The Iron Butterfly by Chanda Hahn Read Free Book Online

fallen off of the bed.
    “A dream!” I breathed in relief. “Oh, thank the heavens” Grabbing the pillow from the bed, I curled up on the familiar hard surface of the floor and tried to fall back asleep. The pounding headache of my dream persisted, and my heart raced at what I secretly feared the headaches might mean. I was normal, I desperately told myself, I was still human. Closing my eyes, I missed the shadow outside of my window move away.
    ~~~
    The pounding in my head continued through most of the night followed by stomach cramps before fading away near dawn. The pounding started again at first light getting louder and louder.
    “OH, STOP!” I said, grabbing my head, before I realized the pounding was coming from the door.
    “Thalia? Are you all right? Answer me! Thalia!” The voice began to get frantic.
    “I’M COMING!” I yelled as I wrapped the quilt around my body before limping toward the door. My muscles screamed in protest at the use. It had been moons since I’d ridden a horse. I took a second to steady myself before unlocking it and opening the door to a worried Joss.
    “Oh, it’s you!” I stated grumpily. After last night I was in no mood to talk.
    “What...what happened to you?” He began to step into the room but I pushed the door back into him.
    “I was sleeping.”
    “Yeah, but I’ve been knocking for at least five minutes? I was about to break down the door.”
    “Uh, I was asleep!” I replied sarcastically. “I guess I’m a sound sleeper.” I was not about to tell him about my nightmares. He peered over my shoulder and glanced at the pillow on the floor and the extra blanket. He looked back at me, the tension leaving his perfect brows to be replaced by a slight worried look.
    I stuck my chin up at him in defiance, and I tried to move and cover the view of my room. In the process I stumbled on the edge of the blanket and bashed my forehead into the doorframe with a thud. Joss grabbed my arm to steady me, and then he looked at me a little closer before releasing me.
    “So there is a girl underneath all of that dirt,” Joss spoke with a twinkle in his eye.
    My eyes went big at the comment and I tried to step on his foot in revenge. But Joss dodged it merrily.
    “We are having breakfast in a quarter hour and then we shall reach Haven by late this afternoon. Can you be ready?” He grinned at me, one corner of his mouth going up in a laughing manner.
    I ran my hand through my sleep-muffled hair and felt in horror that my beautiful braid that Mara had done had come undone. It must have happened because of my tossing and turning.
    “Yes!” I squeaked, realizing the state of disarray I appeared in. I pushed the door frantically against him and he stepped back into the hall laughing.
    Turning back toward the room to change, I felt my legs turn to pudding as I stumbled toward the bed. It seemed that no matter what, I didn’t have a graceful bone in my body.
    I was ready in ten minutes and took the stairs slowly, dreading the thought of getting back on a horse. Mara took one look at my unsteady stance and went into the kitchen and came back out with a salve.
    “Here Thalia, it’s my mother’s own special recipe, it’s for your muscles.” I opened the container and got a faint peppermint smell. Going back up to my room I applied it to my aching legs and felt immediate relief. Before I could hand it back to Mara, she clasped her hands around mine and told me to keep it.
    Breakfast would have been perfect except for the fact that Vienna served it. The way she fussed over Joss made me feel sick to my stomach. I shouldn’t be feeling these pangs of jealousy over Joss. He wasn’t mine by any means, and I had just met him. It was the fact that he paid equal attention back that hurt. I was still underweight and pale looking, but at least I was clean. I felt that the bath had made me a new person and the comment about how I was a girl still hurt. I wanted to be considered a woman, not