It Wakes in Me Read Free

she would just make the decision, give him his orders, and allow him to go back to his duties. Blackbird Town was in danger. She didn’t need him here. He needed to check on the guards he’d posted and make certain they were still alive.
    “We can’t wait until morning,” Matron Wink said, barely audible. “Flint must leave now. There’s no time to waste.”
    Neither Flint nor Priest Teal responded. They both just stared at her. Flint, a tall handsome man, had a perfectly chiseled face
and large black eyes. His cape was a splash of darkness in the firelight.
    It set Feather Dancer’s teeth on edge.
    The Black Falcon People loved colors, the brighter the better. The fact that Flint chose garments that blended with the shadows made Feather Dancer distrust him even more. It was as though the man deliberately sought to set himself apart from the rest of the people—just as witches did.
    To stifle his raging emotions, Feather Dancer turned to study the beautiful woman lying on the litter beside the fire. Long black hair haloed Chieftess Sora’s pale face. Her blankets, the color of bloodred earth, had been woven from the finest buffalo wool and dyed with dog-tail weed. Her fingers jerked, grasping at something no one else could see. Feather Dancer feared that her shadow-soul—the soul that walked in dreams—was traveling through a terrifying land.
    Priest Teal had tried to Heal her, but she’d kept denying the murders, and Teal had been forced to declare the Healing Circle a failure. Apparently no one, except perhaps Feather Dancer, believed her when she said she was innocent.
    Chieftess Sora made a soft pained sound. Tears leaked from her eyes and dropped onto her red blankets like perfect dewdrops.
    Matron Wink said, “She probably heard us talking about Long Lance.”
    Flint swiftly walked across the floor and knelt at the chieftess’ side. His cape draped around him in sculpted raven folds. As he gently brushed the tears from her cheeks, he said, “Don’t cry, Sora. He won’t fail. I won’t let him.”
    Matron Wink pressed her fingers to her lips as though to keep her own cries locked in her throat. In a shaking voice, she whispered, “Dear gods, I’ve betrayed her. I’ve betrayed her.”

    The chieftess’ mouth opened in what might have been a silent cry; then she laughed.
    Perhaps it was the resemblance to a sob, or the rage that lived inside the laughter, but the room went deathly quiet.
    “No,” Flint answered. “You’re trying to save her life—and the thing she cherishes most, her people.”
    Feather Dancer shifted irritably. Dawn was not far away. If Matron Wink wanted Flint to take the chieftess to Long Lance, then he did need to go, quickly. The trip was risky at best, and Flint had already lost the cover of darkness.
    “War Chief?”
    “Yes, Matron,” Feather Dancer squared his shoulders, glad that he was finally going to be dismissed.
    “I want you to accompany Flint. Do whatever he says. Do you understand?”
    “But, Matron …” Feather Dancer felt like he’d been bludgeoned. “We may be attacked at any moment. You need me here in Blackbird Town! You can’t send me away on a Healing mission when the lives of our people are in danger.”
    She marched across the floor and gave him a hard look. “You’re the only one I can trust to make certain Chieftess Sora lives through this. Besides … there’s more going on here than your ears are hearing.”
    “What do you mean?”
    She turned away to grimace at Flint. “I can’t answer that, not yet.”
    “Did you receive new information?”
    “Yes. Just moments ago.”
    Feather Dancer blinked. No one had entered through the front entrance of the Matron’s House. Had a messenger passed by the guard he’d posted at the rear entrance?
    “Who brought you this information?”
    “Flint. Flint told me.”

    Feather Dancer glared. “The man is a scoundrel. Why do you believe him?”
    “Because I can’t afford to disbelieve him! If