Alena sat in the room Zahari had given her after waking up, not really wanting to go downstairs. While everyone was nice, Alena simply didn't want to be there. She hadn't recovered any of her memories and it was started to bother her more and more. What had she been doing to cause her to end up in Fiamett? What if it was something important? The only way she could find out was to get back home.
Unless she wanted to swim back, however, she'd simply have to be patient. She had spent the past few days attempting to find a ship that would leave immediately, but she had practically been laughed at.
She finally put her boots on and headed downstairs, almost hoping she could avoid Zahari and make it to the barn unseen. Although she didn't get along with Yasen, there were two young men who worked for him and Alena enjoyed working with them. And working gave her something to get her mind off of how much longer it would be before she could get home.
As she headed for the back door, she heard two men talking. One voice she recognized as belonging to Zahari and knew she wasn't going to get outside without talking to him. Suppressing a sigh, she walked into the room to see Zahari talking to a strange man.
Her first thought was that he looked a lot like Yasen - at least, he resembled him more than Zahari did, being of slight build and shorter than Zahari. The stranger's dark brown hair was cut short, making Zahari's long black hair look untidy in comparison. In his arms, he was holding a bundle, which she could see was a baby when she got closer.
"I thought you were joking," said the stranger, looking at Alena.
"Why would... nevermind," Zahari said. "Alena, this is Nikifor, my brother-in-law and his daughter Galina. They just came back from the capital. My sister should be here soon."
"And then I won't have to hold the baby anymore," Nikifor said with a smile.
"I wouldn't count on it," Zahari said. "Not if I know Tsveta."
"It's your fault she's not here now," Nikifor continued. "If you hadn't started that fight - "
"I did not start that fight," Zahari interrupted. "That was all her."
"What's going on?" Alena asked, unsure. "Is there some kind of trouble because of that?"
"Not for us," Zahari said. "But Atthon assaulted a baron, and he's in trouble."
"And I'm not?" Alena asked, remembering that she had hit him several times.
"That, I can forgive," Zahari said.
"Zahari just hates Atthon," Nikifor explained. "He deals in slaves and Zahari can't stand it. Which is why he's always rescuing people."
"Always?" Zahari started to argue with his brother-in-law, but he didn't get the chance.
"I seem to remember Dana saying something about you doing so often," Alena said. "And you weren't going to argue with her."
YOU ARE READING
Bound Spirits
FantasyI'm doing this for the "Chapter A Day" challenge. So expect frequent updates. Alena can't remember how she ended up in a strange land, but she isn't going to let that stop her from finding a way home. But there's one thing she wasn't expecting to fi...
