The Halo Of Vakh (BOOK 1)

THE DEVIL AT THE DOOR

Sapphire lay awake late that night till the night became the deepest shade and the clouds slowly overtook the dark. She heard her father and uncle return about an hour after midnight, their heavy steps and light voices floating towards her from the kitchen below. She did not go down to greet them; she knew her mother would scowl at her, stare at her for the longest time possible and then let her sleep in the next morning. She did not want to get up late. All the game would disappear by the time she got into the forest. Her mother didn't seem to understand that.

She rolled to her side and closed her eyes when she heard footsteps come up the stairs. She knew the tread belonged to her mother and she was right for the door opened a few moments later followed by the gentle sound of her mother shuffling to Cygnus' bed. A few moments later she headed towards Sapphire and bent down, delivering a soft kiss to her hair and rubbing her head. Sapphire smiled, her worries dissipating and she allowed the sweet melody of sleep take her.

She woke up with a start, shivering. Her breath came in heavy gasps, her chest seemed to way down on her and she clawed at her neck that prickled as if a thousand ants had been creeping on it. She was drenched in cold sweat, her hair falling out of the braid she had tied it into the previous night. Her head spun and her ears throbbed as if someone hammered against an invisible membrane that surrounded them.

She shivered again and pulled the blanket to her chin, glaring at a burnt spot on the wool. Her dreams had been full of blood and screams along with the howls of wolves that echoed in her ears till they bled and punctured her sanity. There was also the dark figure she had seen, standing still with the bow raised. The hood of his cloak had been pulled low over his face, only darkness visible in the cavity. She had woken up when he had shot an arrow at her and lowered the bow.

And the bow... what a bow it had been, the likes of which she had never seen in her life; a dark wood laced and adorned with the most exuberant leaves she had seen. Vines swirled around it and dangled like a tassel on one end. It had been much larger than her bow and a thing of such beauty that Sapphire shuddered to think how much it would cost.

Probably more than the cost of their horses and house combined.

The streets echoed with the guttural cries of two roosters and the distant caws of the ravens, signalling the approaching dawn. She rubbed her eyes that burned from the lack of sleep; she realised she had slept for only three hours. She pushed the blanket off her and swung her legs out of the bed; there was no use sleeping then. As her mother had said there was a fair amount of work to deal with. She moved towards the window and moved aside the curtains, allowing the cool wind to flow over her face and into the room.

She always felt that the room smelt of sweat after she woke up. The first rays of the sun peaked out from behind the teeth of the mountains colouring the horizon a brilliant pink. The village was still dark except the light that flickered from the few torches appeared brighter as sunrise approached. A sparrow flew in front of her and she smiled, watching its progress till it disappeared into a nearby pine tree.

Sapphire looked over at Cygnus' bed. The boy was still asleep, hidden beneath his patchwork quilt, only a tuft of his black hair visible at the head of the bed. She observed the slow rise and fall of his chest for a few moments before picking up one of her woollen shawls and draping it around her shoulders. She belted on her stockings, pushed her feet into her wooden slippers and moved out of the room, closing the door softly. The silence in the next room told her that Joseryn and Orion were still asleep. She walked down the wooden staircase, trying not to make any noise and wincing every time a whine of protest came from under her feet. Each creak sounded like a whip crack in the quiet house.