AllFreeNovel
Share Us
27
ANYA
To my relief,the kitchens were up and running in little time. Everyone who followed me upstairs fell into their work, hauling firewood in and getting things ready as if it were a regular afternoon meal.
I organized people into small groups and sent them out, intent on getting supplies down to the sanctuary as quickly as possible.
I couldn't recall seeing Mihiri downstairs, and she certainly wasn't here in the kitchen. Mihiri was the Word, the last of the women in her line, and if she was gone... what would it mean?
Thrusting the pitcher of water I'd been filling into a bystander's hands, I said, "Keep filling these. Don't stop until everyone downstairs has their fill. I'll be back!"
I ran out of the kitchen and down the hall to the door of the library. With shaky breaths, I raised a hand and pounded hard on the door.
"Mihiri?" I yelled, trying to push it open, but finding it locked. "Mihiri, are you in there?"
I pressed my ear to the door, listening for even the slightest sound that might give me hope, but I couldn't hear over the pounding of my pulse in my head.
Mihiri had never taken to me the way she took to Ember—one more reminder of how unfit I had been for the position of Wife. However, she was something of a mother to all of us, providing herbs and healing prayers whenever one of us fell ill. If she was still in there, still alive, I had to get to her.
I searched the hall for anything I could use to force my way in, but there was nothing. Torn between going back to the kitchen or downstairs to get Silas, I paused. With one last volley of banging on the door, I yelled for Mihiri until my lungs burned.
I slumped against the door, resting my forehead against its cool surface. I felt so helpless. But before I could peel myself away from the door and go find help, I heard a weak noise from the other side.
"Mihiri? Is that you?"
There was a scraping sound and then a thump. My heart leapt into my throat. Had she fallen? Had something fallen on her?
A moment later, the lock clicked, and I waited only a fraction of a second before pushing the door open to get to her. I rushed forward, catching her in my arms when she collapsed again.
Slowly, I lowered her back to the ground and brushed the hair out of her face. "You're alive," I whispered, over and over again as I cradled her head in my lap.
She nodded weakly and her eyes fluttered open long enough to meet mine. She rolled her head sideways and licked her dry lips, then lifted one arm to point shakily toward the back of her library.
"Kiango," she whispered, so quiet I almost didn't hear her.
"Kiango?" I asked, puzzled. "He's here?"
I stared down at her, afraid to ask the question that was next on my mind.
"Go," she managed, closing her eyes again with a heavy sigh.
Slowly, I lowered her head from my lap and untangled myself enough to stand up. She was breathing steadily, and I didn't see any visible injuries, although she was obviously weak. But I needed to know where Kiango was and if there was anything I could do for him. As long as Mihiri was stable and resting, I could bring her food and drink when I was done.
Climbing over bookshelves that had fallen atop one another, I managed to cross most of the room before finally laying eyes on Kiango amid a pile of debris. I hopped over the last of the mess and dropped to my knees beside him.
"Kiango?" I reached tentatively for his face, then dropping my hand to feel for a pulse.
I closed my eyes, praying silently to my own god, while I searched for the low thrum of his heart still forcing life through him. At last, I felt the faintest of nudge of blood pumping through the vein in his neck, and I allowed myself a single, strangled cry of relief. That relief was short-lived, however, because I became aware of a pool of dark blood beneath him. The edges of the bloody stain had already crusted over and begun to dry, but the area closest to his body was still sticky and moist.
With a grimace, I moved around to his other side and tried to roll him over just enough to see his wound. I could see wadded up bandages, already soaked through. Mihiri must have been trying to stop the bleeding. But then what happened?
I looked at the room all around me, trying to piece together the order of events. Which had come first? Had Kiango been injured by the storm and come to Mihiri for help? Had he been here when Silas and I went through the storm? Did it cause a blast of some kind that had shaken the walls and tumbled the shelves, not to mention putting a hole through the sanctuary?
It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that Mihiri and Kiango were hanging on by a thread, and they needed help. And there was only one person I could think of who might be able to help them both.
After assuring them I would be right back, I left the library and ran back to the kitchens as fast as I could. All around me, trays of food were piled high, prepared to go down to the sanctuary. I stopped only long enough to grab one and then kept going straight out the back door.
"Where are you going?" one of the cooks called after me.
"Have to get to Ember," I called back between huffing breaths.
It was difficult to hurry through the tall grass and unkempt field without spilling any of the food on my tray, but I did my best. Eventually, I reached the open hole in the ground as another woman was coming back up with two empty pitchers in hand. She jumped with surprise when I appeared above her but scurried out of the way as I forced my way into the tunnel.
"Watch out! Coming through!" I yelled, hoping I wouldn't run into anyone in the darkness.
I cleared the second door without stopping and barreled my way all the way into the sanctuary where I came to a less than graceful halt. I was scanning for Ember, but before I found her, my eye caught on Silas perched on the throne, looking down over the people.
I stormed over.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
