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There was a horrible ht; the whips and rustles of trees and plants, the hard thud of a heavy foot in the soil My rescuers looked at each other wide-eyed and then quickly pushedme with their eyes to stay there They scurried off to find a tree each to hide behind I didn’t dare look behind me, or peer around the tree My heart thud thud thu under his breath I then heard a hissing noise and saw L roll her eyes from her place behind the tree across fro hi through the woods faded into the distance and a grinning L calowered at her I’d never irl as cocky as this one Without a word, they put their arain

Half an hour later, quiet tears rolled down ony The back of my head throbbed, my cheeks felt stiff and bruised, as didThe rise of my breast throbbed, my wrists felt raw, the pain fro My ankles were the saether so they didn’t rub off one another And my feet They felt shredded and swollen

I expected L to make a comment on my tears but she just looked at me and picked her pace up a little I tried to keep up, and as dark fell over us, L and Jonas led me off the trail path into the thick of the woods Wariness clung tome I really believed that But arded everyone with fear and suspicion

We walked perhaps another hour, this ti ata friend’s hair in frustration I didn’t care this time I needed to rest Just for a minute Only a minute

Finally a well-built shack appeared in a tiny clearing in the woods There was a vegetable garden outside, and a goat tied to the wooden fra place I’d seen since venturing into thefroh-hewn path, the door to the house burst open, candlelight froreet us I almost wept in relief A wo from behind her skirts

"Thank haven," the woettin’ worried"

"Ma, we need some o’ yer medicine," L called out to her as we dreards the porch Jonas and L helpedthe woed instantly as she took ry concern

"Dear haven, what did he do to that child?! Get her in here" She gestured us inside briskly It was easy to see who L had inherited her gruffness fro down at the little boy who stared atroo chairs sat on either side of a large, glowing fire I was huddled over to the table that took up most of the room There were empty plates and cups on it In the kitchen the smell of steafted out to me and my stomach clenched There were two doors, one at the back and the other on the wall opposite the fire I gathered it led to their bedrooave way at the relief and I cru out to catch me

"For havens sakes," L co me over to a seat at the table I slumped back in it, thankful to be offit" L’s mother scooted into a chair opposite ht?"

"Yes, rin widened "Ma’am Ye be hearin’ that L Perhaps ye can be learnin’ sorunted

"I be Sarah Moss Ye met L – Elizabeth, but she be preferrin’ L – and my husband Jonas And that one there" She nodded warmly at the little boy "Is Jonas Jnr We just be callin’ him Jnr"

"I’m pleased to meet all of you," I wheezed out "You have no idea" Tears, I couldn’t control, spilled over my lids

"Aw lass," Sarah tutted She turned to L, who had placed the hot water before her I watched through blurry eyes as Sarah rolled up a cloth and dipped it into the water "L, why don’t ye and yer papa make us up some bowls o’ stew, eh?"

L and Jonas did so without complaint

I, on the other hand, waited warily as Sarah leaned over with the wet cloth and dabbed at the blood on my face I winced as she touched lad I couldn’t see myself

For a while all Sarah did ash away the blood on all my cuts She drew a deep breath and put the cloth aside When she turned back to ertips on y that shot throughdisappeared, asNot a word did I say as she turned those healing hands to all my wounds, even my feet

Sarah looked exhausted by the time she settled back in her chair L and Jonas had ladled out the stew and were already busy eating

"You’re a Dravilec," I whispered in a between Sarah and L A Dravilec and a Glava in the saht my look and seemed to understand She smirked at me

"How is that possible?" I asked

Jonas replied, "I have Glava in my family history Sarah, Dravilec"

That really wasn’t what I e were apparently dying out, I’d encounteredin Phaedra changing Moreborn I chewed my lip I wondered what this meant

Of course, the Moss family didn’t know I’d encounteredfor theed it off This wasn’t the tiiven to ile But as I ate the stew and warm bread, and sipped the apple juice Sarah had an to shut down in a sudden lassitude, now that it felt safe

"No, no, Lady Rogan" Sarah shook me and I was surprised that it didn’t hurt Of course She had healed me I smiled dopily at her I could have kissed her for that "We need to get you washed up first"

Again I was too tired to argue Sarah shooed the rest of the Moss’ fro me I let her wash me, as my own mother had done years before, too exhausted to be eit into a coil on my head At last she pulled one of her own clean, soft, cotton nightgowns overme by the hand she led me into the roole beds and a chest of drawers opposite them Floral curtains were pulled across theIn the bed closest to the door, lay Jnr, already fast asleep In the other bed was L She sat up in cotton longjohns (it didn’t surprise own to bed), the bedcovers pulled back