Siena (Forestfolk, Book 1)

Chapter 14

“Siena.”

I grunted and rolled onto my side, snuggling deeper into the covers.

“Siena.” The voice was soft but insistent. A boy’s voice.

My mind slowly registered that someone was talking to me, waking me.

“Siena, I’m back.”

I pried an eye open and tried to focus on the person crouching next to my head. The room was lit by a torch he held. I wrinkled my nose at its acrid smell, and he moved it away, tucking it into a sconce on the wall.

When he came back I was finally able to see who it was. I should have recognized him from the start, but my mind was still mired in the bog of sleep. “Remi,” I mumbled.

“You are quite the sleeper.” He chuckled.

“You have no idea.” I forced my other eye open. His face looked dirty and weary, thinner than it was when he left. But his eyes shone with happiness. I dared to hope he was happy to see me.

I smiled and said, “You made it back.”

He nodded. “I wanted you to be the first to know. I’m sorry for waking you.”

“I’m glad you did,” I said, my voice still thick with sleep.

“Go back to sleep,” he said and brushed my hair away from my face. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Okay,” I mumbled as my eyes drifted shut again.

In the morning, as I stretched languidly in bed, I wondered if I had imagined it. Did Remi really show up in my cabin in the middle of the night? It seemed like a hazy memory now, like the tail end of a nice dream.

When I exited my cabin, I found it was late morning. A man rushed up to me and pressed a small bowl into my hand. It was filled with a thick, golden goo.

“Honey,” he said. “For aiding me.” He took my other hand and held it against the bowl so that both his hands were cupping mine around the bowl. Then he looked into my eyes. “I might have died were it not for you.”

Before I could react, he turned and left, disappearing into a thicket. I stood there, staring down at the bowl in my hands. Honey was a rarity, difficult to acquire. This man had been gathering it yesterday when a poisonous snake had taken him by surprise. He had stumbled back and collapsed not far from Zelly’s garden, moaning for help.

“Wender!” She had recognized the honey collector immediately.

I remembered seeing the swollen bite marks on his ankle, quickly turning dark purple. His entire leg had started to bloat, and he burned with fever.

I had easily healed the bite itself, but the venom had already infected his blood, was spreading up his leg. I had to help his body combat the poison until it had passed out of his system. It took a long time. When the man’s leg had finally shrunk back to normal, he was able to sit up, his fever gone.

Zelly had helped me wobble back to my cabin, where I fell into bed. It had been late afternoon. I was pretty sure my bouts of prolonged, deep sleep had become famous in Foresthome.

I dipped my finger into the honey and poked it into my mouth, smiling as the sweetness coated my tongue. I would bring it with me to share with my breakfast companions. Ever since the fire, Sember followed me everywhere. Nirrin came and went according to her whims, but Sember would seek me out every day, asking about my gift and about her own. I could tell her gift frightened her, and maybe she felt safer being near me. Like if she were to lose control, I would be there to fix things. I understood her guilt completely, but I found it difficult to imagine being afraid of my own abilities, such an intrinsic part of myself.

Sember and Nirrin grinned and waved at me when I arrived. Nirrin looked as if she were about to burst with excitement.

“Did you hear?” Nirrin crowed. “Remi is back!”

“Is that so?” So his visit last night had been real after all. I fought back an incriminating blush.

“Yes! Everyone’s talking about it! He has news,” she said ominously.

“Oh?” I kept my voice noncommittal, even though I was dying to know what he found.

“There’s going to be a meeting later. We all get to find out!”

I acknowledged this with a nod, and Nirrin exhaled in exasperation.

“Aren’t you excited to see him?” she squealed. “He’s been gone, like, forever!”

“Of course. I’ve missed him too, you know.”

“But you don’t look excited,” she said petulantly, as if I wasn’t being honest.

Little Sember came to my rescue. “Maybe not everyone gets excited on the outside like you do.”

Her insight actually surprised me, especially for a six-year-old.

“Really?” Nirrin seemed to ponder this, as if it had never occurred to her. “People can be excited inside while they look bored on the outside?”

“I look bored?” My eyebrows shot up. I tended to keep my feelings to myself, but . . . did I come off as uninterested?

“Kind of,” Nirrin answered.

“She does not,” Sember retorted.

“I’m just being honest,” Nirrin said, rolling a berry around her tray with a finger.

“Well, I think you’re being mean,” Sember said, lifting her chin. I noticed her hands clenching into little fists.

“It’s okay, Sember,” I said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I don’t think she meant anything by it. Maybe my face is a little boring.”

Her green eyes studied my face before saying, “No, I think it’s beautiful.”

“I think she’s beautiful too!” Nirrin said defensively. “I didn’t say her face was boring!”

By now I was blushing and busy stuffing my mouth with carrots from Nirrin’s tray.

Sember finally decided that Nirrin was back on our side and unclenched her fists. I sighed inwardly and relaxed my shoulders.

“It’s Remi!” Nirrin squealed and my head sprang up.

He sauntered our way, combing his wet hair back with his fingers. His sleeveless hide vest clung to his glistening chest. He must have just come back from the lake.

When he arrived at our table he leaned forward, resting his weight on his elbows. “I didn’t expect to find all my favorite ladies at the same table,” he said with a wink.

Nirrin and Sember both giggled. I merely smiled, trying to contain the unexpected flip in my stomach after seeing him. He looked a lot like I remembered him from last night, both happy and weary at the same time. Only cleaner.

