Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,33

“We will have to.”

“What do you know of the golden sun?” Crow asked. Maybe this old healer had learned something different . . .

The healer shot him a cautious look. “That the golden skies happen only once in many lifetimes. That all kings are to meet when the eclipse is in full effect. Except that now two kings sit in my house, so I assume trouble is on its way.”

Tancho stood up and gave him that patient look that gave no emotion away. “Or perhaps it is already here. We may be walking into uncertain times but won’t know until we return. So, my good man, I don’t wish to appear ungrateful, but we must hurry.”

The healer poured the boiling tea, leaves and all, into a pot. “This is mandragora, willow bark, wolfberry, feverfew, amongst other things. It is not for anyone else to drink, or they won’t be riding anywhere.”

Crow scooped up Maghdlm and carried her outside. The carriage was hooked up to a new horse, which was tethered to Unagi’s horse. The carriage itself was small and was probably used to carry livestock or produce, but it had a roof and the old man was right. Kohaku would have struggled to have carried her for six more days.

As they got Maghdlm settled and comfortable and put the pot of tea in the carriage with her, Crow noticed Tancho go back into the house with the healer. Karasu stood at the door, ever the protector, but the pull on Crow’s wrist dragged him close enough to the door for the pain to subside.

Soko threw him a pear and Crow ate it, pretending not to try and hear Tancho speak. Was he thanking the man? Paying him? Or ordering him not to breathe a word of what he assumed about trouble coming lest he spread fear through the villages?

Crow then considered that it was highly possible Tancho was doing all three.

A short while later, Tancho emerged. He held his chin high, impossible to read, and gave a nod. They climbed up onto their horses and continued on their way. Crow was pleased when he saw the healer in the doorway, so Tancho hadn’t killed him at least.

He had no clue what the private meeting was about, and Crow managed to put it from his mind. At least until they’d stopped at midday to give the horses a rest and to give Maghdlm some tea. The ride had been faster with the carriage, and Kohaku complained a whole lot less. With the scenery of tranquil rivers and ornate buildings, rolling green patches, and a myriad of wildlife, Crow hadn’t given the healer much thought.

Until, when they were ready to ride again, he noticed Tancho’s wrist. His birthmark wasn’t just covered. It was bound in bandages.

Chapter Ten

Tancho hadn’t intended to deceive Crow. Not outright, anyway. He was going to tell him about the experiment with the healer but then wondered how long it might take Crow to realise. Would he feel it? Would he even notice it? Did Crow pay attention to him, notice things about him as Tancho noticed about him.

Little things such as the slight dimple in Crow’s cheek when he smiled, the faded scar on his cheek. How his dark hair shone under the sunlight, how the muscles in his forearms bulged when he held the reins of his horse.

Did Crow notice the little things about Tancho? Sometimes he felt Crow’s gaze upon him, but he’d always turn away or avert his eyes whenever Tancho tried to catch him.

The link between them, the invisible thread Samiel had talked of, was as strong as it was unexplainable. Tancho might even have liked Crow if he didn’t irritate him so much. He was certainly handsome, in a roguish mountain-man way, with his size and strength and his rough-cut laugh that warmed Tancho’s belly. Tancho might have even fancied a man like that in his bed, if that said man didn’t question everything and gnash his teeth and threaten to kill someone several times a day.

So yes, the bond between them, as remarkable and powerful as it was, needed to be severed.

The old healer man had said a birthmark bond was an old, old magick and well outside his realm of expertise. It could take most of the day for the effects to take hold, the healer had said. If they even worked at all. Although he was dealing with the unknown, so it was mostly guessing, and it was highly unlikely