Eyes of Crow Read Online Free PDF Page B

of Lycas’s pony skidded as he brought her to a halt. His face was wet with what Rhia hoped was only sweat, and his dark eyes burned into her.
    “It’s Mother,” he said. “I think she’s dying.”

04
    R hia clung to her brother’s waist and tried to ignore the pain that seemed to skewer her body. The pony’s gait was swift but not smooth—the impact of each galloping stride threatened to split her in half.
    Yet it mattered little. Mother was dying. Rhia had had no time to ask Lycas questions before Arcas had scooped her up behind her brother and they had taken off for her home. Now her voice would be carried away by the wind that whipped Lycas’s hair into her face—not to mention the pounding of the mare’s hooves and the heave of her breath. The poor thing was exhausted but valiant.
    Rhia turned her head, straining to hear the hoofbeats of the pony Arcas rode, the pony brought by Gorin, who had stayed behind to watch the flock. But the wind swallowed all sound, and even this slight movement threatened to unbalance her.
    Maybe she should focus on the pain, she thought; better that than the scene that lay ahead. What would she see when she entered her home? Would the heavy wings alight or rush away? She had never confronted a human whose death was imminent. Now she wished she had, so that her first should not be the person Rhia loved above all others, the one who had given her life over and over, not just at birth but every year since then.
    Lycas veered the pony suddenly to the right to avoid a small gray boulder jutting among the long meadow grasses. They turned uphill, yet their pace did not slow, not until they entered the woods, where even Lycas was not so reckless as to plunge headlong. The pony slowed to a walk, shaking her head and splattering froth on the leaves around them. When Rhia had caught her breath, she puffed out the words she’d been wanting—and not wanting—to say, “What happened?”
    “She collapsed.” Lycas’s voice was clear, his breath barely quickened from their hard ride. “Said her heart hurt.”
    Rhia’s own heart seemed to constrict. She waited for him to continue.
    “When I left—” his shoulders shuddered “—when I left to get you, she could hardly breathe.” He cursed to himself. “Spirits take these brambles.” He reached down and pushed a thick rope of wild raspberries away from his pony’s chest. Blood seeped from tiny cuts in his arm, but he didn’t wince.
    “Did someone fetch a healer?”
    “Silina was drying herbs with her when it happened. She couldn’t do much except keep Mother comfortable. Nilo went to find Galen, in case…”
    “In case?”
    “In case she dies. Someone has to prepare her spirit.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “Since we don’t have a Crow.”
    Rhia’s face burned. Her voice caught as she tried to reply. But then the clearing lay ahead of them, and Lycas dug his heels into the pony’s ribs. The horse surged forward again, her strength restored, and Rhia had to clutch her brother’s shirt to keep from falling.
    The sunlight blinded as they broke into the clearing. Her home appeared across the hill. No human puttered in the paddock or in the dogs’ pens. At the sound of their approach, three hounds came out of the kennel, stretched, bowed and wagged their tails at them behind the fence.
    When Lycas finally brought the gasping pony to a halt in front of the house, the door opened. Their brother Nilo stepped forward to grab the reins.
    “It’s all right,” he told them. “She’s resting.”
    He put his hands on Rhia’s waist and lifted her off the pony. Her body seemed to creak as she slid over the dusty, sweaty hide. Though he lowered her gently, when her feet hit the ground, it felt as if two sharp fenceposts had been driven into her hips.
    “You two go in,” Nilo said. “I’ll cool her down.” He pulled the reins over the mare’s head and led her away at a brisk walk. Rhia glanced back at him, grateful