by Bianca D’Arc
Instead, that one lonely cart lay, with its back propped toward the main door of the inn, as if someone had been loading or unloading it. The horse or donkey—whatever had pulled the cart—was long gone. Probably dead, judging by what they had seen on the way into town.
As Liam studied it, a woman suddenly appeared at the doorway of the inn. She stopped short when she saw them, and fear crossed her features. She put one hand on the door frame and was turning to go back inside as Liam spoke.
“We mean you no harm, Mistress,” he called out in as gentle a voice as he could manage. “Pray, what happened here?”
The woman hesitated. She eyed their weapons with suspicion. “The village was attacked,” she said after a moment. “What does it look like?”
“We saw the horses slain,” Rivka put in. “That’s why I drew steel. In case the ones who did this are still around.”
The woman deflated and leaned against the doorjamb. “No, they’re long gone,” she said. “After the raid, I gathered all the injured here in the inn. Those that could be saved. I’ve been treating them for the past two days.”
“Treating them?” Rivka queried as she put one of her swords away, sheathing it at her back. Liam was glad she hadn’t put them both up yet. Just in case this woman was leading them astray.
“I am Jalina, journeyman healer of the Temple of Our Lady of Light. This village—Waymeet—is on my circuit. I arrived here just before the raid and ran to hide in the forest while the men were killing everyone and everything. I’m not a fighter,” she explained. “They got Horatio, my horse. Loaded him up with supplies and took him with them, the bastards.”
“They killed all the other village horses?” Liam asked.
“Killed their own nags, though they already looked as if the poor beasts had been run into the ground,” the healer replied. “Then, they went raiding the livestock and killed anything fast enough to catch up with the horses they stole from the villagers. My poor Horatio is a youngster, full of life and pep. I suppose that is what saved him from being murdered, as well. The few able-bodied folk left helped me drag my cart up here so I could get to my supplies more easily. They’re all helping me feed and tend the injured.”
“This is grave news, Mistress Jalina. We have been on the trail of a band of pirates. We started our journey in Tiploir, and we will keep going until we have brought them to justice for all of their crimes,” Rivka promised the healer. “We have crown authority, and when we meet up with someone who can take a message to the nearest Lair, I’m sure they will send help.”
“The villagers sent out a lanky lad of about fourteen on foot soon after the dust settled. He’s walking overland to the nearest town, which is to the west. They expect him to get there in a day or two,” Jalina told them.
Ella, who had been conspicuous by her absence since they entered the town, suddenly flew up to land on Liam’s shoulder. Jalina’s eyes widened.
“You have a virkin companion,” she marveled, clearly fascinated by the creature who preened under the healer’s scrutiny.
“You know about them?” Rivka asked, one eyebrow raised.
“I have heard tales of their healing abilities.” Jalina surprised them with her answer.
Liam frowned. “Ella is very young. She’s only just started talking, and I’ve never known her to heal anything.” He didn’t want the healer having any expectations where Ella was concerned. Liam would protect his small friend, whatever it took.
“We also have a sea dragon friend traveling with us,” Rivka put in quietly. “We left him on the outskirts, just in case he would not be welcome. Tell me,” she went on, running right over any questions the healer might have had. “Did the brigands do anything to the horses before they slew them? Poison or magic of any kind that could make the meat dangerous to consume?”
“No, not that I saw. They just hacked at them with their curved swords.” The healer shuddered as she recounted the tale.
“Cutlasses,” Liam muttered. “I should like to talk to any survivors you can spare. We need to know as much as we can about the men who attacked this village,” he went on, speaking to the healer in a tone he hoped would gain her cooperation.
Jalina nodded slowly. “It can be done, but as you’ll see, there aren’t many folk left unharmed. But most of those abed will be able to speak with you, if it’ll help you catch the raiders.”
“Then, we must talk to them,” Liam said. “First, I will alert our dragon friend that he may enter the town. He may assist with the disposal of some of the carcasses. It has been a while since he had fed well.”
Jalina looked relieved. “That’s good. I was wondering how we were going to deal with so many. They’ve already begun attracting scavengers. If your dragon friend could remove those closest to the village, that would be a help. The butcher’s apprentice has already put up as much as he could handle. He’s got a small smokehouse working, but there’s just too much. What’s left in the fields and on the streets on the outskirts of town will spoil rapidly.”
Rivka nodded gravely. “Our big friend can definitely help with that. I’ll just ask him.”
While Rivka contacted Skelaroth mentally, Liam went into the inn with Jalina. Ella fluttered off his shoulder and went to perch on the side of a rough cot containing a young child with an obvious slash across one side of his face. Liam was pained just looking at the oozing cut and could only guess at the injuries that lay below the simple homespun blanket that practically swallowed the little boy. He was shaking with fever, and his cheeks were flushed bright red on a face that was otherwise all too pale. He had probably lost a lot of blood before the fever set in.
