Healed by Hope Read Online Free PDF

then Nīsa would return to Jivita. He had no desire to force himself upon them.
    Would the firstborn even recognize him? Nīsa had spoken to Lucius several times during their flight from Kamupadana almost two months before, and also before the more recent battle on the Green Plains, but still he wasn’t sure. To most outsiders, all Tugars looked alike.
    Well past midnight, when the crescent moon began its rise, Nīsa finally came upon Lucius and Bonny, who were sleeping on a blanket near the water’s edge. Six palfreys grazed nearby in a field of muhly grass that bordered the fluffy beach, and close to a thousand Daasa were scattered all about. Most were sleeping, but not all. Nīsa expected the unusual creatures to make a commotion and perhaps even attack. But he was pleasantly surprised when the Daasa barely reacted to his approach, behaving as if he had been a part of their company all along. A few even snuggled against him, their hindquarters waggling.
    Nīsa halted ten paces from Lucius and Bonny and then cleared his throat. With impressive speed, the pirate woke and leapt to her feet with a bow in hand and an arrow nocked. It took the firstborn a good deal longer to grab a longsword and clamber upright.
    “Hold . . . hold ! I am Asēkha,” Nīsa said.
    “A Tugar?” Lucius murmured in a puzzled voice.
    Sharply, Bonny said, “Why are you here? Did Navarese order you to follow us?”
    Her tone annoyed Nīsa, but he tried not to show it. “I take orders from my king, my chieftain, and my elders among the Asēkhas, of whom there are few. I certainly would not follow you because a Jivitan ordered me to do so. But to be honest, Burly Boulogne played a role in my presence here. The enchanter informed me of your quest and suggested that I come to your aid. You see, of all the Tugars in the world, none is more enamored of the ocean than I. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nīsa, and I am great among the Kantaara Yodhas .”
    The pirate kept her arrow aimed at Nīsa’s midsection. “I don’t care who you are. We don’t need you here!”
    “Such a weapon cannot do me serious harm,” Nīsa said matter-of-factly.
    “We don’t want you here,” Bonny reiterated.
    “An offer of assistance from an Asēkha should not be taken lightly,” Nīsa countered.
    “Leave us alone!” she said, her voice containing such vehemence that Nīsa believed she might loose the arrow then and there. Thankfully, the firstborn seemed to come to his senses, and he dropped the longsword on the blanket.
    “Bonny, lower the arrow . . .”
    “No.”
    “Bonny, listen to me . . . I’ve seen what these warriors can do. If he had wanted to hurt us, you and I would already be dead. And look . . . the Daasa like him.”
    She peered around distrustfully, then cast the bow and arrow onto the sand in a huff. “I don’t want him here,” she whined to Lucius. “I want it to be just you and me.”
    Nīsa bowed with purposeful respect. “Bonny Calico, I have no desire to come between Lucius Annaeus and yourself. Or to hamper your quest. Quite the contrary. I have long desired to sail across the sea. And if you, Lucius, and the Daasa were to encounter resistance along the way, you would better understand my value. You can rest assured that—once a member of your company—I would fight to the death on your behalf. And most certainly, I would respect your privacy, as well.”
    Now, all the Daasa were awake—and they were prancing about excitedly, not the least bit dismayed by Nīsa’s presence. Their good-natured antics charmed Nīsa, and he felt the first seeds of love already sprouting in his heart. The Daasa’s outward display of affection also seemed to reduce Bonny’s antagonism.
    “We are going to commandeer a ship and take the Daasa home,” she said, her voice softened. “You will not try to stop us?”
    “Quite the contrary,” Nīsa repeated. “I am even willing to prove my loyalty. I said earlier that I took