Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) by Jessie Eaker (best novels in english TXT) 📕

Kaleefah stroked the girl’s hair. “Why don’t you tell him,” she urged.

Haahleefah looked up at me. “I have reached the age of...” and then she said something which had a lot of hisses and clicks in it—a word no human could pronounce. She continued. “This means I can catch glimmers of the futures to come.”

“A foreteller?” I asked in disbelief. They were things of legend.

Kaleefah nodded. “For a few females of our kind, there is a brief period of time, just before we grow old enough to reproduce, where we can see what might happen. Haahleefah has that ability. And she saw something in your future.”

I looked to her expectantly, wondering what it could be.

She paused and turned big eyes up to me.

“One of your party is going to die.”

I stared at the ceiling of the hut, trying to see into the shadows flickering there. A dim myst lantern provided the slight illumination needed for them to frolic in the corners of the supports. I was too exhausted not to rest, yet my brain too full to even consider sleep. The implications of Haahleefah’s foretelling kept running through my mind.

Outside, I could hear the sounds of night creatures around us and the occasional movements of the villagers in the huts nearby. A child cried out in the distance, but it was quickly answered by a mother’s soothing shush.

One of your party is going to die.

Beside me, I searched for Zofie’s hand and grasped it tightly. She couldn’t acknowledge the gesture, but I drew what comfort I could from it. I prayed it wasn’t her. And then immediately felt guilty. Did I want to wish it instead on someone else of my group? My master perhaps, or even steadfast Fumiko? Could I even allow myself to think of sacrificing Cabrina?

I had immediately asked what would happen if we abandoned our quest. But she said the result was the same. All the paths into the future converged at that point. We might change who it was, or exactly when it occurred, but the outcome would be the same. Which was why she could tell me. Her words wouldn’t change anything for me or my party. The one change that could possibly occur had already happened—by telling me her mother would be saved. She had apologized for her selfishness. Not that I could blame her.

I heard one of our attendants shuffle outside, thinking Spraggel might be returning. There were whispers in their language and then steps away, so evidently not—just a changing of our escort. I grinned. Spraggel must have found someone more interesting to spend time with.

Upon entering our assigned hut for the night, Cabrina had collapsed exhausted onto her mat and instantly fallen asleep. I could hear her softly snoring.

I heard movement on the other side of Zofie and saw Fumiko sit up. She rubbed her side where she had been injured. I sighed. It was hard to believe it had only been three days since that had happened.

She glanced in my direction and saw I was awake. She whispered, “Sorry to disturb you, but I’m having trouble sleeping. My ribs still hurt.”

I shook my head and whispered back. “You didn’t bother me.” I thought of a line from a play Zofie liked. “‘Darkness may fall and sleep elude us...’” I paused, hoping Fumiko would complete it. But she just shook her head.

I sighed. “‘But dawn waits for no man.’”

Fumiko rubbed her side. “Sorry Coren. I know you’re trying to get me to complete it, but I don’t know what it is. Only Zofie can do those.”

And I knew she was right. It made me miss her all the more.

Fumiko pulled at her bindings. “Could you loosen these? They rebound me after my bath, but they got them too tight.”

She knelt on her mat while I sat behind her. She tried to lower her tunic but couldn’t get through the opening. “Turn away for a moment,” she asked.

I did and heard rustling cloth.

“All right,” she said.

I turned around to find she had taken off her tunic and wrapped it around her waist but left her bare back facing me.

I set about my task, unwinding it while she held up her arms. I then reversed course and felt around trying to get the binding restarted, but something didn’t feel right.

Fumiko chuckled. “A little lower Coren, or I’m going to think you’re trying to seduce me.”

My face burned hot. I was far from an expert in female anatomy, but I quickly figured out what I was touching. “Sorry,” I mumbled and shifted my aim. I worked in silence, basking in my embarrassment.

“How does that feel,” I asked when the last wrap was secured.

She rotated her arm. “Much better. Not nearly as uncomfortable.

She held the tunic to her chest and shifted around to kneel facing me. I couldn’t help but notice the slender curves of her shoulders. She smiled. “Thank you. You have good hands.”

Zofie sighed in her sleep, and I suddenly realized how near Fumiko was. How little she wore. And how beautiful she was.

I looked away. “I guess I’ll try going to sleep now.”

But she put a hand on my knee keeping me from rising. She searched my eyes, and her expression grew serious. She leaned closer. I froze, a rabbit caught in a myst light.

Then she seemed to catch herself and slowly straightened and clutched the tunic tightly to her chest. “You need some more skills. If you’re not too tired, I can share some more with you.”

I glanced to Zofie and then back to Fumiko. “How many more until I’m done.”

“At least one more. You’re a sponge for the information. But from here on out, you’ll need to practice harder to cement the skills. Otherwise, the transfer will evaporate.”

I