The coals crackled behind me. I pulled my blankets tight around my shoulders. For the first time in a very long while, my body stopped shaking, and I closed my eyes.
“Olive.”
My whispered name awoke me. I opened my eyes, focusing on the tent overhead and on Kull crouched over me. Had I been asleep? I didn’t even remember drifting off.
The scent of roasted vegetables and seared meat filled the room. My stomach growled as I propped onto my elbows. My wounded shoulder ached in protest. I winced, hoping Kull hadn’t noticed.
Kull passed me a plate of sizzling food. A green root plant, hearts of palmetto, red florets, and a slab of some sort of meat that resembled pork filled the platter. I grabbed up one of the roots and popped it into my mouth.
The vegetables had been cooked with enough seasoning to give them a savory flavor. I had the insane urge to eat everything all at once but paced myself. How long had it been since I’d eaten an actual meal?
I looked up at Kull. “How do you feel?” I asked him.
“My mind feels like my own again,” Kull said as he watched me eat. “We are very fortunate to have found these nomads. Otherwise, I’m certain I would not have made it.”
“Yes, fortunate.”
He crossed his arms. “Yet I cannot help but wonder how we came across them when we did. What are they doing in these wilds? None travel here unless they mean to hide.”
“I wondered the same thing. So far, I haven’t been given a straight answer.” I took another bite, realizing I’d almost eaten it all. So much for pacing myself.
I glanced at Kull. The black gash was still visible on his neck. His paled skin and the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead worried me.
“You are still unwell,” I told him.
He crossed his arms. “As are you.”
I rubbed my shoulder. “Yes, a little.”
“A little? You should let the healer look at your shoulder.”
“Perhaps.”
A soft rustling came from the tent’s opening, interrupting our conversation. Arantha walked inside. She halted before entering farther, her eyes guarded as she peered at Kull.
“You are well?” she asked.
He straightened to his full height. Arantha shied away. “I am,” he answered.
She nodded. “I’ve come to deliver a summons from Geth, our leader. He desires your presence in his tent. If you’ll follow me.” She parted the tent’s opening.
Kull and I traded wary glances before following Arantha outside. A chill breeze gusted past as we crossed through the rows of tents. A few men and women remained outside, huddled around campfires or sharpening spears. I didn’t like the suspicious glances they gave me.
We stopped in front of a tent that stood taller than the rest. The dark red canvas looked thicker and sturdier than the material covering the other dwellings. Arantha led us inside.
The heavy scent of burning incense, accompanied by a fog of smoke, lingered in the air. Arantha pointed us toward a set of wooden stools near a bookshelf. I took a seat, though Kull remained standing.
A roughly hewn, wooden desk took up the back half of the room. Beyond it was another tent flap, which I again assumed led to a separate chamber.
“Geth will be with you shortly. Shall I fetch some tea while you wait?”
“No, thank you,” I answered.
“How long will this take?” Kull asked. “I am not in the habit of waiting. Does your leader know who I am?”
Arantha swallowed. “He only wishes to meet you. He will arrive as soon as he can.”
Kull crossed his arms. “For your sake, I hope he does.”
Arantha cleared her throat. “If you’ll excuse me.” She ducked into the room behind the desk.
Kull rubbed his neck as the curtain closed behind her. “They’d better be planning to return my sword. Otherwise, this meeting will be over very quickly.”
I focused on the bookshelf beside me. “And if they don’t?”
“Then they will regret it.”
“You plan to threaten them?”
“If that is what it takes.”
“Not everyone responds to threats, you know. Sometimes it is better to be polite.”
He laughed. “I believe I am the one who gave you that advice not long ago. Besides, I have no need of using such a tactic.”
“Spoken like a true Wult,” I mumbled as I scanned the books.
I pulled a book from the shelf, Science and Experimentation in the Realm of Magic, and flipped through the pages. It didn’t hold my interest. I scanned the others. Most were on politics or science, a few wartime strategy books. The aroma of the incense made my eyes feel heavy, my head foggy. I hated the cold, yet I felt tempted to step outside so I could take a breath of fresh air.
Kull paced the room until I felt he would wear a hole through the rug. “They are taking their time on purpose.”
“You’ve no proof of that.”
“They mean to challenge me. This is a show of their authority.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“You do not believe so?” he asked me.
“I think you’re taking it a little far.”
He worked his jaw back and forth. “I will not tolerate this. If their leader wishes to speak with me, inform him that he can find me inside the healer’s tent.” He left without another word.
I sat in silence, wishing Geth would appear. Perhaps I should have followed Kull back to the tent, but I was curious to meet Geth and see what he wanted from us—and to thank him for taking us in.
With nothing else to do, I once again scanned the books. Focusing on the bottom shelf, I noticed one I hadn’t seen before. When Dreams Cometh. LM Peerling.
I gasped.
I knew my stepfather didn’t own a copy of this book, which said something. As far as I knew, the book didn’t exist anymore. Yet here it was.
I snatched it off the shelf, leafed through the pages, and stopped on one that caught my eye.
The power of a dream, especially in the mind of a human child, is more potent
