Kiara felt as if her heart might burst. "You and Malae have always been my second mothers. I don't know what I'll do without her."
Alle brought Kiara a nightshirt and a shawl. "Perhaps sleep will help," she said kindly. "I'll sit up near the door." She tugged back a fold of her full skirt, revealing a cleverly hidden dagger. "It was best at the tavern to keep a blade handy in case the drunks didn't take no for an answer. I never got out of the habit."
Exhausted, Kiara didn't complain when Cerise pulled back her covers and tucked the blankets in around her, hungering for the old comforts she had known since childhood. At the foot and head of the bed, as promised, were two shallow bowls of water. Cerise pushed back the hair from Kiara's forehead as if for a small child. "I can help you sleep, if you'd like."
"Please. My body's too tired to move, but with everything that's happened, my mind is racing."
Cerise placed a hand over Kiara's forehead, and Kiara felt the healer's magic relax her body, making it possible for her to fall asleep faster than she ever imagined.
KIARA'S DREAMS WERE dark. She was alone on a bleak plain, a shadowed place lit by a waning moon. The night was unnaturally silent. No wind rustled the bare trees, and no creatures scurried in the darkness.
Kiara flattened herself behind a rock ledge. Something was searching for her, for the warm presence she carried within. Kiara could sense a darkness, invisible yet almost near enough to touch. It was.not searching for her. It searched for the child she carried, a Summoner's child.
There was nowhere to run, no safe place to hide. Instinctively, Kiara curled into a ball, wrapping her arms around her knees, shielding the child in her belly as the danger moved closer. In the distance, she heard the baying of dogs. Darkness enveloped her. It hurled itself against her mind, as the Obsidian King had once tried to break through her shielding. The amulet at her throat burst into light, and Kiara felt the shadow pull back.
In the distance, Kiara heard the sound of a distant flute playing wild notes that sounded like the coming of a storm. Fog began to swirl around her on the Plains of Spirit, and in the fog, she saw faces and forms. The ghosts swirled around her, drawing on the energy of
the amulet's glow, driven by the music. The ghosts became more solid, and although Kiara had none of Tris's summoning magic, she could feel the energy that crackled like lightning around her. The ghosts' mood matched the ferocity of the music, but Kiara sensed no threat from them. Instead, they formed a protective barrier between Kiara and the shadow, even as the darkness threatened to overwhelm them.