Read Online Beneath the Thirteen Moons by Kathryne Kennedy - Free Book Online Page B

up through it the last time and thank-the-moons she had plenty of root now. She Saw into the water and recoiled from the barrage of colors that exploded in her Sight. She quickly readjusted and blinked at the water with normal vision. And gasped at the wonder of it.
    For the water glowed in clouds of multi-colored light, in layers that spiraled down to a depth she couldn’t even guess at. Plankton, she thought, but those of a peculiarphosphorescence. They didn’t glow with the bright whiteness of a sun slug—those barnacled creatures that lived happily in a light globe—but with a muted rainbow of gleaming sparkles.
    A display like none she’d ever witnessed before, Mahri stood in transfixed delight for so long she felt dizzy from the sheer pleasure of it.
    This is why I’m a water-rat, she told herself. To live on a boat, not up in the trees, and to be a discoverer of so many of the sea’s treasures. She couldn’t wait to get to the village, to tell Caria of this new phenomenon, to see the delight on her sister-in-life’s face as they racked their minds to name this new…
    Mahri shook her head and clenched her fists. If she’s still alive. If I reach her in time. Brez and Tal’li had counted on me, too. I watched them die and a part of me felt relief that I’d be free again, with only myself to worry about. Ach! Can my selfish need for independence be threatened by even this sister-friend?
    “Stop it,” she said through clenched teeth, her hand inching toward her pouch. Mahri dug out a handful of root and bit it with furious determination. She’d never wanted her lifemate and son to die—she’d loved them! And she’d save Caria this time regardless of the cost. The flow of Power made her spasm and slam into the deck with bruising force, her muscles convulsing in sudden uncontrollable jerks.
    “Water-rat?” mumbled Korl sleepily, the husky timbre of his voice making her shiver even harder. “What did you do?”
    She opened her eyes and the sparks of Power that emitted from them reflected off of Korl’s face, madehim sit back on his heels and shake his head in horror. “Woman, you’ve done it this time.”
    Mahri crossed her arms, tried to hold herself together by hugging tightly. “Then don’t let me waste it,” she stammered. Her teeth chattered like it was the cold season, instead of the warm. “Help me up.”
    Jaja scampered up her chest, stroked her face with his webbed hand and made a low crooning noise. For just a moment Mahri could swear she heard his thoughts as clearly as she had during her dream: No, no spirit-friend. Can’t help you with so much Power. Crazy, crazy friend.
    “Jaja, I’m not crazy. The only thing that matters is getting to the village in time.”
    The monk-fish’s soft brown eyes widened in surprise. He put his tiny black nose close to Mahri’s face. You hear me thinking to you, spirit-friend?
    “Aya,” she breathed, “just like in my dream.”
    Her pet splayed his fingers over his face, covering it with webbing. You shouldna’ be able to. No-no ready, friend. And it felt as if a wall of black slammed down between them and she could again only sense Jaja’s feelings.
    “Help me up,” she repeated to Korl, as he stood staring down at the two of them, his mouth agape, his pale hair agleam in the moonlight.
    “You were talking to him,” he said. “I mean, not just you talking to him, but like he was talking to you, too.”
    “You’re babbling, Prince.”
    With hands that trembled he wiped rainwater from his brow. “It’s not possible. Nobody can See into another mind unless they’re Bonded, nobody can wield the kind of Power you have. I’m going to ask you againand this time I want a straight answer.” He took a deep, steadying breath. “Who are you?”
    Mahri’s head pounded with waves of untapped Power, although thankfully the convulsions had stopped. She was a fool, yes, to take this much root. Her immunity to the poison could only go so far. But