Maggie of the Mist by Madeleine M. (best ebook reader for ubuntu txt) 📕

Redd directed them to a bedroom that seemed to be used only for his quality. “Right over there, on the table.” The trainer instructed. They set Keith down gently on a long wooden table covered with a sheet. “Now,” Redd said as he washed his hands in a basin at one side of the room. “Which one of you does he trust the most?” Maggie and Angus looked at each other. A silly smile lit up the boy’s face.

“He trusts Maggie more than us.” Maggie glared at Angus. His grin only broadened.

“Good,” Redd dried his hands on a towel next to the basin. “Maggie, I need you to go over by his head. I’ve gotten better at waking them up, but they still get a little freaked out. All you need to do is make sure he sees you. Just try to keep him calm.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Maggie removed her cloak and hung it on a nail behind the door. The old floor boards creaked as her soft bottom boots carried her over to Keith. “But he’s a bit like Vika when it comes to being calm.”

“Then this should be fun.” Redd smiled. “Angus, you remember what to do right?” Angus nodded and placed a chair with a cushion two strides away from the table. “I don’t know how hard this will be on me, so just be ready to catch me when I fall.” Redd took a deep breath and lightly placed his hands on either side of the Tine’la’s head. “Everyone ready?”

Angus nodded. He set his legs and braced himself to catch his brother. The chair in placed behind them.

Maggie nodded. She put her hands on Keith’s shoulders to steady him when he woke up. She leaned her head closer to his so he would see her face.

“Here we go.” Redd closed his eyes. Within a few heart beats Maggie felt the energy from his quality in the air inside the little room. She glanced over at the door and saw it was bolted. Vika was probably on the other side, standing guard. What they were doing wasn’t bad. It wasn’t dangerous. It was only different. And different was a great fear for some. Qualities were power hidden inside every person. Most never figured out that they held such power.

Looking back at Redd, Maggie could see his inner power gently flowing down his arms, through his hands and into Keith in the form of green light. Not all qualities produced light when they were used, thus it was hard to detect one. The shoulders under Maggie’s hands began to stir. She braced herself as Redd said weakly, “Get ready! Fever’s almost gone.”

Maggie had time enough to blink twice before she had to hold down Keith. As his eyes shot open, Angus was there to catch his weakened brother. Maggie moved around the table so that she could look Keith in the eye. Behind her, Redd was being placed in the waiting chair.

“Keith? Keith, it’s alright,” Maggie squeezed his shoulders. He tried to sit up, but she made sure he was pinned. “Just calm down. “

“Guardian of the Veil’s!” Keith swore and tried to break free of her grip. “Let go of me!”

“Shhh. Keith, breathe.” Maggie spoke quietly. “Can you hear me? Relax. You just have to tr—”Trust her? Was that what she wanted? If she expected him to trust her, than he would expect the same in return. Maggie wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. “You just have to believe me.” Believing was different enough from trust.

Keith gulped in air as Angus unbolted the door and Vika came in. Maggie helped the Tine’la sit up on the table. “What did you do to me?” he asked, placing a hand on his head.

“Simple.” Vika responded while helping Angus lift the healer out of the chair. “You had a bad fever, fainted before Maggie could get you to the door step, and then Redd here healed you.”

Keith stared blankly at her for a moment. Then, in turn, looked at the others. “How?”

“I think it would be best for Redd to explain,” Maggie said as she washed her hands in the basin and then dried them with the towel. “It is his quality. You’ll have to wait for a while though. He needs to rebuild his strength. And so do you.” Maggie left him once he was off the table and made for the kitchen. She searched the cabinets and cupboards for something to eat. She was hungry. Her stomach rumbled in agreement. Eventually she found some bead, slices of meat in the cold room, and fresh lettuce. By the time Keith made it out to the kitchen, Maggie had several sandwiches made.

He sat down at the table and watched her for a while. “Did you throw me into a well?”

Maggie laughed. “Is that the first question that popped into your head?” She glance over her shoulder and caught him staring at her. He only grinned and raised an eyebrow. Maggie sighed. “Perhaps.”

“Perhaps?” He repeated playfully.

“Yes, perhaps. How much do you remember?”

“I touched your arm and the next thing I knew I was hanging from a rock in the wall of a fairly deep well.”

“Mm-hm?” Maggie continued making lunch.

“It does seem hard to believe, doesn’t it?” She wasn’t going to take the poorly set bait. Instead she found his attempts amusing. “And then, low and behold, you were there hanging upside down.”

“Imagine that.”

“I know! But the best part is that you pulled me out!” Keith was laughing as he leaned over the table. Maggie stopped mid-cut. The knife hovered over a sandwich. Breathe. Just breathe. She took two deep breaths and let the knife fall. It went through the bread like butter.

