The Seer by Rowan McAllister (reading comprehension books .TXT) 📕

eyes widened as she leaned toward Ravi. “Oh yes. He came in looking for the Cigani woman.”

“Yes, that’s them!”

“You know her?”

Her tray of wares remained forgotten on her hip as she stepped closer to him.

“I do. They’re… they’re my friends.”

“Gods,” she breathed, before she seemed to remember herself, made the sign of the Three, and searched their surroundings nervously.

Ravi did the same, but luckily no Brotherhood scarlet or guard blue caught his eye.

“Your friend helped a lot of people here. My nan might have been killed if not for her,” she whispered.

“She did?”

The woman nodded. “When the flood came, we all heard the horn and the shouts and screams and came running. Everyone was in a panic, but they never would have been able to get out of the way if it hadn’t been for the wizard.” She lowered her voice even more. “The brothers and the guard couldn’t have done anything, not without one of the Thirty-Six. But the wizard, he just lifted his hands and the floodwaters hit some sort of wall no one could see, saving everyone in the market.”

“How did Shur—I mean, the Cigani woman fit in?”

Her face clouded. “The guard tried to go after the wizard while he was working his magic to save us. They aimed their bows at him an’ all. The young man who was with the wizard saw them, pulled a dagger, and started running, but it was the Cigani woman who got there first.” Her eyes rounded again and her cheeks pinked. “She was amazing, her and her little blond friend. They cut through the whole lot of king’s men like chaff. Never seen anything like it.”

“What happened next?” Ravi prodded impatiently, when the woman’s eyes got a little dreamy and far off.

“The wizard knocked out the remaining guard before they could harm his companion, who’d jumped into the fray, but the Cigani woman got hurt somehow. They took her with them when they left, as more men were being called.” She scowled then and spat on the ground. “Wizard could’ve helped us so much more if they’d let him.”

Ravi blinked at her in surprise. “You’d trust a wizard?”

She shrugged. “I’ve lived in Traget my whole life. I’ve seen all sorts come across that river and heard all kinds of stories about what magic does for people in Samebar. Times are changing, and not a day too soon, if you ask me.” She only paused a beat before she made the sign of the Three again and added, “Gods willing, that is.”

“Alanna!” someone shouted from inside the pub.

The woman winced. “Gotta go.”

“Wait!” Ravi called, rushing forward, “Does Daks, the man I’m looking for, does he know all this?”

“Oh yes. It’s all they can talk about in the pub these days while the soldiers lick their wounds.”

“Where did they take her, the Cigani woman?”

“To the barbarian settlement, I suppose,” she replied with a shrug. “North and west, up the Bael toward the mountains is what people say.”

Ravi groaned as she disappeared inside. How the hells was he supposed to find Daks in the wilderness, especially when the man had a few hours’ head start?

Without any logical hope, he allowed the memory of his Vision to pull him toward the northwestern edge of town. But as he stared at the encroaching wilderness beyond the farms, his heart sank. He had no supplies, no money, no one to ask for help, and no clue what he was doing. He also had no way of getting back across the river.

He could only partly blame his curse this time. If it had come only a few hours earlier, he could have sent Daks off with a warning, or insisted on going with him. But he’d also let his feelings drive him to do something utterly stupid… yet again. Daks was a bad influence that way, to be sure.

He took a breath and closed his eyes. He was here now. He couldn’t flounder around helplessly. He hadn’t survived for a decade on his own in the streets of Rassat for nothing. He could do this. Daks needed him.

Inside, he strained in search of that feeling: the one that had led him through the darkened streets of Urmat, the one that had brought him here. At last he felt it, a flutter deep inside, and the more he focused on it, the stronger it got, tugging him in only one direction, like a compass needle. He had confirmation he was headed in the right direction. Now he just had to figure out how to get there in time.

The northwestern road rose steadily upward away from the ferry landing, so he had a good view of Traget and the guard encampment just outside it… and the small temporary corral they’d built for their mounts.

Heart in his throat, he started jogging toward it, keeping low, inside the tree line. Did he really think he could steal a horse in broad daylight from the King’s Guard?

The camp seemed mostly empty right now. Perhaps they were somewhere licking their wounds, like the barmaid had said. Besides, he’d already taken one page out of Daks’s book. Why not two? If he slipped in from the back and took out part of the makeshift fencing, he could steal away in the confusion of escaping horses, right?

His hands shook, and he couldn’t quite get a full breath, but he kept going, straining for any tingle of danger his gift might give him. He was only about twenty yards from his target when a bolt of alarm shot through him. Without hesitation, he heeded the warning and dove into a cluster of thorny bushes, hopefully out of sight.

A few seconds later, two men—one in a guard-blue tabard and one in crimson robes—stepped from between some tents and headed straight in his direction.

“I’m telling you, I felt something out here,” the brother said irritably.

“I’m not contradicting you, Brother,” the guard replied with obvious patience. “But you’ve said that several times over the last few days and