Heart of Fire Read Online Free

time
anyone’s held me since you died. I can’t live like this. I can’t. I
have to leave, Mama. I need to. I need to go somewhere people
aren’t afraid of me.”
    Jessalyne knelt with her arms
outstretched. She willed the leaf-filtered sun to melt her doubts
and strengthen her spirit for the work ahead.
    Orit showed no change when she
returned.
    There was no reason to delay. She
waved her hand and lit the beeswax candles in the wall sconces.
After easing the coverlet back, she stood at the footboard and
blocked out all but the wounded child. Occasional moans punctuated
his ragged breaths.
    The room blurred as she focused on
Orit’s innocent face, on his small body racked with fever and
infection, and the angry seeping gash. Heavy magic prickled her
skin as power flowed through her.
    She closed her eyes and visualized
Orit’s flank perfect and blemish free. In her mind, she saw him
healthy and well in both his human and deer forms.
    Holding her hands over him, she
wished she could bear his injury herself. She imagined his wound as
her own. Heat coursed over her in rippling waves, lifting the hair
off her face. Sweat trickled down her spine. A shard of pain
stabbed her side. Orit’s hurt was hers for one long, hard moment
and then dissolved, extinguishing the fire within her as it
faded.
    The heat drained out of her and she
wobbled, her balance gone. She opened her eyes but couldn’t focus.
She clutching for the footboard, as her knees give way. She dropped
to the floor with a sharp crack. She gasped and her eyes watered at
the jolt.
    On all fours, she tried to catch her
breath. She blinked, unable to clear her vision. Then she heard a
child’s voice.
    “Lady Jessalyne?”
    She tipped her head up, the action
spinning another wave of dizziness through her.
    “Lady Jessalyne, are you sick?” A
blurry Orit stood before her, in his human form.
    Small hands wrapped around her waist
trying to help her up. She laughed weakly.
    “Orit, Orit...” Her voice trailed
off as she pulled the boy against her and hugged him, kissing his
little cheeks. He squirmed out of her embrace.
    She studied him, searching for a
mark. Nothing remained of the wound.
    “What’s wrong, Lady
Jessalyne?”
    “Nothing...absolutely nothing.” Cool
relief filled her as she collapsed to the floor.
     

Chapter Two
     
    “Our business is concluded, Haemus.”
Ertemis swung into his saddle.
    “But wait, ya haven’t heard what I
have to say!” Haemus looked as if he might weep. He rubbed his
throat again.
    Ertemis peered at Haemus, impatient
to be paid. Dragon tossed his head, ready to go.
    “Yer a man fer hire, ain’t
ya?”
    “Aye.”
    “Well, I want ta hire
ya.”
    Ertemis wrinkled his brow. “For
what? And how much?”
    “Guard my way ta Drust and then
Callaoja River. Ten pieces of gold.” Haemus pulled a small pouch
off his belt and tossed it up.
    Ertemis counted the coins in the
pouch. Seventy-five as promised. Haemus might be human but his
money was good. Ten pieces of gold. Perhaps Haemus could be
quieter. “Twenty. And conversation is not provided.”
    “Aye, agreed! Again, we have a
deal.” Haemus started to reach for a handshake but stopped short,
clapping his hands together instead. “Now, ta the stables ta gather
my steed.”
    As Ertemis expected, the stables
outside Slodsham were deserted, no guards anywhere. He shook his
head with disgust. Only the wealthy and careless left their mounts
at the city mews. They might lodge the animal well enough, but here
was a prime example of what happened in time of crisis. When the
cry of quarantine went up, the guards on duty probably took the
best mounts and got as far away as possible. Anyone could walk in
and help himself to any horse he wanted. Ertemis wondered if that
wasn’t exactly what Haemus planned to do.
    An unusual quiet greeted them as
they went inside, no shuffling of hooves or whinnied greetings. The
pitch-black gave way as Ertemis’s elven sight took over. There