.” He gave a look to Joss who raised his shoulders in a sheepish manner and grinned crookedly. “Are you staying focused on your homework and training?”

“Of course,” Joss said defensively.

“So those would be your texts you’re studying, I presume,” Darren stated while grabbing the book out of Joss’s hands and read the title out loud. “Really, Joss, “Remedial Healing”?”

By this time the Assistant Healer was glaring at Darren for being overly loud and began to make shushing noises. Darren gave her the full force of his vagabond smile, flipping his hair, and I watched as the assistant stopped in her tracks, hand flying to her chest. Joss and I tried to hold back the laughter as Darren awed her into silence with his dashing looks.

“I can’t help it if the ladies adore me.” Turning back to me he pulled out a large package wrapped in brown paper and twine. Handing it to me he waited not so patiently while I unwrapped it. It was yards of beautiful fabric in shades of blues and greens and rolls of trim with elaborate designs. The final bulky package he handed me was a pair of light doeskin boots that fit.

“Darren, they are gorgeous, but why?” I looked at him curiously.

“What can I say; I’m a sucker for pretty things. Truthfully though, after leaving here I made a couple stops and then went back home to see Melani. After I related our adventures, instead of the adoration I thought I deserved; I got a dressing down. She was appalled that I didn’t see you better outfitted before we left. I tried to explain we were in a dangerous situation and were racing to get to Haven.”

He made clawing motions with his hands. “The mother lion in her came out and she immediately set to gathering your gifts. I didn’t even get to stay one day before she demanded that I take all of these gifts to you. Saying that any girl who went through what you did deserved to have people that care about her and will look after her.”

Darren became really serious and faced me. “Thalia, I know that the Adept Council is looking for your family, and secretly I’ve been searching too. And even though you don’t know Melani and I that well, she agreed, well no, demanded, that I tell you that we would love to be considered as an extension of your family. Also that if you don’t find your family or home, that you would always have one with us.” I watched his face closely to see if he may be joking, but Darren was serious. Joss sat with his mouth open in shock. Leaning forward I hugged Darren.