Assassin of Curses: (The Coren Hart Chronicles Book 3) Jessie Eaker (best reads txt) 📖

good, but especially Zofie. I wished she could have seen it. She so loved new clothes. I stepped up to her and kissed her on the cheek. All the villagers awed in appreciation.

They then led us into one of the larger huts in the village and indicated we should all sit on the mats around the hut’s fire pit, although today, there were no flames.

The sun was almost down by that point, but the interior was gently lit with golden myst lanterns. The interior carried the strong scent of flowers, and indeed there were two fresh bundles propped up against the wall on the side opposite the door. A crown made of feathers hung on the wall above the flowers, and on the ground around it were several small, beautifully decorated vases. All of them had been covered and sealed with wax. I somehow got the impression it was some sort of shrine.

Two female guards took positions outside the door, and then an older woman entered with a young girl trailing her. The dim light did not immediately reveal their features. It appeared the woman’s hair was completely white and flowed down her back in what looked to be thick curling locks. The girl with her was dressed similarly, but her hair was of a vibrant yellow. The color would have put some flowers to shame.

They both went to the side of the room with the vases and knelt there. They paused with head bowed for almost a minute, before turning to face us and taking their places on the mat. But when the woman looked up, my eyes went wide.

She was not human.

Her skin had a scaly look to it, and from what I could tell in the dim light, was a yellowish-green color. And what I had thought was hair, was instead some type of down. I still thought she could be considered an elder because of her wrinkled skin, but now I wasn’t sure. The girl behind her was of the same race, although a smaller and non-wrinkled version.

The woman looked up at us and gave a toothy grin. “Welcome to our village,” she said in lightly accented Ellish. “My name is Kaleefah, and this girl is my daughter Haahleefah.”

I stared at her, completely at a loss for words. Exactly what was she?

I gave a slight bow. “I am Coren Hart.” I then introduced everyone. I noticed her smile dropped as she looked at Cabrina—a faint rumble coming from her chest. But she seemed to catch herself and returned to her odd smile.

It dawned on me that pulling her mouth back and revealing her teeth was not a natural behavior for her species. Instead, it was something she did to approximate a smile for her human companions. However, I’m not sure it was having the intended effect.

“I trust my people have been treating you well?” she asked.

“Very well,” I managed to get out. “We thank you for your hospitality?” I leaned forward. “What of our friend? Is he all right?”

She nodded. “Oddfrid is being cared for. He is suffering from severe myst depletion, as well as a myst backlash. I’m surprised he wasn’t killed. We’ve done all we can for him at this point. And I assure you, he is getting the best care we can offer. After all, he is an old friend. My apprentice, actually. Which is likely the reason you ended up here—somewhere he knew would be safe.”

I bowed my head to her. “Thank you again for your generosity.” A thousand questions leaped to mind, but Spraggel beat me to it.

My old master leaned forward, looking like he had just received a Day of the New present. “You wouldn’t by chance be a Ntipani, would you?”

Kaleefah’s downy hair gave a quick vibration, and her mouth stretched into one of her toothy smiles. She was clearly pleased. “Why yes, I am. I believe my daughter and I are the only ones left in this world. I’m surprised you know the name.”

Kaleefah put a hand over her mouth in another attempt to mimic a human gesture. Her hand drew my attention. It was different from a human’s with long fingers and one too many joints. It hit me that I had seen one like it before—when we had accidentally opened the portal on Mount Eternal. It had been probing the newly opened entrance to our world.

Spraggel grinned. “I ran across the description in my research a while back. Your kind was mentioned in a passage from the War with the Dark Avenyts. Scholars have been arguing about your existence for centuries.”

“Well, I assure you, I do exist. For now, at least.” She leaned forward and turned to me. “So tell me, Coren Hart. What brings the Thief of Curses and the Xernow heir to our village.” She glanced at Cabrina. “And why are you traveling with an Avenyts?”

These people had been very kind to us, so I saw no reason to hide anything. I took a deep breath. “Oddfrid agreed to take us to the Kuiojia Empire to remove these charms.” I held up my wrist. “The young lady over there tricked us with these bracelets, and now we can’t take them off, or they will kill us. These charms have silenced Abhulengulus and stolen Zofie’s will. A powerful myst user in the empire, Imperial Advisor Yonge, thinks he can remove them. We’re trying to get there.”

She looked at Cabrina. “Interesting. Avenyts don’t typically use charms since they can’t control them.” She looked back to me. “What else? Surely, Yonge isn’t doing this for free.”

I leaned back. “Well, our kingdom needs food to survive the winter. He agreed to remove the charms and give us supplies in exchange....”

Kaleefah interrupted, her smile growing harder. “For the Griffin’s Key. And he plans to use it to access the Forever Nexus Shadow.”

I blinked at her.