Fell (The Sight 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

kitchen area, where she dropped the wood on the floor. “Shouldn’t she be out in the barn by now?”
    “Yes, Ranna. I’ll send Alin out soon enough,” answered Malduk. “You know they saw wolves last week, close to the village.”
    Ranna swung her head. “And they’ll be down hunting soon,” she said.
    “Indeed, wife. That black loner has been seen in the forests again.”
    Alina Sculcuvant looked up immediately. There was a new dream that came to her in the night, and it had been growing stronger and stronger in the past few months. The dream of a lone, black wolf.
    “But with these raiders from the East,” said Ranna, “we’ve worse things to worry us now than wolves.”
    Turks from the Ottoman lands had been raiding again, plundering homesteads and setting fire to the wooden churches that dotted the countryside. They had grown bolder and bolder after their great victory over the Christian stronghold of Byzantium in the East, twenty-five years before.
    Mia was listening nervously, but Ranna’s words about Turks made Alina stand a little straighter.
    “The shepherds say we’ve nothing to fear from raiders, Ranna,” she ventured, hoping to reassure the old couple, “and that the King will drive them off. The King, or the Order of the Griffin.”
    Mia’s ears perked up. She had heard rumours of the secret Orders in the lands beyond the forest, like the Order of the Dragon and the Order of the Griffin, many tales good and even more bad, and she wanted to hear more.
    “And Lord Vladeran’s strength and cunning protect all the lands down to the great river too,” Alina finished. “That soldier said so.”
    Ranna swung round, a murderous look in the old woman’s eyes.
    “What soldier?” she snapped.
    “I was talking to him at market. One of Lord Vladeran’s men.”
    Ranna was always furious at Alina for speaking out of turn, but the mention of a soldier and Lord Vladeran, whose palace lay far to the Northwest, had an especially strange effect on the adults. The couple cast each other a secretive glance, and Malduk put a hand on the chest he was sitting on, almost protectively. Little Mia shivered as he nearly touched the parchment poking from the lid.
    “Do adults need the words of a servant to reassure us?” snapped Ranna scornfully. “Mind your tongue, changeling.”
    “I was only trying to …”
    “Ranna’s right,” growled Malduk, standing up. “Now go to the barn, and get some rest, and I’ll wake you well before sunup. You’ll have a long day tomorrow, with this weather worsening and wolves to watch for.”
    Alina shrugged, but she turned to leave.
    “Wait, girl,” said Ranna suddenly.
    The old woman bustled over to the stove and poured some hot water into a wooden bowl, then pulled a pouch of herbs down from a cupboard, which she opened and stirred carefully into the bowl. She added a thin drizzle of broth, then turned and held it up to Alina with sparking eyes.
    “Take that to warm you,” she said in a softer voice, but with a sly, menacing smile. “Your favourite brew, my dear. To protect you from them .”
    Alina stared at the broth. The old witch on the mountain had first given it to her, as a charm to help protect her from discovery by the fairy people of the forest. She was none too fond of the strange herbal concoction and its sharp, acrid taste, although Alina did admit that it made her feel stronger for a while, probably because she was given so little to eat. It always made her sleep deeply too. The girl hesitated.
    “Do as you’re told, Alin,” ordered Malduk. His face softened a little. “You know it’s for your own good. Like a magic cloak.”
    Alina felt Malduk and Ranna’s eyes watching her closely, until she had drunk the whole draft. She put down the bowl again to wipe her mouth, but it slipped from the edge of the table and clattered to the floor.
    “Stupid girl,” snapped the old woman.
    “I’m sorry, Ranna, I …”
    “Give me that,” said Ranna