Wind Over Bone: The Estralony Cycle #2 (Young Adult Fantasy Romance) by E. D. Ebeling Page A

this.” And she did.
    They walked for some time in silence.
    “Give me your hand,” she said. They’d reached the infirmary. Their hands twined together and she slipped into his mind, and a feeling like cold water came over her, and made her shiver. The infirmary was empty.
    Sarid cracked Yelse’s door. She was sleeping. Sarid and Savvel crept inside and Sarid shut the door behind them.
    “Yelse,” she said. Yelse sat up and eyed them warily. Her hair fell unruffled behind her. She looked incredibly composed for having just woken up. “Don’t you tire of being in bed?” Sarid asked.
    “ What do you want?” said Yelse. “You brought the madman.” She folded the counterpane from her lap.
    Sarid heard a creak from the door.
    “Do you mean to threaten me?” said Yelse.
    “ I mean to show you what I’ve learned this past night,” said Sarid, and she half turned and glanced at the door. It had opened slightly. Someone was peering through.
    “ You’re telling me tales.” Yelse twisted a lock of her hair. “Why are you here?”
    “ Savvel is under my protection,” said Sarid, “and you can’t hurt him.”
    The eavesdropper opened the door a bit wider––Sarid hoped it was Rischa.  Better to show him than to tell him that Yelse was dangerous.  A gust of wind ruffled Sarid’s hair.
    “You want me to try?” Yelse said idly. “I could scream instead.”
    “ I don’t think you could,” Savvel said, and his hand went up to his neck.  He hadn’t noticed the door.  “With my hands around your neck.” Whether he was trying to rile Yelse or really meant it, Sarid couldn’t tell. “They’ll say you died in your sleep.”
    The wind outside picked up, sucking at the window. Yelse leaned forward, half-smiling. “Really? Is that what they’ll say?”
    “Witch,” said Savvel, and Sarid felt his mind going away. The room stretched upward, became cavernous. “I’ll tear out your throat, your tongue.”
    The wind rammed against the window, again and again, and then it burst open. A flurry of leaves blew into the room, and Savvel threw himself at her.
    “You won’t touch me,” Yelse said, and the wind pushed Savvel against the wall. Leaves battered around him like hail. Yelse’s face sloughed its skin until only shreds clung to her bones. “You’ll be locked away,” she said to him. “Withering in a dark cellar, raped by your wardens and fed fish heads, while I tear Lorila apart, tree from earth, child from mother, testicle from groin.”
    Spit blew from Savvel’s mouth. His rage was palpable, stronger than the wind. It thrummed in Sarid.
    Pushing leaves from her face, she grabbed a bedpost and scrambled onto the bed. She raised a hand, and with all the force she could muster, slammed it against her sister’s mouth. Yelse’s eyes rolled up in shock. The wind slackened. So it works, thought Sarid vaguely, and she raised her hand again, but Yelse was ready this time. She punched Sarid in the stomach. Sarid fell back, and Yelse dug into her mouth with an elbow. Then she opened her mouth and screamed. Sarid drew her legs up, grabbed Yelse by the hair, and kicked her in the stomach. The wind slackened again, and the geas around her neck loosened.
    “ Savvel,” said Sarid, still kicking.
    “ I’ll kill her.” Savvel crawled towards the bed. “I swear on Ayevur, I’ll kill her.”
    “ She’s––” Yelse pushed Sarid off and rained blows on her with feet and fists. The geas tightened. Sarid broke through Yelse’s arms, lowered her head, and bit roundly into Yelse’s left breast. The geas fluttered like a lame bird and fell off Sarid’s neck.
    “ She’s my sister,” shouted Sarid. Yelse clenched her breast and stared at Sarid in hatred. “She’s no princess, she has something foul planned––She––”
    Leva burst through the door. Yelse grabbed a candlestick from her night dresser, and Leva dove and pushed Savvel out of the way just as Yelse flung it at his head. The metal