“Siena saved Wender from a snake bite yesterday!” Nirrin announced, obviously wanting to impress Remi, even though it wasn’t her own accomplishment.

He raised his brows and looked curiously at me. “She did?”

“Yes, she’s a healer! Did you know she was gifted? She just touches people and they get better! Isn’t that amazing?” Nirrin was almost bouncing in her seat.

His eyes never left mine as he nodded. “Yes, it is amazing.” One corner of his mouth lifted. It was a tiny movement, but it warmed me, and I wasn’t sure why his approval meant so much.

My insides knotted strangely, so I looked down at my tray and concentrated hard on breaking a corn cake into pieces.

He stole one of the pieces and asked, “What else happened while I was out?”

Nirrin was more than happy to supply answers. “Siena also saved Sember’s parents from a fire! That’s when we first found out she was gifted.”

“A fire?”

“Yes, Sember started it. It was an accident. It was huge.”

I felt Remi’s eyes on me again, but I was watching Sember. She frowned into her lap, her breathing shallow.

“Sember, don’t think about it,” I said gently.

She jumped to her feet, mumbled, “I’m sorry” without looking up, and ran away.

“Where is she going?” Nirrin asked, eyebrows squishing together.

“She’s still coping. She feels very bad about it. Maybe you shouldn’t bring it up for a while.”

“Oh.” Nirrin’s face pinched in thought for a moment. “I didn’t think I was being mean.”

“I know. Just give her some time.”

“I’m going to go talk to Goben,” she said. She pushed her tray in front of me and left the table.

Remi slid into the vacant seat and fixed his green-brown gaze on me. “A lot has happened since I’ve been gone.”

I smiled and nodded, tracing circles around the rim of the honey bowl.

“I haven’t been back long, but I can tell the people here respect you. A lot.”

My hand stilled. “A lot?” I could hear the doubt in my voice.

He chuckled. “They love you. They give you honey.”

I turned my incredulous eyes on him, thinking he was teasing, but his own eyes were wide with sincerity. A warmth spread through me, and I couldn’t tell if it was at the thought of being loved and respected, or if it was because Remi’s eyes were roving over my face.

“You seem a little different,” he commented.

“You mean I’m able to open my eyes,” I said drily, recalling my sleepy stupor last night.

Remi laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever had such a hard time waking someone before.”

“I was recuperating!” I said indignantly.

His face turned serious again. “Siena, I’m really glad you decided to share yourself with the Forestfolk. You seem comfortable now. You belong here. You feel it, don’t you?”

“Yes.” I didn’t look away this time. “I do. I love it here.”

Remi’s hand slid across the table and grasped mine. My breath caught in my throat and I swallowed. It was warm against mine, and I fell into the depths of his hazel eyes. My brain was reeling. I wasn’t sure what was happening. My time with Meresh never felt like this.

I looked away. Meresh. Had he survived? Had anyone survived? I didn’t really miss them, but . . . all that slaughter. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Remi squeezed my hand and I returned my gaze to his. “What were you thinking about?” he asked.

“What did you find out? While you were out there?”

The light in his eyes dimmed a little and his hand slipped away. “It isn’t good.”

“Do you know if . . . if anyone survived at the Zurbo compound?”

“I don’t know. It looked . . . deserted. Was there someone there . . . you missed?” His voice sounded tentative, as if dreading my answer.

 “Not really,” I answered. “Maybe a friend. Though I don’t know if I ever had any real friends.” My face reddened at the admission.

Sensing my discomfort, he changed the subject. “So tell me how it happened.” He leaned forward on his elbows.

“How what happened?”

“When you first showed them your gift.”

“Oh. Um . . .” Heat flushed my face for some reason.

“I would have loved to see that,” he said, eyes expectant.

Feeling encouraged, I recounted the entire story, finishing with, “After that, I’m not sure what happened. I kind of passed out.”

He looked at me with wonder in his eyes. “Now I really wish I could have been there! No wonder people respect you. You truly earned it.”

I didn’t know if I could ever get used to people being awed by what I could do. It felt like they were talking about someone else. “I just did what anyone else would have done.”

Remi smiled at me like he thought I was being too humble. Or crazy. “Siena, that’s the thing. Not everyone else would do what you did, even if they had the ability. I think only Goben would run into a burning building.”

“You would too,” I said.

“True.” He smiled and dipped a finger into the honey. “We’re both pretty great.”

I laughed, but it was short lived. “Remi, what happens next?”

He thoughtfully sucked the honey off his finger and replied, “You keep on doing what you do, as long as you feel like doing it.”

“No, I mean, you said it wasn’t good, what you found. It affects Foresthome, doesn’t it?”

He looked pensive, almost unwilling to tell me, and took a carrot, dragging it through the honey and crunching into it.

“Remi, you’re going to tell everyone later anyway, right?”

He sighed and nodded. “I wanted to enjoy our time together without bad news hanging between us.”

“Remi . . .” I chewed on my lip. Something tugged at my heart, and I didn’t know what to do with it. “You know me. I need time to . . . process things.”

He nodded. “I understand. I just missed you is all.”

Warmth trickled up to my face and bloomed into a smile. “I missed you too.”

“Let’s go for a walk,” he suggested. “And I’ll tell you about what I learned.”