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

to my surprise, her appearance—hair, skin coloring, and fascial structure—changed to that of a young village woman. Spraggel, Fumiko, and Cabrina quickly donned theirs and became villagers of similar ages and heights.

Kaleefah nodded at her handiwork. “Those will also mask your myst signatures. Now all that’s left is to have a little fun and wait for those things to pass.”

“What about Oddfrid?” I asked.

She nodded again. “Already taken care of.”

Fumiko leaned forward. “Won’t they be suspicious that we haven’t noticed them?”

Kaleefah shook her head. “On the contrary. They’ll be suspicious if we do notice. That thing would normally be invisible, but we’re able to see it because of the barrier around the village. It shows all invisible things.”

“Barrier?”

She nodded. “It’s how I earn my keep. Keeping all the pests away.” She grinned and pointed at the giant eye. “Even the myst ones.” She pushed me toward a knot of people around the fire. “Now mingle. No more than two of you together at a time. And leave the princess with me. I’ll have her sit at my side. She’ll look like an attendant.”

I turned to say something to Spraggel but found he wasn’t there. Looking around, I saw him holding a clay cup, and using hand gestures, was trying to talk with one of the older ladies. I couldn’t help but smile. Spraggel may be older than the Creator himself, but he definitely knew how to get around.

Fumiko leaned close. “I’m going to patrol the perimeter. I’m not comfortable with this subterfuge, and I want to be ready in case it goes bad.”

I nodded. “I’ll keep an eye on Cabrina.”

She was immediately off toward the edge of the activities.

I didn’t have to look far for the youth. She was glued to my side. Even through her disguise, it was evident that she was nervous.

I glanced up at the eye. It was nearly on us, and I didn’t want to give it the least indication we didn’t belong.

I leaned toward Cabrina. “Kaleefah says we’ll be all right. I don’t think we have anything to worry about. So try to relax a little.”

Cabrina shook her head. “You misunderstand. Those don’t frighten us. We’re afraid of all the gathered people.” She licked her lips. “Neither of us have experience with this sort of thing.”

I smiled. “Then, the appropriate thing to do is to face your fears.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the crowd standing around the firepit. She reluctantly followed.

The gathered crowd made room for us, and those close by were smil-ing. They didn’t seem very concerned about the watcher above.

Closer to the firepit was a wide, open space. A group of the villagers had formed a circle, holding hands and dancing to the beat of the drums. I did a double-take. Spraggel was in the midst of it, laughing with the older woman I had seen earlier.

I sighed. That man.

At some signal, the ring in the middle broke apart, and the younger girls all ran to join it. Another young girl about Cabrina’s age took her hand and pulled her forward. She nervously looked over her shoulder at me, and I motioned for her to go. She reluctantly let herself be hauled away.

The steps were simple, and Cabrina easily mimicked them. And while her expression was more restrained than the others, she too smiled with her new friends.

I had moved so that I could keep watch on Cabrina, as well as the approaching eye. It took every ounce of control I had not to look at them when they arrived over top of us. The eye paused, seeming to watch us closely. But after several agonizing heartbeats, it finally moved on. I sighed deeply, realizing I had been holding my breath.

After the giant eye had moved down the river, I sat next to Kaleefah, who was intently watching the dancing. Zofie, in her disguise, knelt beside her. I couldn’t resist taking her hand and kissing it. “Do you think they will be back?” I asked.

Kaleefah bobbed her head. I think she was attempting to shrug. “I’m not sure, but I doubt it. The amount of myst needed to maintain the eye is huge, especially from a distance.” She turned to look at me and grew serious. “But you must leave in the morning.”

I had expected this. They had granted us a tremendous courtesy by protecting us. But there had to be limits. We had just put the entire village in danger.

“I understand,” I said. “But will Oddfrid be well enough to travel by then?”

Kaleefah looked back to the dancers. “My student will not be going with you. It will take him weeks to recover enough to even think of using his myst.”

She reached her large multijointed hand over and patted my own. “Fear not. I will not make you walk all the way to the Kuiojia Empire.” She leaned forward and pulled back those teeth in the semblance of a smile. “I will open a portal for you.” Her smiled faded. “I also need to give you some information. I debated about letting you know this.”

The elder considered me for a moment. She then signaled over her shoulder to the young one behind her. The girl immediately got up and then knelt between us. She looked nervous.

Kaleefah ran her hand down the younger’s head, smoothing her downy feathers. I could tell this was a gesture of affection for her.

“My daughter has something she needs to tell you,” said Kaleefah. “You see, I had planned to accompany you to the Kuiojia Empire, but this one has forbidden me. When I asked her why, she didn’t want to tell me at first, but it eventually became too much for her to bear, so she finally did.”

I waited for her to proceed. I couldn’t help but wonder what was so