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“Well, we don’t mean you any trouble, but trouble may follow us.”
“I’m no stranger to trouble,” she replied. “Go on. Get her.” She leaned back, continuing to stroke Sky’s neck.
He hesitated. What in Nefrana’s name was this woman doing here? If this was some kind of trick, what trick could it even be?
Why was it called the Fevered Wood? Certainly, some kind of fever had come over him, and he felt himself itching to follow what she’d said to do, if only because it’d put their feet moving further from where Alekur should be.
But first… he reached slow and steady into his pocket where his fingers grasped the stone. She was closer to him than Iseris was. He didn’t know exactly how far the stone would reach, so he took a step back. Then another. Using the back of his hand, he peeked into his pocket, but he didn’t need to look long. The stone was shining.
A mage. Just like Iseris.
It didn’t surprise him, but he wondered at that. It seemed as though it should have been surprising.
The daylight was growing brighter. There really wasn’t much time to question, and there weren’t any other options to consider. Their initial flight into the Fevered Wood in broad daylight had only a small chance of success. Especially with the time they’d lost here, injured and resting, how could they possibly evade Alekur forever?
In fact, Alekur should have caught up with them already.
Perhaps Alekur knew something that he and Iseris didn’t about the Fevered Wood. Maybe it wasn’t just walled off so the royals could hunt. Maybe there was something even more dangerous in here than Iseris’s evil family. Or this strange red grass.
Maybe the more dangerous thing was this old woman.
But all his other options were no good. If this was a trap, he was caught in it already. He stumbled forward and obeyed the old mage’s commands.
“Do you have a name, kind stranger?” he asked.
Her smile was warm, but it didn’t reassure him. “My name is Selis.”
Chapter 17
Selis
Iseris woke to a ceiling above her, wooden planks and all. She turned her head, eyes wide, to see Jav on a small stool by a lively fire in a stone hearth. The air was spicy, warmer than she expected, and full of strange fragrances. A woman’s voice was humming. A knife chopped and scraped on the other side of the room.
Confused, she tried to catch Jav’s eye. Hopefully, she could get his attention before the stranger noticed she was awake. But when he saw her, he smiled and stood, nearly kicking over the stool in his excitement.
“Ah, she’s awake!”
Iseris smiled. So much for secrecy. He certainly wasn’t the more covert of the two of them, but it was touching when he rushed to her side. The woman, too, approached, holding a wooden bowl in her hands, a gentle expression on her face. She had sparkling blue eyes, and Iseris had to admit she immediately liked her.
“What happened?” she asked—or tried to. Her throat was so dry the words barely crackled out.
“You were out for quite a while, dear,” said the woman. “Two days.”
The events of the hours before they’d succumbed in that field of red grass all rushed back to her, and she jolted upright. She noticed immediately that the pain was gone—all of it, her feet, her calves, her thighs. Jav, too—he’d stood up just fine, hadn’t he?
Her mouth fell open. “You healed us.”
“No, I didn’t,” the woman said with a smile. “But I did bring you back here.”
“Alekur—we need to move.”
“Perhaps, but he won’t easily find you here,” she said, eyes still on Iseris. “My name is Selis, by the way.”
“Why not?” Iseris asked.
“The Fevered Wood.”
Iseris narrowed her eyes.
