9
Kella lay on the bed listening to the quiet conversation on the other side of the curtain. Her fingers absently played with the knife she had drawn from its sheath. She was shocked when she regained consciousness and found herself not only safe, but still armed with all of her weapons except for the two knives she lost earlier during her fights.
She turned her head to look at the curtain. It was closed, so they could not see that she was awake. Something warned her that the old woman who cared for her knew she was conscious when the man who saved her laid her on the bed. The woman’s cold hands had trembled when she ran them over the tattoo on Kella’s neck that marked her as a Turbinta. She would earn another one when she completed her first mission.
Her lips parted at his calmly spoke
