"Then it may not be to late." The priest utters, "they have called you to them once, and sliced their sign upon your flesh. If they call you upon you again and you answer, they may carve their mark into your spirit, then you will be forever lost. I warn you, Sephtis: the wolves are evil, and full of guile. Before you know it, they will have you trapped. And then they will use you to bring pain and suffering to this village, for that is the wicked, selfish way of the wolves. Guard yourself against them child. Take care of your spirit, and shield it from the evil that seeks to deceive you. Kneel, child, and I shall pray for you and your spirit."
I step over the leering staff, and kneel before him. But I do not hear Taaroko's words as he guards my spirit against the evils of the world. Instead I hear, with fierce joy, the sound of a wolf howling far away in the night.
When the prayer is finished and the priest lifts me to my feet, he sees that I am crying. I think he takes it as a sign I am penitent, for he blesses me, and utters no more about my dangerous love, nor the evil of my kinsmen. He picks up his staff and goes. When he is gone I glance at Morag, I know she has heard all that the priest had to say, and she stores it away in her heart to use another day.
YOU ARE READING
Sephtis
FantasyBook 1 of the Wolf-Warrior series. (This book can be read apart from the series.) Cursed-one. It is the name given to Sephtis by the people of the village, whom she has served since her sixteenth summer. It is a name that is used with hate and scorn...
