It Wakes in Me by Kathleen O’Neal Gear Read Free Book Online Page A

wealth and a promise of sanctuary.”
    He walked across the floor and dipped a cup into the boiling pot. As he carried it back to her, he said, “They’ll be coming soon. You must eat. I don’t know when they will feed you again—or if they’ll feed you again.”
    Flint’s voice seeped up from a locked chamber deep inside her: Trust me. Trust me as you have never trusted me, and I’ll make certain you are safe .
    “I don’t believe Flint betrayed me.”
    Strongheart gave her a sad smile, as though he pitied her. “And you called me a fool.”

6

    HER HAND TREMBLED WHEN SHE LIFTED THE FIRST SPOONFUL of clams to her mouth. She fought to steady it, but she was surprisingly weak. As she gobbled the stew, broth spilled onto her blankets. How many days had it been since she’d left Blackbird Town? She had no idea. Gods, had she ever felt this lonely and frightened? She longed for the magnificent peaked-roof houses, beautifully incised copper breastplates, and elaborate jewelry that distinguished the elite rulers of the Black Falcon Nation. The Loon People had different ways, different gods.
    Most of all, I miss Wink .
    A gaping hole had opened inside her and sucked out her heart, leaving a thunderous emptiness. She and Wink had been friends for twenty-five winters, since the day Sora’s father died.
    “Where is your shadow-soul roaming?” Strongheart asked.
    She chewed another bite of clams and looked up at him. He paced at the foot of her blankets with his arms folded beneath his cape. His round face, hooked nose, and shorn black hair had picked up the orange gleam of the fire.

    “I was thinking about my friend, Wink.”
    “Were you remembering something from the past?”
    “Yes. The day my father died.”
    “Ah.” He smoothed a hand over his chin. “You had seen seven winters, hadn’t you? What happened?”
    She ate two more bites before she decided whether or not she would tell him. “My mother, Chieftess Yellow Cypress, went mad. That’s no secret. People for five moons’ walk in every direction knew about it.”
    “Yes, one of our elders told me that she ran through Blackbird Town screaming.”
    “Mostly she ran up and down the halls of the Chieftess’ House, but on occasion she went outside.”
    Sora recalled the terrified looks people had given her when she finally was allowed to leave her mother’s house. She hadn’t understood at the time. Later, she realized that many of the townspeople feared her father’s shadow-soul had slipped inside her and driven away her reflection-soul. Shadow-souls desperate to stay alive moved from body to body.
    “Did Matron Wink help you?” Strongheart’s voice came softly, as though he did not want to disturb her remembrances.
    “Yes.” She looked down, and her reflection-soul gazed up at her from the stew broth, its dark eyes sad. Long black hair framed her oval face, but she appeared pale and vulnerable. “I remember that first day with perfect clarity. I was lying on my sleeping bench with hides pressed over my ears, trying to block Mother’s shrieks, when Wink came in. She was four winters older than I was: eleven. She curled against my back and stroked my hair. I don’t—”
    “Where was your older sister, Walks-among-the-Stars?”
    Sora shrugged. “I don’t know. We had different interests. She was almost a woman. I was still a child.”
    “She died three winters later, didn’t she?”

    “Yes. In a canoe accident. I was with her. I made it to shore. She didn’t.” A chill went through her, and her shadow-soul flashed backward in time until she found herself staring up through green, almost opaque water at her sister’s body floating above her—eyes wide open, arms and legs sprawled. Blood flowed out from her sister’s mouth and left a dark cloud in the water. Cold. I’m so cold .
    “I interrupted you,” Strongheart said. “Please go on. You were saying that Wink came in and comforted you after your father’s death.”
    She closed