“Is…” Keith stopped laughing behind her as she placed the sandwich on a plate. “Is me being able to pull you out of a well that unbelievable?” She turned to face him, her eyes daring – challenging him to respond. The Tine’la took a breath to say something as Redd came into the room. “Redd, are you feeling better?” Maggie needed to distract herself. She put the plate on the table and returned to the counter to make more.

“Much. Thank you.” The tall man made his way over to the table, sitting in the vacant chair across from Keith. “Now, I guess you’re wondering what happened.” Maggie had her back turned to them, but she could still feel Keith’s emerald eyes boring into her back.

“You could say that.” His reply was cool but Maggie was released from his stare. She busied herself with drinks.

“Well then, where should we start?” Redd reached for a sandwich. “Maggie?”

Maggie brought over some water she had gotten from the well outside. “Qualities.” Keith looked up at her quizzically. “That is what they are called. Everyone has at least one. A quality makes a person unique in some way. Angus’s abnormal strength, for example. Although, most of the time they aren't that obvious."

"Exactly!" Redd cried through a mouthful of cheese meat and bread as he pounded his fist on the table. The sudden outburst made both Keith and Maggie jump. “Many, who do notice their enhanced abilities, rarely pick up on the fact that they are power. I know, surprising,” Redd chuckled nodded at the shocked face Keith was giving him. “All people have power, they just don’t realize it.”

Keith sat and stared down at the wooden table top, his face completely serious. “So everyone has some sort special ability?”

Redd and Maggie nodded.

“Does that mean that I have some kind of power deep inside me that is just waiting to be awakened?” Keith bolted upright, his eyes alight with excitement.

“Something like that, yes.” Redd cast a glance in Maggie’s direction that said, what is wrong with him? Maggie shrugged her shoulders and called the other two for lunch. They had to leave soon. She proceeded to wrap up the remaining sandwiches in oil cloth. Behind her, Redd tried to calm Keith down. “Hey, sit down! Don’t think that just because you feel better it means your body is healed. Ah, you two, come eat something.”

“What are you doing?” Vika asked with an extreme lack of enthusiasm. She stalked over and took the chair next to Keith. Angus tried to cover up his smile as he sat in the last chair. “We need to move on soon, so don’t get all excited and faint again.”

“I didn’t faint!” Keith cried defensively. “Girls faint. I collapsed.”

“Yes, because collapsing is so much manlier.” Angus murmured under his breath, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. The Tine’la sat back angrily in his chair and glared at the crumb-filled plate in front of him. He crossed his arms and tightly tucked them in against his side.

The four of them continued to bicker as Maggie returned to the kitchen to pack the leftovers. She chuckled softly to her self when she heard her cousins ganging up on the Tine'la. "He's going to make things difficult for a while." She sighed to the oil cloths while she looked over her shoulder to see him sitting at the table. A smile came to he lips when she saw Keith's face flush with anger.

It was almost like he felt her smiling at him; because no sooner had the grin come to her face did his eyes flick in her direction. The uncomfortable bolt one gets when meeting eyes with another unexpectedly shot through Maggie's body. She tried to keep the smile and let her eyes wander to the window at the other side of the room. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Once she felt his gaze ease off of her, she turned back around with her back to them. Her stone was almost throbbing in time to the beat of her heart.

Maggie heard a bird chirping outside the window just above the counter. She opened the pane so she could hear the song better. A slight breeze drifted through the open frame. As soon as it touched her skin, Maggie’s vision went fuzzy. Then it went black. She faintly heard someone calling her name in a panicked voice, but she wasn’t scared.

She felt someone holding her up as her legs gave out beneath her. She could feel the stone burning cold against the base of her neck. But she couldn’t move.

The fog cleared in front of her eyes, but Maggie no longer saw the view from Redd’s window. Instead, she was looking at the busy market they were in earlier that morning. It was just as bustling, just as crowed, and looked just as noisy – at least from what she could see. Only her vision was at the market, all her other senses were still in Redd’s kitchen.

“Redd! What’s going on?” Vika sounded like she was on the verge of slapping someone, crying, or both. “Is she sick?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Maggie felt a soothing wave of energy pass through her body as Redd sent out his quality, searching for something wrong with her. The only place the wave didn’t reach was the area under and around her pendant. “Nothing? There’s nothing wrong with her.” Redd was obviously puzzled.

“Hey, um, what’s up with that–” Keith’s question was cut short was he sucked in a sharp breath. He must have tried to touch her stone. Maggie wasn’t sure if he had actually touched it or not, but she felt the stone grow suddenly colder. She didn’t think it was possible for its temperature to drop any more than what it already had. “Great Warrior! That thing’s glowing!”

Suddenly, Maggie’s vision shot her to a familiar figure. It was the little