Ella walked daintily to the top of the cot and curved one tiny wing over the top of the boy’s head, laying her cheek against his and closing her eyes. Jalina came up beside Liam as he took stock of the room. At least twenty people were in cots or lying on tables around the room. Others sat at their sides or bustled around, seeing to their comfort. There were more injured than well.
“Most of the villagers were either killed outright or badly injured. Only the old and young were mostly spared,” Jalina murmured, so that only Liam could hear.
“A slimy tactic,” he replied, hearing the anger in his own voice, though he tried to suppress it. “About what I’d expect from him.”
“You know the villains who came here?” Jalina asked, her brows arching in surprise.
“I have hunted their leader for a long time. Which is why I need to know more about the group that came through. I need to find their leader. Cut off the head of the snake, and the rest will wither and die.”
Jalina nodded, her jaw clenched. “Just so.” She nodded toward the room. “I’m sure they will provide what help they can. As will I.”
Liam stepped into the light, and the villagers became aware of his presence. Those who had the energy seemed afraid, at first, but Jalina’s presence at his side seemed to calm them.
“Mama?” A little voice from the bed against the wall made Jalina and Liam spin around. It was the boy, and his eyes were open. He’d stopped shaking, and it looked to Liam as if his fever had broken.
“How are you feeling, poppet?” Jalina asked, going to the boy’s side and putting her hand against his forehead. The boy’s mother wasn’t around, but the healer gave him what nurturing and reassurance she could provide. Ella had hopped up to perch on the back of a chair near the boy’s cot.
Liam looked from the boy and his remarkable recovery to Ella. She met his gaze and flew over to land on his shoulder.
“Did you heal the boy, Ella?” Liam murmured to his virkin friend.
“Helped,” she confirmed, nodding her head as she nestled her cheek against his jaw.
“Are you all right?” Liam asked, a bit alarmed, as well as amazed. He hadn’t known the virkin had such powers.
“Fine. He is, too.” She pointed her chin toward the boy who was looking at her with wide eyes.
“Magic,” Liam concluded. That’s
all it could be. “Do you have magic, little one?”
“Of course,” Ella replied. “Am virkin. Have much magic.”
CHAPTER TEN
Rivka joined Liam inside the inn’s common room that had become an infirmary. He was standing a few feet from a cot where the little boy was being fussed over by a tearful woman, who was likely his mother.
“Skelaroth is already working on clearing the town,” she told him. “At least we can do that much for these people before we have to go.”
Liam seemed a bit distracted but turned to her and nodded. “That’s good.” Ella left his shoulder and flew to the bedside of an elderly woman who lay utterly still.
“Are they all right with her doing that?” Rivka asked as Ella stood above the woman’s head and placed both of her wings at the elder’s temples.
“Did you know that virkin had magic? Ella just healed that boy of a fever, and he woke up asking for his mother.” Liam sounded as stunned as his words made her feel.
Rivka turned to look at the boy and his mother again. The child looked healthy, if a bit pale. Yet, everyone else occupying a bed in this makeshift hospital was in much worse shape.
“She did?” Rivka looked again at the virkin and her peaceful pose at the old lady’s head. Was the woman regaining some of her color? “I had no idea virkin had magic like that.”
Liam was eyeing her with suspicion when she met his gaze again. “Your words imply that you had some idea virkin were magical.”
“Well, yes. I mean, there is a belief among the Jinn who have traveled to her homeland that virkin choose their companions and use magic to do it. The fact that Ella chose to accompany you and your ship indicated to me that she had magically derived some concept of your inner nature. Virkin are said to be excellent judges of character, and they will not stay with someone of the evil intent. They are good, through and through. At least, that’s what the legends about them say.”
Liam’s eyebrows rose. “All that?” His surprise was evident in the way he followed Ella’s progress as she left the old woman and moved to another bed to take a similar pose over a thickset man. “I had no idea she had magic at all. I didn’t even know she could speak until a couple of days ago. You believe she chose me because she could… What? See into my soul?”
Rivka nodded. “So it is said,” she murmured, splitting her attention between Ella and Liam. “Why are you so surprised? You are a good man, Liam. Apparently, Ella thinks so, too.”
“But… I’m not. I have imagined killing Fisk in so many gruesome ways over the years. Those are not the thoughts of a pure soul,” he admitted in a low, pain-filled voice.
Clearly, he was at war within himself over his thirst for revenge and his sense of honor. The way that Fisk was brought to justice was going to be essential in Liam’s future ability to live with himself. If he gave in to the vengeance and did something awful, