Seer's Hope (Book 1 of The Seer Trilogy)

Seer's Hope (Chapter 5)

Seer's Hope 

By Maree Anderson

Chapter Five

Blayne clenched his hands into tight fists. All he could do was stand helplessly at Hope's side. Now he truly understood how the relatives of seriously ill patients must feel. Every muscle strained with the need to ignore Dayamar's command and render what little aid he could as he watched Hope writhe and clutch her stomach. She full-body shuddered, twitching and jerking. Her teeth chattered. A hoarse cry ripped from her throat... and one last gusty sigh that sounded like a death-rattle before she lapsed into unconsciousness.

They eased her down onto the mattress. Blayne checked her vital signs, and only then released the breath he'd been holding. Her pulse was now steady and her breathing had visibly eased.

He covered her with a blanket and told himself to relax. The danger was over. For now.

Cayl approached, jaw gaping at Hope's prone form. He shook his head, his body vibrating disbelief. "Sehan Dayamar, what does this mean? How can she possibly be a Sehan?"

He'd voiced questions Blayne wanted answered. How could this young woman be a Sehan when she was blind? How could a stranger, not of this world, be a Sehan?

"She needs rest," Dayamar said. "Nothing you have witnessed here is to be discussed outside this hall." His tone brooked no argument. "Blayne, we must talk. Johan will watch over Hope."

No way was Blayne leaving her side. "If you want to talk to me, Sehan Dayamar, do it here. I'm not leaving her."

Dayamar's penetrating gaze dissected Blayne, probing every nuance of his expression for answers. Whatever he learned apparently satisfied him for he nodded. "Very well." With a flick of his hand, he dismissed Cayl and Johan.

Blayne didn't respond to Cayl's clumsy attempts to catch his gaze. He turned back to Hope, seeking reassurance she was in no further danger. He knew Dayamar was observing him, doubtless drawing his own conclusions from the way Blayne fussed with the blanket he'd tucked around her. The old man could conclude whatever he liked.

Dayamar touched Blayne's shoulder to reclaim his attention. "Hope is merely sleeping now. She will soon recover fully. Sit with me and make me a cup of your excellent tea, if you please. Then you will tell me what I must know."

The old Sehan was right. Hope was as well as could be expected. Pointless to torture himself by watching her chest rise and fall as he counted each breath.

When the tea had brewed to his satisfaction, Blayne related his first encounter with Hope and the events since that day. The old Sehan's careful questioning drew out details he hadn't remembered until now. Dayamar was especially interested in Blayne's sighting of the phantom wolf, and Hope's eerie confrontation with the serpent.

At last the old man appeared satisfied. "Get some rest. I have much to think on before this night ends. If she has recovered by tomorrow we will officially introduce her to the elders then." He departed, leaving Blayne to watch over his charge.

Blayne stripped and washed off the travel grime before settling beside Hope and tucking blankets over them both. He held her close to him, listening to her steady breathing until fatigue dragged him under.

~*~

She dreamed of the animals again—a white owl, a silver wolf and a red-banded black serpent. All had the same golden eyes, ageless and glowing with power.

And then she fell into another dream....

Foul, oily gray smoke rises from the pyres, casting a pall over the settlement. Neither herbs nor fragrant oils can disguise the stench of charred and burning bodies.