Changing Fate [Fate series] Read Free Page A

home finding fault with things and filling the castle with extra soldiers, some of whom were greatly lacking in manners.
* * * *
    Akila had just finished putting the chapel in order the next morning when she heard a commotion in the courtyard. She hastily went out the door, which was adjacent to the west wall at the very back of the keep, hoping that whatever the fuss was, it would be something minor. Halfway down the courtyard there was a group of maidservants, all crowded together around something. Several of them were crying, but Akila recognized the one closest to her as one of the laundry maids, who cried when a leaf fell from a tree. She pushed her way unceremoniously toward the center of the disturbance, looking for someone who could give a coherent answer to a simple question.
    At the center of the group she found Galin, kneeling beside Marfa, who lay on the ground with her leg at a very odd angle. Marfa's eyes were closed and her face screwed up with pain, but she wasn't making a sound. Typical, Akila thought. Marfa never had much patience with anyone who made a display of her emotions.
    Galin looked up and saw her. “Akila, Marfa has fallen and broken her leg."
    "Oh, no!” Akila said, trying to sound sympathetic rather than the way she really felt, which was frightened and overwhelmed. If Marfa couldn't do her work, Akila would be overburdened indeed. And if she couldn't take her part in the daily ritual ... it was bad enough being short one member of the priesthood, but with two missing the ritual would be impossible. And bad things happened when the rituals weren't done. “What did she fall off of?"
    "Nothing.” One of the maids answered, sounding terrified. “She just fell down in the middle of the courtyard. My lady, do you think it be witchcraft?"
    Akila looked at her in disgust. “No, Berna, I do not think it anything of the sort!"
    "Indeed not,” Galin agreed calmly. “It is not uncommon for women of a certain age to break bones like this."
    One of the kitchen maids said quickly, “That's true. The same thing happened to my grandmother last year."
    "Your grandmother died,” Berna pointed out.
    "Enough!” Akila snapped. “Galin, get some men and a stretcher and have her carried to her room. Berna, got get the midwife. The rest of you, get back to work."
    Akila took Galin's place by Marfa's side as everyone else scattered. She took Marfa's hand, and the bony fingers closed convulsively around hers. “Don't worry, Marfa,” Akila said soothingly. “Everything will be all right."
    Marfa's eyes opened and looked straight into Akila's. “It's starting,” she said softly. “Be brave, girl."
    "What's starting?” Akila asked. But Marfa closed her eyes again and did not speak further.
    Fifteen minutes later, Akila stood with Galin outside Marfa's room, waiting for the midwife. A horrible thought occurred to her. “Galin? When she said last night that she could feel in her bones that a new priest would come—"
    "I'm sure this is just an unfortunate coincidence,” Galin said soothingly. “After all, Marfa is not a young woman, and it is not at all uncommon for women of her age to suddenly suffer broken bones."
    Akila frowned. “I do hope you're right,” she said, “but I have a very bad feeling about this."
* * * *
    The rest of the day was a nightmare. Quite apart from her sympathy for Marfa's pain, Marfa's incapacity put all of her duties on Akila's shoulders—and on the first day of harvest, those duties were considerable. By mid-afternoon Akila had a pounding headache and had retreated to her room, hoping that a few minutes of quiet would relieve the worst of the pain.
* * * *
    "Akila!"
    Akila groaned. Briam's shout echoed up the stairwell, bouncing off the stones of the tower and mingling with the sound of his pounding feet on the wooden stairs. She hoped that whatever Briam wanted was something trivial. Knowing Briam, it could be something as simple as his inability to find his riding boots,