Read Firewalk for Free Online Page A

tack and brushing the horse were a sweet reminder of her chores at the temple. Working with her hands under the setting sun, in the sweet-smelling, clean breeze of the plains gave her a sense of place in the order of things, and with a lighter heart Kayli joined Endra at the fire the midwife had built in front of her tent.
    The aroma of roasting meat drifted over from the main fire, and Kayli sighed. She’d begun her fast the night before, less than a sevenday after she’d just finished the modified fast for her first firewalk. Already her stomach was achingly empty after her day’s ride. Endra had put a piece of the plains deer to boil over their fire with herbs; the pot liquor was all Kayli could eat until her Awakening—if, indeed, she reminded herself, her Awakening ever took place.
    That thought alone was enough to kill her appetite, and Kayli, ignoring Endra and the maids, slid quietly into her hide tent. Kayli untied her jaffs and laid them aside, then unbuckled the straps tightening the tops of her high boots to hold in the bottoms of her trousers, and laid her boots and stockings aside as well, sighing with relief as she pulled off her scarf and shook her braids free. Now she could stop pretending to be Kayli the noble lady, and simply be Kayli the Dedicate again.
    But was she? The temple lay far behind her and there was no promise now that an Awakening awaited her. Now the noble lady was as real, at least, as the Dedicate. Who was it standing here in her bare feet and riding clothes, freed of all masks? Was it either, or both, or some other Kayli who had not existed for the thirteen years since she’d first set foot in the Temple of Inner Flame?
    “My lady?” Terralt called from just outside her tent flap. “I would speak with you. May I come in?”
    Once more Kayli swallowed her irritation. Come in indeed, as if any honorable maiden of noble birth would entertain a man in her tent alone!
    “You may not,” she said sternly. “I will come out.” She strode out just as she was, barefoot and with her thirty-nine thin black braids hanging over her shoulders and back.
    Terralt raised one eyebrow and nodded with mocking admiration as his eyes swept insolently over Kayli. He held a platter containing a steaming leg of meat.
    “Your pardon, my lady.” He grinned. “I see that I’ve disturbed you. But the guards are complaining endlessly of their cut legs and I remembered my lady’s kind offer earlier today. Also my guards’ fire is no place for your gentle ladies, so I thought I’d bring some of the meat here.”
    “A kindly gesture, and one for which we are most grateful,” Kayli said politely, averting her eyes from the food. One of the maids hurriedly took the platter and whisked it away. “Endra, Terralt’s guards need jaffs for the remainder of our journey through Bregond. As you and the maids are riding in the wagons, I offered to share ours. Will you gather what we have and see if the ties can be lengthened?”
    “Aye, lady,” Endra said, nodding. “I’ll make a salve; too, else swordgrass cuts will fester.” She started to turn away, then hesitated, glancing at Terralt. “If there’s nothing more, lady—”
    “No, thank you, Endra,” Kayli said, nodding reassuringly. To her discomfort, Terralt followed her to the fire; the maids hastily retired, laying out cushions for Kayli and Terralt to sit on. Anida alone remained, settling down a discreet distance away.
    Terralt speared a piece of meat on his dagger, raising his black eyebrows again as Kayli filled a cup with broth and sat down on one of the cushions.
    “Thin soup?” He chuckled. “Are you fasting, or merely afraid that I’ve poisoned your meat?”
    “If I thought that, I would scarcely let my maids eat of it,” Kayli said practically. “But I am indeed fasting, until my wedding day.”
    “But that’s five days’ ride at the best speed the wagons can make,” Terralt said, surprised, for once without mockery.