Anathema - The Song of Eloh Saga, Book 2 by Megg Jensen Read Free Book Online

equipping our packs and
fumbling with the wigs.
    “Here’s a cloak for each of you. Make sure
you keep the hood up in this wind or your wig might fall off.”
    “Tania, I’m sorry if I’ve caused you any
trouble,” I said.
    “Oh honey, our lives revolve around danger.
I just never expected one master to care so much about one slave.
You must be something special.”
    “She is,” Ivy said. “I told you I wouldn’t
leave without her. You have no idea how special she is.”
    We finished getting on our gear while Jon
gave us directions. Then we gave Tania one final hug and raced out
the door.

Chapter Five

    “Jon said to head to the east and to stay
under the canopy of trees, so let’s walk near this path.” I pointed
to a pebble-strewn path off to the left, hoping that was east. It
was raining and the sky was covered in a dark haze. Without the sun
to guide us, I couldn’t be sure. This was the way Jon had pointed
when he told us where to go. I only hoped I had it right.
    I pulled the hood up over my head, pushing
my wig off kilter. Stray hairs poked my eyes and tangled with my
eyelashes. Puckering my lips, I blew the bangs to the side.
Success! I could see again.
    “How does it look?” I asked.
    Ivy glanced sideways at me as she stepped
over a fallen branch. Her hand flew to her mouth, covering it
seconds after a giggle escaped.
    “That bad?”
    Ivy grabbed the sides of my wig under my
hood, yanking to the left.
    “There,” she said, cocking her head and
beaming at me. “Much better. Your bangs are straight now.”
    We continued on, keeping the path in sight,
but stayed far enough into the woods to be hidden from the casual
passerby. The canopy blocked much of the falling rain, but drops
still broke through, leaving the leafy ground slippery. The musty
air was so different from the stale air I grew up with in Kandek’s
castle, but it wasn’t unpleasant. It had its own texture, its own
definition that to me equaled freedom.
    “At least we have a head start,” Ivy said.
“Tania and Jon were talking while we were getting ready and they
said the guards were searching the town first. It’s a good thing we
were already on the outskirts of the forest with Tania or we may
not have gotten out.”
    “How did that cloak work?” I asked, thinking
back to today’s events. “I don’t understand how she could walk into
the castle undetected and free me.”
    “It was covered in some kind of magic. No
one was supposed to be able to see her. It’s a good thing it worked
or the two of you would have been in big trouble.” Ivy pushed aside
a log with her foot.
    “But I could see her just fine.”
    “I know. Weird, isn’t it? There’s some sort
of special magic she worked on it before leaving to get you. I was
too nervous to pay attention, but the incantation had something in
there about how only friends could see through the disguise.”
    A free gifted couple with the power to
enchant a cloak. It seemed unbelievable, but I’d seen gifted slaves
use their powers and I knew it was real. Ranee and her invisible
whips that left all too real welts. Kandek’s healer had once
repaired a gash to his face within a day, not even leaving a scar.
I had taken them for granted as tools of the Malborn, never as a
force fighting for freedom, no matter what the old prophecies
said.
    “Tania was a slave once,” Ivy said. “Someone
rescued her long ago just like she rescued us. She has the gift of
disguise, which is why she was able to manipulate you into thinking
she was a man. Jon has some affinity with nature, that I do know.
It’s how they make their living. They sell vegetables at
market.”
    “They must be so wealthy with a gift like
that.”
    “I thought the same thing, but Tania
explained to me how they live modestly and don’t produce too much.
They don’t want to be caught. She told me that they just want to
live like normal people. Blend in.”
    “Hard to imagine after a lifetime of
slavery, isn’t it?”