Mist's Edge (The Broken Lands #2) - T.A. White Page 0,122
come to a point; like this. Do you see?” Shea used a stick to point out the different features, softly touching each feature as she described them. Mist frowned as she looked where Shea indicated. “It’s white ivy. It’s not really poisonous. At least not in the way we think of poison. There is a sticky oil on the leaves that most people are highly allergic too. That’s how it causes a blistering rash. If you see three, leave it be.”
Mist nodded solemnly after Shea finished, her eyes so serious as she mouthed the last phrase to herself.
“You know, Mist, Fallon and I will have to leave on a journey soon.”
The little girl’s head shot up, and she looked at Shea with horrified eyes. Shea’s heart clenched at the fear she saw on Mist’s face.
Mist gestured to herself and then Shea, her hopeful question clear.
Shea shook her head. “I’m sorry. You cannot come with us. Where we’re going is too dangerous to bring you along.”
Mist’s face fell, and she directed her attention down at her feet.
Shea saw that she was losing the girl and tried to console her. “My good friend, Daere, will look after you while we’re gone.”
Daere smiled at the little girl, her expression warmer and softer than anything Shea had seen before. She came and knelt beside Shea. “Hello Mist. I am very happy to meet you.”
The little girl looked unconvinced and sent a reproachful look Shea’s way. It would have been funny if there hadn’t been desperation behind Mist’s eyes.
Seeing it, Daere said, “Shea said as a treat she would teach us a little about the forest before she left, and when she gets back she will teach us about more of the Lowlands. Isn’t that right, Shea?”
Mist looked between Shea and Daere with suspicion before finally giving Shea a hopeful expression.
Shea smiled at her. “My mother used to take me on trips when I was your age, and she would teach me everything about the world around me.”
She really had. Even twenty years later Shea still remembered those trips and the patience her mother had displayed. Shea had been a curious child. Always trying to wander off and explore.
“I can teach you a little before I leave and then more when I return,” Shea said, looking around at the forest. They wouldn’t be able to go far, but to a girl who’d grown up in the Trateri homelands, this place would seem plenty wonderous.
Mist’s hand touched the back of Shea’s hand. She waited until Shea looked at her again to point to another plant, this one with a yellow flower that looked like a spiral inside.
“Do you want to know what that is?”
Mist nodded, her eyes still solemn. Shea’s mouth quirked in a half smile. “Very well.”
Daere drifted closer as Shea explained the various properties that she knew for the flower the locals called a golden spiral. An hour passed as Mist and Daere found more and more things for Shea to describe. Before long Shea was holding an impromptu beast class as she sketched out different beast footprints in the dirt.
Shea was completely absorbed in the descriptions as the three of them put their heads together to look at the current beast print Shea had pressed into the ground.
She didn’t even notice how they had become the center of attention until someone asked, “How do you distinguish between the revenant and the cackle dog? The two prints look almost identical to me.”
Shea looked up to find several Trateri dressed in clan colors that she didn’t recognize, gathered around watching. The men and one woman were all bigger than the other Trateri she’d met. Their features broader with a fierce look in their eyes that made Shea think that they weren’t used to playing nice with others.
Ember’s clan leader stood among them, his clothes much plainer than yesterday. He was missing the leather armor and the bloodthirsty look. Surrounded by those Shea assumed were his kinsmen, he almost seemed relaxed.
Daere stood up, brushing her hands against the seat of her pants. “Zeph, I had heard your clan finally joined us.”
Zeph inclined his head, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “It is good to see you again, little cousin.”
Shea’s eyebrows lifted. Cousin? This man was related to Fallon?
Seeing the question written on her face, Zeph addressed Shea, “We’re related on the paternal side, whereas Hawkvale shares a connection with my lovely cousin on the maternal side.”