Watersmeet Read Online Free Page A

Abisina could hear the wail of the wind beneath the fire’s hiss.
    Sina spoke again, her voice flat: “When Filian guessed my secret, he threatened to send me back to Vranhurst. But then the centaurs struck and he, along with so many others, died in the raid. We had unknowingly built Vranille on their sacred winter grounds and when the herd returned—well, you know the story. Filian had hoped to make peace with the centaurs”—she laughed bitterly—“and then he helped build a settlement on one of their most sacred places.”
    Abisina stared into the coals, her rage cooling in the face of her mother’s sadness. It has been hard for her, too—this life in Vranille.
    “My hope died in that raid. Filian’s other followers—those who survived—began to doubt his plan and turned back to Vran’s ideals. It would have been easy to join them, and I thought about it, but then you were born. If I were to act as a follower of Vran,” Sina said, her voice stronger, “I would have had to deny you, and that will never happen.”
    Abisina still said nothing.
    “I must believe I’ve done good here—in healing—and in other small ways. The oppression has driven others to question Vran. There are only a few of us. Some were there today: Magen, the woman who led Paleth’s mother away before she got beaten. She began to doubt when her mother hung herself after her third child was left outside the wall. And Robia. She gave Paleth some valerian so she wouldn’t feel the beating as much. Her son was sent to fight the centaurs when he had only eight winters. Jorno, too, does what he can to fight the Elders.”
    Abisina stared at her mother. “Robia and Magen risked the wrath of the Elders?” She didn’t think it was possible. Of all the villagers, women suffered the most. And Jorno— she recalled his look that morning, the whispered warning. She hadn’t imagined it. “Even Jorno?” she said.
    “Jorno’s tricked everyone since he arrived. Because they think he’s a half-wit, people talk freely in front of him. He came to tell me the news of Charach and later about Paleth. He spends his days following the Elders and collecting tidbits of gossip that might give some protection to those who need it.”
    “But Mama, why have you never told me all this?”
    “I was afraid,” Sina said quietly. “Theckis’s power has grown; no one would believe that he was once a dissenter. And he has always watched me. If he suspected me in any way, our lives would be worth nothing.”
    “But you’re the healer! They need you!”
    “Perhaps. But my sister has children. They could send to Vranhurst for another healer. I couldn’t risk your life, so I told you nothing.” Sina’s hand went to her necklace again. “Still, I may have been wrong. When I hear that you think yourself a demon—” She broke off, and Abisina watched her mother control her emotions. “I should have spoken sooner. I’ve meant to ever since the rumors of Charach started.” At the mention of his name, Sina’s face hardened. “Charach has already been to the other Vranian villages. They say he has come to lead us against the ‘monsters’ that surround us. I fear—I fear that it will be even more difficult for the outcasts.” She gripped Abisina’s hand. “We have to leave Vranille. Your father told me how to find him—if I ever changed my mind. We must find him now.”
    “He told you?” The anger flared again. “You knew how to find him—and we stayed?”
    “He lives so far from here—I didn’t think we could do it alone. And before, you were too young to try. Now, he’s our only chance.”
    “But where is he?”
    “He’s in a place called Watersmeet.”
    “Watersmeet,” Abisina repeated, the word like a drop of cool water on her tongue.
    “I don’t know much more than that—except that we can go there and be welcomed.”
    Deep in Abisina, something stirred. We will leave Vranille. I will know my father, and find a new home.
    “We