The First Life of Tanan by Andrew Riley Read Free Book Online Page B

he was concerned, it was an admission that the boy was Lataki.  He stood and glowered at Jelak.  “Go home to your bed, old man.  The streets may not be safe after dark.”  Kirkik turned and stalked up the street.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    Tanan was now able to sing the healing chant in his head as he pulled weeds in the garden. He had a pretty good grasp on the words of the incantation, and learning the melody that went along with it improved the effectiveness. He was no longer stiff and sore after spending the morning in the garden.
    Most days, after pulling weeds, Soama and Tanan would harvest vegetables, clean them, and then prepare a salad and some tea for lunch.  Soama introduced Tanan to chamomile tea, which was brewed from the small white flowers of a plant that grew in a large patch on the sunny side of the Abbey.  They would simmer dried petals in a tea pot for the last hour of the morning’s gardening and it would be ready for them when it was time for lunch.  The tea was a little bit sweet, and it smelled and tasted great.  Tanan found that drinking it helped calm him and clear his mind.
    The two sat enjoying their tea at a small table on the stone patio outside the Abbey’s kitchen door. Tanan watched as a skinny grey cat with bright green eyes appeared at the far side of the garden and walked between two rows of peas.  The cat jumped into Soama’s lap and put her front paws on the Abbot’s chest, looking him right in the eyes.
    Soama smiled at the cat and stroked it from neck to tail, “Hello Leeka.  Have you brought me a message?”
    “Is that your cat, Soama?”  Tanan was sure he had seen the cat in Port Billen.
    Soama was rotating a narrow leather collar, which Tanan hadn’t noticed before, to get at a little tube attached to it.  He laughed at Tanan’s question. “Anyone who thinks they own a cat is a fool.  Leeka is my friend.”
    “She’s pretty,” said Tanan.
    “I agree,” replied Soama. He pulled a tightly rolled piece of paper out of the tube on her collar and tucked it into a small pocket in his shirt. He scratched the cat on her neck, prompting the cat to flop over on her side and almost fall out of Soama’s lap. Soama petted the cat a few more times and then, bored with the attention, the cat jumped to the ground and started grooming herself.
    “What is that paper you just got from the cat’s collar,” asked Tanan?
    “It is a message for me,” said Soama, letting Tanan know that he wasn’t going to discuss it.
    “I never knew a cat could carry a message like that,” Tanan said.
    “There are many things that you don’t know,” responded Soama, with a mischievous tone.  “Like how to properly weed a garden, for instance. Weeks of practice and still you haven’t mastered it!”
    “And I have noticed,” said Tanan, “that you haven’t either!”
    “Oh… right.” Soama said with a look of surprise. “I know I’ll get it one of these days.”
    Tanan took a drink of his tea. “Soama, how does the magic help my back to not be sore?”
    “That’s a reasonable question, Tanan, and one that a man could spend a lifetime trying to answer.  What I can tell you about it, is the same thing I can tell you about all magic. Magic is the art of using the mind to focus and manipulate energy. In this particular case, you’re using a chant to help you focus and intensify the natural healing power of your body.”
    “You may have noticed,” he continued, “that since you began using that chant, your appetite has increased.  When you use the energy from your body like that, you have to replenish it.”
    Tanan had been pretty hungry lately. “I guess I’d have to eat a lot of food if I wanted to learn harder magic.”
    Soama nodded. “Our magic does have limits. The body only has so much energy.”
    “Could you use energy from another person,” asked Tanan?
    Soama nodded slowly. “Yes, it could be done, but it would be wrong. It is dangerous, and extremely