“You all live here?” I asked.
“These beds aren’t here for decoration.” The man who had addressed me already stated flippantly.
Soren tensed, attention flickering to me as though suddenly waiting to follow my lead. He looked poised to strike if Irequested. Did he expect me to attack a man for not being friendly?
“It’s okay,” I said under my breath, and Soren’s muscles loosened.
I turned to the older Lysian sitting on one of the beds. The middle of the mattress sank under his weight. Such a bed offered no comfort, used as only a barrier to separate a body from the floor. The two younger boys who had helped him moved towards the back, each took to their own mattresses.
“I saw you limping outside,” I began, taking a step deeper into the room.
The old man laughed lowly, a hand scratching the back of his gray wiry head of hair. “Ah, yes. I am afraid I irritated an old injury. I assure you, I am still up to perform my tasks.” His gaze slid to Soren’s briefly before returning to me. Caution tinged his blue eyes, throat bobbing as he swallowed. Was he afraid?
“Mind if I see your foot?” I took another step towards him.
He looked at his leg, a brief look of mortification passing over his features. “I uh... It’s really alright. I assure you.” He moved his foot onto his thigh and gripped it roughly, as if to show that it was not bad. However, I caught the slight jerk when pain shot through him at the touch.
I stepped even closer to him. “Maybe I can help you,” I offered.
His gray bushy brows pulled together. “Are you a conjuring healer?”
I shook my head no. “Not the conjuring kind, but I know other ways to help. Herbs, ointments, using the gifts of the natural world.”
“Maybe you should let her help, Gorm,” one of the younger boys said. Concern shined in his eyes when he looked at the elderly man.
Gorm sighed, glancing at the boy sharply before turning back to me. “Well, you now know my name. Everyone calls me Gorm. I suppose I would like to know the name of the woman I am about to assault with the view of my disgusting smelly old foot.”
Rumbles of laughs simmered around the space from the boys, breaking some of the tension. Even the grumpy man with the piercing green eyes released a rough chuckle.
I smiled, closing more of the space until I stood at the side of Gorm’s bed. “My name is Ariana.”
He began untying his leather boot. When he looked at me, his blue gaze warmed yet remained tinged with uncertainty. “Well, Ariana. I am sorry for what you are about to experience.” It took him a minute to finally remove his shoe and sock.
A hideous wound on the heel greeted me. Yellow, red, inflamed, and the surrounding skin looked hot to the touch.
“How did this happen?” I knelt beside his foot. He wasn’t wrong. It smelled like rotten flesh, and yet I could not deny that being next to it was far more appealing than having dinner with his King. Revulsion twisted in my stomach at the thought of Clause.
Gorm frowned, looking over his toes at me. “I stepped on something, and it cut into my foot. I didn’t realize until late that night, and now it’s just been slow to heal.”
He didn’t even realize it? I reach out, gripping the back of his foot.
“Dear Spirit, why are you touching it?” He grumbled, yet allowed it.
I brushed my pinky nail over the underside of his foot, some distance away from the angry wound. “Could you feel that?”
Gorm’s cheeks became splotched with red. “I feel a lot ofthings right now, the primary thing being mortification. As for your touch, no. I didn’t feel a thing.”
I released his foot, turning to Soren. “Do you all have a place where I can get some medical supplies?”
“You’re serious?” he asked, looking at me as though he didn’t understand.
I rose to my full height. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re…” He didn’t finish the thought as his attention instead moved over the people in the room. Soren then glanced towards the entrance behind him in thought. “We need to head back. It is almost time for your meal with the King, but perhaps after that or if you’ll be tired then tomorrow.”
“You’re eating with the King?” One of the young boys asked, eyes large in wondrous surprise.
“Apparently,” I said to him with a small smile, noticing a closed door behind him.
