03 - Sworn by Kate Sparkes Read Free Book Online Page A

now.
    That’s progress, I thought. I was clearly spending too much time with nice people.
    Kel rubbed a hand over his face. “So there’s nothing?”
    Rowan glanced back at the tent again. “I don’t think they’d be too happy if you stuffed yourselves into their barrels of drinking water. But we could look for what’s left of the lake, and I could try to get something for you. Might get us in good with the people, too, and that’s what Ulric wants.”
    Cassia leaned into her brother, and Kel stroked her hair. “It’ll be okay, Cass.”
    “It’s just so dry,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt.
    I tried to think of something comforting to say. I didn’t get a chance.
    “You!” An old woman in a dirty brown dress hobbled quickly toward us, pointing a bony finger at me. A young man stumbled out of the way as she shoved past him. “You, black-haired girl! You’re a Potioner?”
    “I—yes,” I stammered, and stepped back. The woman was tiny, but moved with the force of a hurricane.
    She shoved past the others and squinted up at me with sharp green eyes framed by wrinkles like the cracks in the earth at our feet. “You’re to come with me. I need help, and nobody around here knows anything.”
    “But I was just going to—”
    She crossed her arms. “I was told you were all here to help us. This is how you’re going to do it.”
    I gritted my teeth. Damn you, Ulric. “You all go, I’ll see you later. Good luck with the water.”
    Kel nodded, and he and Cassia followed Rowan in the direction she’d indicated when she spoke of the lake.
    “Now,” the old woman said as she looked me over. She didn’t seem impressed. “You come back to my cabin. We’ll see whether you’re any more useful than the rest of these ninnies.”
    The woman spoke quickly, and trying to keep up with her left me feeling three steps behind. I had no choice but to obey if I was going to help Ulric’s mission, but I couldn’t say I was pleased about it. I’d just begun to find my freedom, out from under the watchful gaze of my old teacher and then my husband. I’d had a year to make something of myself, and suddenly this crone thought she was going to use me as her new helper.
    Perfect. Fantastic, really.
    I remembered what Kel had said about tolerance, and told myself that cooperation would help us reach our goal of dethroning Severn faster. Perhaps I’d find something of interest to me in the old woman’s supplies. Maybe even my own confiscated ingredients.
    I followed her to a wood hut that looked to have been constructed in stages. Half had been built of logs, the other section planks, and the covered porch on the front could have been slapped on as an afterthought. A man with a bandage wrapped around his head waited outside.
    “Mama Bunn,” he groaned, “it hurts.”
    The old woman spat on the ground. “What’d you do? Horsing around again?”
    “Training, Mama Bunn.” He spoke respectfully, and I thought affectionately, in spite of the old woman’s harsh tone.
    He bent over and let the tiny woman unwrap the bandage, revealing a lump covered in cracked skin. “Looks fine,” she said. “Wait here, I’ll put something on it after I deal with this one.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at me.
    I followed her into the building, which was well lit by large windows, the only proper ones I’d noticed in the camp. A narrow bed sat to one side of a large room, and a curtained door covered the way into the back, which I assumed was her work area.
    There could be something to learn here, I decided. I’d made the best of bad situations before, and would dig something of value out of this mudpit as well. And she might be a better Potioner than my old teacher. Odds were she didn’t have my natural skill. Few did, but I could stomach a partner for a time. Perhaps we’d come up with something to lessen the people’s need for water, or to expand the food supply. I could show her what I’ve worked out for