The woman put a cup to her lips.“A few sips, no more.”
“I am the Liam of the Marcusi,” the male said as Iris sipped from the cup.He was kneeling on the dirt floor next to her pallet.There was just enough light to see his face, worn and tired.“This is Jillia, Elder Healer.”
As a name, Jillia sounded young and light-hearted, but the woman was wizened and wrinkled, with skin like old, browned leather.No light-heart here, she looked like she’d swallowed something sour.
“It is the way of our people to offer mercy to one injured as badly as you.”The Liam said.“So we offer choice.Do you want to walk this path?Or request mercy at our hands?”
Iris frowned, staring at the man, confused.Choice?What was that?She knew the word, but… And want?That is not…she is not supposed to want.She is supposed to be told.She is supposed to obey.
What was she supposed to do now?
The Liam held her gaze, calm and quiet.“The decision is yours.”
She struggled to find words, an answer, reaching within for something to tell her how to feel, how to respond, what to do…but all was silent.Empty.
She looked at the man, feeling lost.“I don’t know,” she rasped.
“Which to choose?”he asked.
“How,” she breathed in shame.“I don’t knowhow.”
The Liam nodded slowly, exchanging a glance with Jillia.But he didn’t mock, didn’t scoff.“Not choosing is a choice in itself.”
“And that’s enough of this,” Jillia announced.“I’ve a sleep posset here, and you’ll drink that down and be done with this talk.”
“For now,” The Liam nodded in agreement.“The elements preserved you, and we will do so as well.”
Iris sighed and closed her eyes.She drank what was put to her lips eagerly.She didn’t feel safe.Her inner self kept reaching for something that was always there and was now not there, and it hurt her heart.The potion was soothing to her throat and soon a cloud of forgetfulness rose in her mind.Her awareness, her pain, her fear, all went fuzzy and distant.
She was content that it would be so.There was nothing to force her to do otherwise.No restriction, no constraint, no confinement.
No…Bond.
The Liam waitedin the outer hall as Jillia saw to her patient.He reached within his tunic and pulled out the glass vial that he had taken from Vren’s body.The contents were reddish-brown and crusty.Like the old, dried blood it was.
He tucked the vial away as Jillia emerged from the room.
“Well, that went well,” Jillia growled as she passed him.“Didn’t even share her name.No trust there.”
“Rightfully so, don’t you think?”the Liam responded as he followed her down the tunnel.“Skies know what she’s been told.”
“I still say this is a waste of our resources,” Jillia groused.“We’ve no reason to spend precious food and water on the likes of that one.”
“The elements preserved her,” the Liam said mildly.“So we will.”
“Humpf.”
There was no good response to that, so the Liam stayed silent.
Jillia led the way, through the winding tunnels, to another chamber.One of the wider ones, because of the space needed.While the healer went to a table for supplies, the Liam knelt beside another pallet.“Dust?”he called softly.
There was no response from the lovely woman lying there, covered in blankets, still and silent, her chest moving with the barest of breaths.
“Fewer broken bones,” Jillia said, her harsh voice softened with care.“And no, I am not going to rouse her, not for your questions, not for—”
“Peace,” the Liam said.“I would not ask you to.My questions can wait.”He pulled the vial from his tunic.Bright red blood sloshed within.
“Now, how is that,” Jillia breathed.“That the wastes restore her, strips her of magic, yet allows for blood memories.”
