The Curse Giver by Dora Machado

Author:Dora Machado [Machado, Dora]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Twilight Times Books
Published: 2013-07-03T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter Forty-seven

ONCE ALL THE CHILDREN WERE ASLEEP, Lusielle wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and tiptoed up the stairs. The day had been long, the night was coming to an end and her mind was spinning with a million thoughts. She longed to clear her head, but as soon as she stepped onto the deck, she found her way blocked by a human wall.

“Where are you going?” Severo said.

“Where I go and what I do is not your affair,” Lusielle said.

“I think you’d be better off staying inside, mistress.”

“Mistress?” Lusielle gaped. “Since when do you call the likes of me ‘mistress’?”

“Never mind that, mistress. It’s coldest before dawn. You’ll catch a cold if you step out. Best stay warm inside.”

“Are you ill?” Lusielle stood on the tip of her toes and put her hand to Severo’s forehead. “No fever. I’ll have to mix you something to alleviate your violent mood swings. They seem common to the Laonian blood. Now, please, let me pass. I’d like to take a stroll on the deck.”

“It’s dark,” Severo said. “You could fall overboard. You could trip on the ropes and break your ribs.”

“I could get hit straight on by a sparrow’s beak and lose an eye too, but it’s not likely to happen.”

“Mistress, please, be sensible,” the man begged. “You could bump your head on the mast. You could slip on the deck and crack your skull.”

“What is it to you if I do?” Lusielle said. “I know that you and the Twenty don’t want me around, but I’m not intimidated by the lot of you. Stand aside and let me be.”

“But mistress—”

“I’ll take it from here.” Bren stepped out of the shadows, startling Lusielle. “If the mistress doesn’t mind, I’ll keep her company so you can get some rest.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Severo’s appreciation seemed strangely genuine as he took his leave.

“I’ll have to keep an eye on him,” Lusielle said. “I’m sure he’s coming down with something.”

Bren laughed, and although Lusielle didn’t understand what was so funny, she smiled, if only because she liked the sound of his laughter. He took her arm and led her over to the gunwales where the dark Nerpes murmured a seductive whisper as it carried the barge away. Lusielle shivered and hugged her cloak when a chilly breeze arose. She was surprised when Bren came up behind her and, wrapping his arms around her, gathered her body into the folds of his heavier mantle.

“Is this better?” he said. “Do you mind?”

Yes, she minded a lot. “It’s fine,” she said instead. “Although it’s probably reckless.”

“Well, as long as we’re being reckless …” He swooped down and kissed her, a kiss that drew the strength from her knees. If her mind ever had the urge to refuse him, the charge was never relayed to her body. She went into his arms like a routed army, molding her back to his body like the river to the land.

It was astonishing. For the first time in her life, she didn’t

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