All Chapters of REBORN TO BREAK YOU: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

SennaI am alive. These are not my hands. And there is a very insistent smell of rosemary.I sat up in bed and looked at my fingers. They were long and pale. They were pretty fingers, but they felt like gloves I had just put on. I wiggled them. They moved when I told them to, but I didn’t remember getting them. I didn’t remember the small scar on the left thumb or the way the nails were cut so short."Good morning," I said to the room. My voice was soft. It sounded like honey and sand. "Time to work."I got out of bed. The floor was cool against my feet. I knew exactly where the rug was so I didn't slip. I knew exactly where the tea pot sat on the shelf. The cottage was small and full of dried plants. They hung from the ceiling in big bunches. Lavender, mint, thyme, and the rosemary that was hitting my nose so hard."Rosemary for memory," I whispered. I laughed a little bit. That was a joke.I walked to the hearth and poked the logs. The fire rose up and started to glow."Stay warm,"

SennaHe was heavy. Too heavy. Each step bringing a fresh throb from my own tired muscles, but nothing compared to the hole ripped into his side. I didn’t know how he was still conscious, not really. He just moved, one foot in front of the other, a low grunt the only sound he made. We made it inside the cottage. I half-carried, half-dragged him to the cot I usually kept for supplies. He collapsed onto it. His breath hitched, a thin rasping sound that meant pain, deep pain. I didn't waste time. My hands moved on their own, pulling out clean cloths, antiseptic I made myself, the special herbs for deep wounds.He was shivering, sweat beading on his forehead even as a fever started to set in. I worked fast, cleaning, stitching, applying poultices that would draw out the infection. He whimpered once, a low, animal sound, but didn't open his eyes. "Alright," I said, once the stitching was done and the poultice was strapped tight. "Listen up."His eyes were still closed, but his breathing

SennaHe is standing today. He looks like a person who could break my house just by breathing too hard. He is not the bleeding mess I dragged off the forest floor anymore.He is fully dressed in the clothes I cleaned for him. They are a bit tight across his shoulders. The room feels smaller with him standing straight. The air feels heavy, like it does right before a big storm hits the trees."You are leaving," I say. It is not a question."I am," he says. He moves his arm. He tests the range of motion where the deep gash used to be. "The stitches are holding. You did good work.""I did the work I was supposed to do," I say. I wipe my hands on my apron. My hands feel restless. They always do when a patient is done. "You still need to be careful for a week. No heavy lifting. No fighting. If you pop those open, I won't be there to sew you back up."He looks at me. His eyes are very dark and very steady. "That is the thing. I want you to be there."I stop moving. "What does that mean?""M

SennaThe walls here hummed a tune I didn’t know, but my bones remembered. It was a funny thing, living in a place that felt so wrong while also feeling like home. I’d been here, inside Ironblood’s walls, for two weeks now. Two weeks of waking up, doing my healer’s job, and pushing down the feeling that something big was waiting just around the corner. Not a bad thing, maybe. Just… big. Everything in this place made the little bits of my old dreams.I was carrying a stack of bandages, fresh from the storage room. My shoulder ached a little. The infirmary was always busy, always needing more. I liked the work. It kept my hands busy and my mind from wandering too much. I rounded a corner near the main hall, almost bumping into someone. I stopped short, the bandages nearly tumbling.There was Lyra. Sixteen, maybe. Small in a way that just made you want to pull her into a hug and tell her it was okay to take up more space. She was standing still, so still, like a little statue. And in fro

SennaI used to think my brain was a box with a locked lid. I liked the lock because it kept me safe and let me do my work. But tonight, the lock just fell off and everything inside came pouring out."It is just a ritual blend," I said to the empty infirmary. I was talking to the bowl of herbs on my table. I talk to myself when the room is too quiet. "The pack member asked for it. Cedar, dried petals, and that one special root. It shouldn't smell like this."I held the small bundle over the candle flame. The smoke went up in a thin, grey line. It didn't smell like medicine or dirt. It smelled like a hallway. A very specific hallway with cold stone floors and high windows."Senna, stop looking at the smoke," I told myself. My voice sounded small. "Just finish the blend and go to bed."But I couldn't move my hands. I was staring at the wall, but I wasn't seeing the infirmary anymore."Why do I know how many steps it takes to get to the Great Hall?" I asked the room. "I've only been here