Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,32

gift. “Of course! Anything we have is yours.”

There was no doubt about it. Tancho’s people liked him.

“We need only fruit and bread, for which we have coin,” Tancho explained. “Tell me, good man, does a healer live nearby?”

The man’s eyes widened. “If you are injured, my king—”

“Not me,” Tancho replied. “But a woman who travels with us. She needs care.”

“Yes, yes, come this way,” the man said, ushering them along. He showed them to his house and offered baskets of pears and berries and a few small loaves of bread, then sent a small child to run to the house at the end of the small village to tell the healer to prepare. By the time they made it to the healer’s house, the child reappeared with an old man at his side, and everyone in the village stood to watch.

Crow noticed how the villagers stared at him and Soko. Their black cloaks stood out like their short and unruly hair. They stood taller, as well, and wore different weapons, different boots.

These people hadn’t seen their kind before.

Ignoring them, Crow went to Kohaku and took Maghdlm from him, carrying her toward the healer. The old man, his long grey hair and grey eyes, gave a hard nod and held the door open for him.

Inside was warm and lamps lit the small room, and it smelled of a dozen different herbs. It reminded Crow of the healer’s rooms he’d been in at home: tables with bottles and jars, glass and metal canisters, dozens of different types of dried leaves, and steaming bowls on a small fire.

“She was attacked,” Crow said, laying her down on the mat by the fire and kneeling at her side. “But she survived the night.”

The old man knelt at the other side and pulled back Maghdlm’s shawl. He winced when he saw her injuries but inspected her eyes and gums. “I can only do so much,” he said quietly.

Crow met his gaze. “You should know, she is an alchemist. A healer, from Aequi Kentron.”

“From Aequi . . . ,” he trailed off, looking back at the injured woman. Then he reached out and grabbed Crow’s wrist, seeing the crow-shaped birthmark. “You are . . . ?”

“I am King of Northlands,” Crow said.

Just then, Tancho knelt down beside Crow. “He travels with me.”

The healer’s eyes blazed with the light of the fire. “My king.”

“Can you heal her?” Tancho asked. “We need to travel to the village of Yura by nightfall. We must return to my castle as fast as we can.”

He stared at Tancho for a long second, clearly putting the pieces together, then gave a nod. “I shall do my all.” He shot to his feet and went to the counter, measured and weighed a range of dried leaves, seeds, powders, mumbling as he went, and after a few moments, he took a small scoop from his trove, tipping it into a pot of boiling water.

While the tea steeped, he made a paste into a ball, wrapped it in muslin, and dotted it along the gash in Maghdlm’s head. She stirred and mumbled but didn’t wake. “This will numb the wound and rid infection,” the man explained as he wrapped a long bandage around her head. “The tea will heal her and give her strength. Have her drink as much and as often as she can.”

Then he went to the door and called for the man who had given them fruit. “Fetch a carriage from my stable for the woman,” the healer ordered before turning back to his patient. “She needs to lie down, not ride on a horse. And how long could the big man carry her for?”

“As long as he needed,” Tancho replied with a smile. “He would complain a lot, but he would do it.” Then he gave a grateful nod. “The carriage is appreciated.”

He checked the tea, stirring it. “I can only assume trouble comes,” he said, “given the Golden Eclipse is upon us and you now hurry back to your home. You bring with you the alchemist from Aequi Kentron, whom someone has tried to kill, not to mention the King of the Northlands sits with you.”

The statement was directed at Tancho, so Crow let him answer. Tancho paused a while. “Have you heard any news? Whispers of strange tidings?”

“No, my lord,” he replied. “Though the sun cast strange light today, so I would think the Golden Eclipse nears. Can you make it to your castle in that time?”

Tancho looked at Crow.