A Crown of Flames by Pauline Creeden & Melinda R. Cordell

Author:Pauline Creeden & Melinda R. Cordell [Cordell, Melinda R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-14T05:00:00+00:00

18

The Burning Rose

Dyrfinna woke up. Stars shone overhead through the brambles of a rose bush. She stared at them, confused, trying to piece together where she was and what had happened.

She realized she was inside the gigantic rose bush, since no other plant she’d ever seen had roses that softly burned with a mystic flame.

Then she remembered what had happened.

With a gasp, she looked at her chest. The sword that had loomed there, sticking out of her chest, was gone. In its place rested a rose that burned with a soft blue flame. She stared, hypnotized by the flames that flickered from the petals.

A soft cough from next to her. It came from Ibn, who sat cross-legged at her side, his white clothes stained with blood around his arms.

“I am glad to see you awake,” he said gently.

“What happened?” Dyrfinna asked. It hurt to speak, in both her chest and throat. She winced.

“Nauma threw a sword through you,” Ibn said. “But we got it out again.”

Dyrfinna looked again at her chest where the sword had been, and then back to Ibn. “But I … I was dead.”

“Only a little dead. Not very much.” He poured water for her into a small clay cup. “I’ll help you sit up, just a little. You need to drink.”

She sat up slightly, though the wound in her chest hurt, and she was afraid that she’d cause it to open up again from that little movement. The water was cold but scented like roses. She emptied the cup, had a second cup and emptied that as well, and lay back again, feeling a little better.

“Sleep now,” Ibn said, setting the burning rose back on her chest. Its warmth soaked into her, gentling away her pain, making her drowsy. “We are all well. Nauma has gone away for now, and Varinn is preparing his forces to pursue her.”

Dyrfinna’s eyes, which had been slowly closing, popped back open. “Nauma. I need to stop her.”

“You are not going to stop anything in your condition. Now, rest.”

Dyrfinna shut her eyes. “But we need to do something.”

“Enough talking.” He touched her forehead with two fingers. “Now sleep.”

“Okay,” said Dyrfinna obediently, and she did.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.