The Enchanted Castle by Secchia Marc

Author:Secchia, Marc [Secchia, Marc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Young Adult, Adventure
Amazon: B00BAH9S8M
Goodreads: 18393108
Publisher: Kindle
Published: 2013-02-01T08:00:00+00:00

She could hear him wonderfully well. Her ears were hearing a language she should never have understood. Her brain was transforming it into speech. But while she comprehended it at one level, at another, their interaction resonated with nuances and undercurrents she did not yet grasp.

“Shioni?” he rumbled, at length. “That is an admirable name. Here,” he said, moving forward to nuzzle the hand covering her shoulder, “do not be afraid. Remove your paw. Let me tend your wound.”

A remarkably rough tongue rasped over the broken skin. A glint of white bone showed in several of the four slashes from the lion’s claws, Shioni saw, and rightly, she should be fainting from the pain. But his tongue seemed to soothe rather than scrape. Her whole arm was tingling now. At his urging she raised herself onto her elbow, so that he could reach behind her shoulder blade. The tingling started there too.

Understanding blossomed within her. The lion had healed so quickly, even from the severe wounds he had suffered from the hyenas and from the hunter’s arrow which had stuck deep in his chest. However, healing herbs and food forced down his throat was no explanation for this miraculous recovery. It must be magic.

She had helped him, now he was healing her.

Shioni’s eyes were agog, huge with wonder. The lion padded in lithe circles, flexing his claws impatiently as she examined her shoulder.

“Do not use your limb for several days,” he cautioned. “The bleeding has stopped, but you will always bear my mark. Bear it with pride.”

“You… who are you? What are you?”

“Who are you, human cub, that you boldly enter the lion’s lair?” he growled back. “As for me, I am called Anbessa. I am the Lord of all Lions, and ruler of these mountains.” And with this he lifted his head to the stars and roared a shattering roar!

Shioni found herself backed up against a boulder, as far away from Anbessa as she could be. Her ears were ringing, and her heart thumped madly against her ribs.

Narrowing his eyes to slits, the lion demanded, “Answer my questions! Why do your people make a den beneath Kalcha’s curse? Why is your mane like a lion’s?”

Quite unexpectedly, Shioni’s anger flared like wildfire. Why, this lion was nothing but a big bully, thundering at her like this! She pushed off the rock. “Stop snarling at me!”

Anbessa’s lips curled up over his dagger-like canines, but his snarl was mixed with laughter. “Showing your teeth, little cub?” He seemed oddly pleased. “Then speak.”

Shioni explained about her origins; about her owner, and the strangeness of the castle, infested with snakes; how the workers had become afraid of witchcraft because of the many accidents. Just the day before, a wall had collapsed, killing six slaves and a warrior. Mama Nomuula had more snakebite cases than she could deal with. She related her encounter with the python and her strange faint in the elephant pen. Then, at Anbessa’s urging, she backtracked to the hyena-pack, and why she had returned to treat his wounds.

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