“I do,” the Liam said firmly, and was obeyed with a nod of the head and Artian’s departure.
The Liam turned back to Iris.“I thought a warm drink might be welcome.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.Her arm moved under the blanket, her hand rubbing the birthmark, a habit both he and Jillia had noticed.Iris was frowning as she did so.
“Are you hurting?”he asked.
“No,” Iris shook her head.
The Liam sighed and kept his face neutral.“Tell me what you are doing.”
“Rubbing my scar,” Iris said immediately, obediently.“Except my scar is not there.”
Scarring would explain much, would have hidden the birthmark from all eyes.“Tell me how you were scarred,” the Liam said.
“I was burned as a baby, rolling into the fire,” Iris replied, but it was like she was reciting a poem or an old story.“I have always had the scar.”She frowned, casting her eyes down.“Was I healed?”she asked.
Well, that was a good sign.The Liam shook his head.“We do not know of any that heal with magic,” he explained.“That knowledge was lost long ago; not even the Qual have found answers, and they have been searching since the Wasting.”He leaned back, waiting for more questions.Especially about the Qual.But Iris just nodded, accepting his words.
Interesting.
Artian reappeared, with two mugs and a pitcher.The Liam accepted them, pouring just a bit for himself and a fuller cup for Iris.“Drink,” he offered with a warning.“It’s hot.”
Iris took the mug and sipped.Then sputtered, her eyes wide.
“I said it was hot,” the Liam said mildly.
“What is that?”Iris asked.
“Kavage with fire-snake pepper,” Artian said, kneeling and using a cloth to clean the mess.“It’s spicy, isn’t it?What do you think?”
Iris said nothing, then took another, hesitant sip.Then another.
“Would you like more?”The Liam busied himself with his own drink but kept an eye on the woman.
Iris frowned for a moment, then nodded.
A choice.A small one, admittedly, but a choice.The Liam rose to his feet.“Feel free to ask for it, when you wish.”
Artian gave the Liam a look.“I need to warn you that spicy kavage cleans out more than your airways—”
The Liam moved quickly, not wanting to share that little talk.
Dust’s chambers werea bit further through the maze.Distance was thought to be a good idea, given the circumstances of her arrival on the Wastes.The Liam ducked his head and pushed back the curtain to enter.
Dust wasn’t there.Her pallet was empty.
He froze.
“Shush,” Jillia said from the corner.She pointed at the other pallets across the room.
Dust was sleeping with the others, cradled in the center of the group of animals that had arrived with her.That breathed with her, that shared the same stupor that held her in its grasp.
The Liam opened his mouth, but Jillia was already pushing him out of the chamber.“She crawled there,” Jillia said.“Right into the middle of the pile, and they all shifted around her.First movement we’ve seen, so I am leaving her there for now.”
“I don’t understand it,” the Liam said.“Dust used to speak with us in the elements, and she was in human form then.”
“Her healing need both body and mind,” Jillia explained.She urged him further down the hall.“The body healing goes slow but well.The mind—” she shrugged.“Her mind is tangled in knots not of her own making.Let her be.It will happen in her own time and her own pace.Not yours.”She gave him a stern look.“I know you want to see those blood memories, but you need her consent, yes?”
