SummerDanse by Terie Garrison Read Free Book Online Page B

fold. But you wait until tomorrow when we get free of the woods. Then you shall really see it at work.”
    And now I understood the answer to both questions, for using that much power all day would certainly leave one weak, requiring both physical and spiritual refilling of one’s stores. It also explained the three meditation sessions each day.
    That night, I tried to sort through what I’d learned. Why was Anazian taking me to Penwick? Maybe it was to turn me over to the king. The dragonmasters had been after the mages ever since Breyard and Xyla had escaped from them right under their noses. Maybe Anazian was trying to gain favor with King Erno by giving him me in my brother’s stead. Not a comforting thought, but it certainly explained why the mage would go to so much trouble to capture me and keep me alive.
    And why would time matter? Why expend so much power to shorten the journey? Was there perhaps a bounty on my head that would expire soon?
    All these questions and more kept my thoughts spinning long after Anazian had returned from his meditation and gone to sleep himself.
    And now I thought of something else. When he was weak and acting strangely, that was when he divulged things to me. I wondered whether he even remembered what he’d told me once he strengthened himself. For he never mentioned in the morning what he’d told me the night before. I would have to take advantage of this, see what more information I could get from him.
    I finally dropped off in the deepest, quietest hour of the night.

    The next day, Anazian seemed anxious and agitated. He snapped at me when I didn’t get things loaded back onto the wagon quickly enough, and when he closed up the bars of the cage, he didn’t wait until I was completely through, trapping my left knee between them. I cried out in pain, but he just said, “That will teach you to hurry,” and left me there.
    If I had thought the travel was uncomfortable before, it was nothing compared to now. The branches were clamped on my leg just above my knee, so tightly I couldn’t even turn over so as to lie on my back. All I could do was prop myself up on my hands and knee, left leg straight out behind me. Within half an hour, my hands were numb and my elbows weary; an hour later, my right knee was bruised, probably to the bone.
    I tried to be strong, but in the end it was all too much and I broke down. Every bit of my body ached beyond what I’d ever imagined was possible to endure. The skin of my left leg was raw and probably bleeding for all I could tell, and my right thigh shook from the strain and could hardly hold up my weight. Yet trapped in such an awkward position, I couldn’t change anything.
    I hadn’t done anything wrong, and here I was being treated worse than a stray dog. Once I started crying, everything I’d been trying not to think about came flooding over me. Where were my parents, and why had they been taken? Why had Anazian kidnapped me, and why was he taking me to Penwick? Was Grey dead? Why weren’t the dragons and mages trying to find me?
    My sobbing grew uncontrollable as my mental anguish exacerbated my physical pain.
    The wagon stopped with a jolt that made it feel like my leg was being ripped off my body.
    “Would you just shut up?” Anazian said. “I tire of your pathetic noise.”
    “My leg,” I pleaded through my tears. “Please.”
    He let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. “Take it as a lesson.” He started to move away.
    “No!” I practically screamed. “Please, please! I beg of you! Anything. Just please—” My breath caught in my throat, cutting off the words.
    The pressure on my leg disappeared, and I fell onto my face. Anazian laughed.
    I lay there, still weeping but trying to get myself under control. Both legs throbbed from the morning’s abuse, and my arms felt as sturdy as damp straw. I curled myself into a tight ball as we started moving again. If only I could somehow lose myself in sleep, perhaps I could escape the