He bowed to her. "May the gods smile on you and your people."
"They usually do," she said, and woke up.
Hynna was sick again, the pain in her stomach so sharp that she could do nothing more than lie on her side, her knees drawn up to her chest. She could hear her brothers and parents calling for her, and she wanted to answer them, to tell them that she was here, that she needed their help. But she had her teeth clenched against the illness in her gut; she couldn't bring herself even to open her mouth.
And then she saw the old woman. She was walking in Jynna's direction, her eyes fixed on the girl, a broad grin on her wizened face. She carried a basket in each hand, and within the baskets were smaller baskets, which in turn held even tinier baskets. The back of her left hand was bloody, and Jynna saw that the knife on her belt dripped blood as well.
"You aren't supposed to be alive," the woman said. "It was supposed to kill all of you."
She wanted to shout back at the woman to leave her alone. She wanted to tell the woman that this plague she had brought to her people wouldn't kill her.
But the woman began to cackle, as if she could read Jynna's thoughts. "You're right," she said.
And though the woman was still a few strides away, her voice seemed to come from just beside her. It seemed to Jynna that she could feel the woman's foul breath on her neck.
"You're right, child," she said again. "It won't kill you. But I will."
She pulled the knife free, and then pulled a second from behind her. This time Jynna did open her mouth to scream. If only her father or mother could hear her. If only her brothers could.
"They're dead," the woman said, laughing again.
But Jynna screamed anyway.
"Jynna!"
She felt a hand on her arm and struggled to get away.
"Jynna, wake up, love."
She opened her eyes, saw S'Doryn sitting on the edge of her bed looking down at her, his brow furrowed with concern.
Closing her eyes again, she took a long breath.
"It was the same dream."
"It sounded like it."
Jynna looked at him. "Why? What did I say?"
He looked away.
"Was I calling for Mama and Papa again?" she asked, her eyes stinging. S'Doryn nodded. "And your brothers, too."
She wiped a tear from her cheek and made herself smile. "Well, it was just a dream."
He tried to return her smile, but his forehead was still creased and there was concern in his golden yellow eyes. She sat up and looked around the small chamber.
"Where's Vettala?" she asked.
"She woke up some time ago. She and N'Tevva went to the marketplace. Not that they'll find much there, but Vettala wanted to go."
Vettala, like Jynna, had come to Lowna from Tivston, the Y'Qatt village where they had been raised. A few turns before, Tivston had been destroyed by the plague loosed upon the land by the old Mettai woman she'd seen in her nightmare. Nearly everyone in the village had died, including Jynna's parents and her older brothers, Delon and Blayne. There were a few other survivors of that horrible night who had come to Lowna with Jynna and Vettala. Etan and Hev, Pelda and Sebbi-all of them children.
For a long time, Vettala had been unwilling to speak to anyone or stray from Jynna's side. But S'Doryn and N'Tevva had welcomed Jynna and Vettala into their home and now were as close to a father and mother as the girls would ever have. And with time, Vettala had come to love and trust N'Tevva, just as Jynna loved and trusted S'Doryn.
"So they've gone to the market," Jynna said with false brightness. She threw off her blanket and swung herself out of bed. "What are we going to do?"
She'd had this dream enough times to know that the images she'd seen would be with her for most of the day. Her stomach still felt sour, and would for a few hours, until she was hungry enough to force down some food. But she knew as well that she'd be better off getting out of the house and doing something-anything-that would distract her.
"What do you want to do?" S'Doryn asked.
She gave him a sly look. "The last time we went fishing you caught one more than I did-"
He shook his head. "Two."
"That small one didn't count. That's why you threw it back. You caught one more than I did and I want a chance to beat you."
He grinned, and this time it appeared genuine. "All right. Fishing it is." He stood and crossed to the door. "Get dressed and I'll… I'll pack some food to take with us, in case you get hungry."
Jynna nodded. After he left the chamber she closed the door and pulled on her breeches and a shirt that N'Tevva had made for her. It was soft and heavy and very comfortable, particularly now that the Snows were nearly upon them. She pulled on a pair of hose and reached for her shoes. As she was putting them on her feet, she heard voices coming from the common room. N'Tevva and Vettala, no doubt.
But when she stepped out of the small room she shared with Vettala, she saw S'Dorvn speaking with U'Selle, Lowna's a'laq.
"Good morning, Jynna," the old woman said. Immediately she was taken with a fit of coughing.
This happened to her quite often. Jynna gathered that the a'laq was dying, though few in the village ever said as much or even spoke of her being sick. In fact, the only person whom Jynna had heard say anything about it was U'Selle herself, who often joked about how odd it was that she was still alive. Jynna thought that U'Selle had to be very brave to laugh about her own impending death. It was one of the reasons Jynna liked the a'laq so much.
"I understand you're going fishing," U'Selle said when she could speak again. Her cheeks were red and she seemed to struggle merely to draw breath.
"Yes, A'Laq."
"Jynna's under the mistaken impression that she can catch more fish than I can," S'Doryn said, winking at Jynna. "I intend to disabuse her of the notion."
"He sounds a bit too confident to me, Jynna. I think he's in for a surprise."
Jynna smiled. "I think so, too, A'Laq."
"Before you go, though, my dear, I need a word with S'Doryn in private. I hope you don't mind."
The a'laq said this with a smile, but Jynna could tell that she took seriously whatever matters she'd come to discuss. Suddenly Jynna felt cold. Had the plague come back? Was the Eandi army headed toward Lowna?
"The fishing poles are around back," S'Doryn said, forcing a smile as well. "Why don't you fetch them and the bucket and that net we used last time? I'll be out shortly."
Jynna nodded and crossed to the door. She could feel them watching her, and she knew they'd say nothing of consequence until they were certain she was out of earshot.
She tried to do just what S'Doryn had asked of her. She retrieved the poles from where she and S'Doryn had left them after their last visit to the lake. She found the bucket and net right beside them, and though she struggled a bit, she managed to bring all of it around to the front of the house in one trip.
The problem was that this left her with nothing to do. She checked the poles for tangles in the line. She made certain the net had no holes.
But her mind kept returning to the same question: What were S'Doryn and the a'laq talking about? Most likely, it was nothing that concerned her. S'Doryn was a member of the clan council, and he and U'Selle had been friends for a long time. The a'laq often came to him to discuss things that Jynna thought were terribly boring: disputes between traders in the marketplace, or between villagers who wished to work the same plot of land; provisions for the coming Snows; requests from young couples who wished to build a new house in one part of the village or another. Once they'd spent half the day talking about a fight between two men who claimed to have caught the same fish. Jynna had thought that one especially funny. She could hardly believe they were talking about adults.