Chapter 11

Despite her warm, comfortable bed- or perhaps because of it- Kodi had trouble falling asleep that night. Her pillow was too fluffy, and her mattress was too soft after years of sleeping on city pavement. She envied Colt his pallet on the floor. Finally, she pulled the sheets, blankets, and pillows off the bed until she was lying on a bare mattress. Her arm ached dully, keeping her awake.

She was going to have to do something about it. She couldn't keep hiding the brand forever. She reached inside herself for a thread of power and did a bit of improvising. She braided the threads together into a bandage and placed it on her arm, thinking as hard as she could about hiding and healing. When she looked again, she could no longer see the vine, and though she could still feel it, the ache had lessened slightly.

She was just about to drift off when she thought of other worry- rats. Don't be a bleater, she told herself nervously, there's no rats here. Besides, even if there were, she was too far off the ground for any rats to reach her. But rats had sharp teeth. One could easily chew through the bed's cloth bottom. She would be asleep, and unable to defend herself when she fell…

Kodi couldn't sleep on the bed now, and the mattress was too heavy to lift on her own. She arranged the pillows, sheets, and blankets until she had a sufficiently rat proof nest, and then curled up in the center.

She fell into a haunted half-sleep. Images she'd forgotten, or tried to forget, weaved in and out of her dreams. The mother she remembered from when she was small… being alone and scared during her first days in Deadman's District… waiting to die with her head sticky with blood… they all flashed in her mind until she didn't know what was real and what wasn't. Through it all, the now invisible mark on her arm burned, and she could hear the Thief Lord's cruel, mocking laughter.

*  *  *

Briar woke with a start. It was still pitch dark, and he had a good four hours until he had to be up for good. He was just about to go to sleep when he heard the sound that must have woken him up before: muffled screams, coming from Kodi's room. He stumbled out into the hallway and poked his head into the main living room. Colt was still asleep on the pallet, undisturbed by the noise. He went to his workroom and pulled out his mage kit and a light globe.

He walked into Kodi's room. The girl was curled up on a nest of pillows and bedding. She tossed and turned feverishly, though she seemed to have stopped screaming. Briar shook her gently and she opened one dark eye.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Bad dream," she muttered.

Briar reached into his mage kit and pulled out a light blue liquid. He pored some in a vial. "Drink it. It's Lightsbane, good for getting rid of nightmares."

She sipped a little bit. 'Thanks," she replied gruffly. She tried to give him back the vial.

"Keep it," he told her. "You might need it again."

Briar left and Kodi fell instantly into a deep, dreamless sleep.

*  *  *

When Kodi woke, it was midmorning and the sky was already light. She climbed out of her makeshift bed, then hesitated. The unraveler was still inside her sash. She fingered it gently. She was so curious. Whatever this magical device did, it had to be important. She pulled it out and prodded it with her magic. Instantly the Eth Rhilasang started humming, a high clear note that echoed around the walls and into the sky. The sun and the clouds and every other natural wonder called back in answer. All their combined forces filled the room with white hot radiance that invaded Kodi's very being and burned like fire. The whole room blazed in her magical sight, leaving white spots around her vision. The Unraveler's magic began eating away at her life force, and Kodi was powerless to stop it. Suddenly, the clock struck the hour, and Kodi snapped out of it. She thrust the Eth Rhilasang back into her pocket and vowed never to do that again.

When her breathing had slowed to normal, she walked out of her room and down the stairs, the smells on fresh fruit and frying dumplings entering her nose. Her stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten in three days, not since the rotting carrots she'd last scrounged. She sighed wistfully. She hadn't even expected breakfast. Stupid, she scolded herself. The raw ache of hunger was so familiar that it hadn't even occurred to her that Briar would have food.

She broke into a run and skidded to a stop in the kitchen, a cheery room with lots of plants and windows. Briar and Colt were sitting around a small wooden table and eating fruit and dumplings. Kodi determinedly looked away from the older mage, embarrassed by her dreams and screams.

"Eat! It's good!" Colt called gleefully, his mouth full of dumpling.

'Kodi sat down next to them and filled her plate with what was left. She had just stuffed a dumpling in her mouth when Briar put a hand on her arm.

"Slow down," he told her. "You're going to make yourself sick. And try some silverware."

The knife and fork he placed in front of her felt odd in her hands, but she did the best she could. She couldn't eat nearly as much as she expected though.

"Your stomach's probably shrunk," Briar explained. "It comes from not having many decent meals."

"But now all this food is wasted," she replied mournfully, motioning too her still loaded plate.

'No it's not. I'll leave it out for the kids that come scrounging 'round here. Now come on. We have some things to get."