The Iron Butterfly (Iron Butterfly #1)

A furious shriek assailed my ears, followed by massive pounding and the breaking of boards. As I was losing the battle to stay conscious, I saw a white being surrounded by light arise and lash out toward my attacker. The pressure on my neck released, and I heard a human cry out in pain as I fell into the hay.

Rolling over, I saw it was Faraway on his hind legs stomping the attacker into the ground in a bloody frenzy, his blue eyes wild, the attacker dead.

“Oh, Faraway!” My heart cried in sorrow, knowing that he was indeed a wild and dangerous beast and would surely be put down. I felt a bubble of blood spurt out of my lips and my hand went to my throat, knowing that this was the end of my life.

Chapter 15

“I swear this one has nine lives!”

It was Healer Prentiss talking to Adept Lorna. “She should be dead!” she exclaimed in disbelief.

“Wha…Wha...” I was trying to speak but couldn’t regain control of my simple motor functions. I was obviously still groggy from whatever medicine they had given me. I felt like I was moving slowly through molasses.

“Rest, Thalia! Let us do the talking.” Lorna with her calm demeanor came and sat on the edge of my bed, but never touched me. “You were attacked in the stable. And we wouldn’t have known you were in trouble if that wild horse didn’t about tear down the stable with his screams. We heard the commotion and rushed out to find a half-crazed horse standing over your body.” She looked away from me and out the window.

My hand flinched and I raised one finger toward her. My pathetic attempt to try and get her to continue speaking. She did.

“We actually feared the worst! You have to understand it wasn’t a pretty picture. When we saw the dead body, we assumed it was a student and that you were dead too, killed by the wild stallion. Master Grese started crying and blubbering that it was his fault, he encouraged you. But the stupid beast wouldn’t let anyone come near you until I arrived. Then the crazy horse finally moved away and walked back into his stall.

“It wasn’t until closer examination of the other body did we realize it wasn’t a Denai student but an assassin sent after you. The bloody garrote was evidence enough.” She looked back at me. “We haven’t seen anything like this before. Your throat had been slashed and you had lost a lot of blood, but you were still alive, when by all accounts you should have been dead.”

Healer Prentiss interrupted by bringing me a cup of herbal tea. “Drink it in slow sips,” she commanded; giving a look to Adept Lorna, she slipped out of the room leaving us alone.

Finally I spoke up, slowly. “Can a Denai control animals?” I asked, taking another sip.

“Some can, we even have a few Denai here that can.”

Using the back of my hand to wipe my mouth, I went on to tell her about the raven at my window, using the fewest amount of words as possible. Nothing I said fazed her.

“Thalia, I think you should know that Adept Pax and I have come to an agreement that you need to be trained in self-defense. You are still new to your powers and we don’t even know the full extent of them, but he was concerned that you should know how to protect yourself in case this happens again.” She stood as if to leave.

“And Thalia, until we catch whoever is behind these attacks, it may very well happen again.” She looked frustrated as if the news bothered her.

“Lorna? What did the attacker look like?” I didn’t want to ask the question but I needed to know if I knew the person. She reached out her long hand and grasped mine.

Closing my eyes I felt a shock, I was in her memories and I was looking at last night through her viewpoint. I could see Faraway fidgeting in his stall, my body being hefted on a stretcher and carried to the infirmary.

Lorna glancing over to the mangled, bloody form of the stranger in black, leaning down, she grabbed the shoulder and rolled the body over onto his back.

I wanted to close my eyes at the flood of images that was laid out before me but I couldn’t because these were Lorna’s memories. I watched as her eyes skimmed his body for damage and any signs of life and then came to rest on his battered face. Revulsion overcame my body as I recognized the attacker as one of the Septori; it was Crow.

The one whose robe I grabbed in the prison and told me that Cammie was dead. I wanted to pull away from the image of the pale, dead face, gaping mouth opened in a silent scream. A muted whimper came from my throat and Adept Lorna let go of my hand and the images faded.

“So do you recognize him?” she asked.

Nodding my head, I felt sick to my stomach. “Crow.”

“It’s as I feared. With the attack in the alley with the dogs, and the assassin in the stables, we can only form one conclusion. That the Septori know you’re here and they aren’t going to stop until they get what they’ve come for.”

“Which is?” I barely whispered the words. I needed to hear her say it before I could believe it. It wasn’t true unless Adept Lorna said it.

“You!” she spoke firmly without compassion. “Not only you, but I believe they want you…dead.” She didn’t sugarcoat it. It was as I feared.

The saucer and cup slid from my fingers to break upon the cold stone floor. The remaining tea splattered against the bedpost and white sheets, but I didn’t care. Despair seemed to overtake me and I sat shaking in my bed. All along didn’t I know this would happen? That my freedom and life were really only temporary. I couldn’t hide forever before the Septori caught up to me and finished me off. I think I knew all along, that safe was a foreign word and never included me.

Her words froze me to the core, and I felt as if the room began to close in on me. My eyes started to lose focus and I forgot to breathe. Panic started to overtake me when a hand touched me and all of the feelings melted away. In their place, warmth spread over me leaving no room for terror. Adept Lorna was controlling my emotions.

“I must speak with the Council and with Pax.”

She stood to leave but I grabbed her hand in final act of desperation.

“Faraway?” I asked. “They’re not going to put him down, are they?”

Adept Lorna gave a solemn smile. “After that crazy beast saved your life, we wouldn’t dream of it. He still won’t let anyone go near him, and Master Grese is determined that he is to be given to you. So, Thalia, it looks like you got yourself a horse.”

Chapter 16

I spent the next couple of days in the Healer’s wing and was kept busy with guests. They distracted me from my fears of the Septori, and Adept Lorna came to check on me often and kept the terror at bay.

Avina entertained with her lovesick chatter about Niclas. Donn snuck in from time to time bringing me sweetbread, saying that how do they expect me to get well on tasteless broth.

Berry visited and brought fresh cut flowers to brighten up the dreary white, starched room. And Joss brought my homework and read my textbooks to me, even though I could read them myself.

He just grinned and said it was really an excuse to hide out so that way he could avoid the swarm of girls that always seemed to follow him. But the most surprising guest was Darren.

“Ah, so how is our friend doing today?” he sang as he burst into the ward in a flurry of motion and color. His short blue cloak billowing out behind him and he moved to the side of my bed, grasping Joss in a friendly hug, slapping his back and leaning down to give me a fatherly peck on my forehead.