Sorrow and hopelessness wrenched at her as it truly sunk in that Heran’s house—the only home she’d ever truly known—was burning. What if it spread to the other homes? What would the Coven do? All that knowledge in the books in Heran’s altar room would be lost. Ena squeezed her eyes shut tight to fight off the tears and she struggled to keep her breathing steady as she began to panic. She bounced along on her captor’s shoulder, trying to calm her frantic mind and think logically of how to escape. They couldn’t be too far from her village—they were just moving on foot—but the man was holding too tight to her body and her voice was too muffled to scream, so she couldn’t do much of anything except lie there uselessly, his hard shoulder digging into her abdomen.
Eventually, once the blood had all rushed to her head and her stomach was screaming in pain, Ena heard the snuffling of horses and the men came to a sudden stop.
The man carrying her—she still refused to think his name, as it couldn’t possibly be him—unceremoniously flung her down on top of one of the horses so she was sitting side saddle. Her head spun with the sudden movement, and it took a second to get her bearings. Realizing that he now just had a hold of her waist, she tried desperately to kick him, thrashing and squirming to get down off the horse so she could run, but he was eerily strong and grabbed her legs in a death grip, pinning them together and to the horse’s side. Ena grunted and fought with all her might, but her captor barely seemed to be out of breath.
“Steig,” he called to the man in the wolf mask, “come grab her other leg while I get up.”
Steig walked around to the opposite side of the horse she was sitting on and wrenched the leg closest to him over the horse’s neck so she sat properly in the saddle. Still holding her other thigh so hard it would bruise, her captor in the hawk mask used the stirrup to gracefully swing himself up into the saddle behind her. He promptly wrapped his arm around her waist again, grabbed the reins in his other hand, and spurred the horse into motion. Before she could even think, they were moving at a quick pace through the trees, enough that Ena realized it was no longer safe to try to fling herself from the horse.
Turning around in the saddle as much as she could with the man holding her waist, she saw that the other two men had mounted their horses and were following closely behind them.
It was dark, the moon just a waxing crescent. The clouds had rolled in and were blocking most of the stars so she couldn’t tell which direction they were moving and could just barely make out the shadowy trees surrounding them.
Ena shivered as the horses moved as swiftly as they could in the dark environment. She was glad they didn’t move any faster because surely someone had noticed she was gone and would be following soon. On top of that, it was getting colder as the night wore on, and if the horse moved any faster, the wind would make her blood chill even further.
Gritting her teeth against the cold, Ena’s mind spun. What did these men want with her? What were they looking for in the altar room? Which way were they heading? They had to stop at some point, and when they did, she’d try to get her bearings so she could figure out how to escape and get back to her village.
But one question dominated her spiraling thoughts: Was it really him? Had she just been confused in the rush of the attack and was imagining things? It had been so long since she’dseen him last. Over nine years. She was probably mistaken. He had been mortal, and these men were clearly daemons. Unless only some of them were daemons, and they were workingwithmortals?
Ena didn’t have any answers, but as they rode on into the night, she vowed to get some.
Chapter Seven
Nine years and four months ago…
ThemorningafterLitha,Ena flitted around in a state of intense excitement. She tended to her chores, helping Greya make breakfast for the two of them and Heran, collecting eggs from the chicken coop, and milking the goats in the barn, but her mind was fervently replaying the events of last night.
Had that all really happened? It seemed like a dream. She clearly couldn’t stop smiling like a fool because pretty soon, Greya noticed.
“Why do you look like that?” she asked.
Ena was busy washing laundry in a giant barrel behind the house while Greya hung the clean clothes up to dry on a line. The smell of the harsh lye and wood-ash soap filled Ena’s nose as she used a giant paddle to dreamily stir the soiled clothes around in the hot water.
“Huh?” Ena looked up, shaken from her reverie.
“You look all…dopey. And you’ve let the water get cold. What’s up?” Greya asked, gazing at her suspiciously.
Ena just shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, and refocused on the washing. Reaching down into her Knowing, she sensed the heat of the sun that lingered in the air. It was a warm day, so she didn’t have to work very hard as she touched the side of the barrel and spoke.
{Fervis}
She felt the water reheat instantly to the perfect temperature, just shy of scalding. Keeping her eyes firmly on the washing, she kept stirring, hoping Greya would drop it.
“Oh, Gaia, it’s that boy, isn’t it?” Greya said, her eyes going wide. “I knew when you wandered off from the celebration yesterday that something must’ve happened!”
Damn her. Greya was way too perceptive for her own good, even without using her Knowing.
“Fine, okay, yes,” Ena admitted sheepishly. “He found me down by the river last night and we ended up…talking.”
“And…?” Greya prompted, grinning from ear to ear.
“Swimming.”
“Youwent swimming?” Greya asked incredulously.
“Yes…sort of.”
“Wow, you must really like this boy if he was able to convince you to get in the water,” Greya teased. “Are you gonna see him again?”
