“Valda has gone up to Littlewatch with your message,” Mavka said, studying Aloisia. “Divines, child, only you could get so many scrapes from a fall.” She turned to Inari. “What do you require, shaman? I can show you our stores.”
“Very kind of you.” Inari inclined his head.
“Forgive my manners.” Mavka smiled. “I am Lead Huntress Mavka, one head of this guild. I have heard much of you, Shaman Inari.”
“All good things, I hope.”
Kaja grinned. “And the rest.”
“What else do you require, bar herbs?” Mavka asked.
“A bowl of water and some cloth,” he answered.
Mavka nodded to Kaja. “I shall leave that to you. If you would follow me, Inari.”
Everyone parted, going about their separate tasks. Aloisia stood bewildered with her tankard frozen partway to her lips. She clicked her tongue. “Honestly, you’re all fussing.”
Kaja pushed her to the fur-covered benches. “Enjoy it whilst it lasts.”
She sank down onto a bench, tipping back the tankard as she watched Kaja rush around. The huntress lit the fire pit at the centre of the room, readying a large bowl atop it. Then she vanished out the door with a pail to fetch water from the well.
“Ridiculous,” Aloisia murmured, rising to her feet. She caught sight of herself in the small mirror hung by the door. “Then again…” She had to admit, she looked a little worse for wear. And the cuts across her cheek and forehead were red and angry. She touched a finger to one and hissed in a breath. Leaves and small twigs jutted out from her braids, and she plucked them out, casting them to the fire.
Kaja returned will a full bucket. “Sit down!” she ordered.
Aloisia puffed a sigh and reclined back on the bench, swinging her feet up.
“Did one really chase you both?” Kaja asked as she poured the water into the bowl over the fire.
“It was terrifying.” Until now, she hadn’t allowed the reality of it to reach her. “They’re getting stronger, taking on a more solid shape. The judiciaries have to do something, anything, before anyone else gets hurt.”Or killed, she thought, the words hanging unspoken between them.
“Surely, they will. How can they not?”
“What can they do?” she murmured.
“The scholars,” Kaja said, sitting back on the bench opposite her. “They’ll know. Magic and the supernatural is what they research.”
She had changed her tune.
But they would have to convince the judiciaries they needed the scholars’ aid first. And Aloisia was having a hard enough time getting them to acknowledge the genuine danger lurking on the outskirts of the town.
Inari and Mavka returned, carrying several pouches of herbs. The shaman went to a table and set to work. Mavka touched a hand to Aloisia’s face as she passed, moving to help Kaja douse the flames beneath the boiling water. Using another pair of bowls, she scooped out some water and set them down to cool.
“We need to prepare for the hunt this afternoon,” Mavka said. “Dhara will not excuse you on account of this.”
Aloisia smirked. “Don’t I know it.”
“Fear not,” Inari said, “she’ll be right as rain soon.”
“I should hope so.” Mavka smiled. “Come along, Kaja. We need to ready the mares.”
Kaja’s shoulders sagged, if only momentarily, before she followed the lead huntress out the door.
Inari knelt before Aloisia, setting down a small dish of what looked like mud and a glass bottle filled with a murky liquid. He dipped a cloth into one bowl of water. “I need to clean the wounds first.” He paused, waiting for her to offer her arm.
She gave a nod and held out a hand. His fingers moved gently and methodically across her arms, wiping away the drying blood which stained her skin. Aloisia gritted her teeth against the sting of it. He swept the cloth over her cheek and forehead, then along the cut at her collarbone.
“Anywhere else?” he asked.
