Faith in Flames by Melissa McShane

Author:Melissa McShane [McShane, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Night Harbor Publishing

Chapter Twenty-One

Lamprophyre woke early the next morning to the smell of roasted cow and the sounds of rapidly pattering feet. She opened one eye to see a small figure dart past the doorway, followed by a slightly larger one. So Bhakriya was here. Lamprophyre closed her eye and stretched, flexing her wings. She didn’t have to get up immediately. Besides, after the turmoil and stress of the past two days, she felt entitled to sleep in.

Thoughts intruded on her peaceful morning, not terrible ones, but ones focused on her: big as a house and could squish us and smells like fire. Lamprophyre sighed, and realized she’d breathed out smoke when the thoughts became agitated. “It’s all right, it’s just smoke,” she said, opening her eyes. Bhakriya’s children regarded her from the doorway, their thoughts uncertain but curious. Lamprophyre couldn’t remember their names.

“Do you want to come in?” she asked.

The girl shook her head vigorously and grabbed the smaller child, the boy, by the shoulder to keep him from advancing. “Mama said not to disturb you,” she said.

“I’m awake, so it’s no disturbance,” Lamprophyre said. “My name is Lamprophyre. I’m sorry, but I don’t remember yours.”

The little boy wrenched free of his sister’s grasp and walked to within touching distance of Lamprophyre. “I’m Abhit,” he said. “I like blue. You’re very blue.”

“I am,” Lamprophyre agreed. “Did you eat breakfast? Because it smells like mine is almost ready, and you can have some of it if you like.”

“Depik made porridge for all of us,” the girl said. She took a few tentative steps forward. “I’m Preyanka.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Lamprophyre said. “Now, I don’t want to step on you, so if you’d move to the side, please?”

Preyanka took Abhit by the hand and towed him rapidly to where Lamprophyre’s books lay piled on their cloth. Abhit’s eyes widened. “You have books!” he exclaimed.

“I do. If you want, you can look at them. Just be very careful, because they’re expensive and some of them aren’t mine.”

Preyanka nodded. “We had a whole room of them in our house in Kolmira,” she said, then shut her mouth and ducked her head as if she’d said something she shouldn’t. Lamprophyre guessed she didn’t want to talk about the home they’d left behind, particularly if her father was as awful a person as Lamprophyre imagined.

“Well, enjoy yourselves,” Lamprophyre said, as if she hadn’t noticed Preyanka’s confusion, and strolled to the dining pavilion, where Depik had just wheeled out the trolley. Steak. Depik must be feeling very well today.

Bhakriya emerged from the kitchen with a wooden bowl in her hands and a scrap of cloth she was drying it with. “Thank you again, my lady,” she said. “It wasn’t necessary to provide us with special food. Scraps are fine.”

“That was Depik’s idea, not mine, and I leave those decisions to him,” Lamprophyre said around a mouthful of steak. “Besides, I don’t think porridge is expensive, if that’s what you’re worried about, and all of that aside, I want the people who work for me to be well-fed so they won’t want to be hired away.

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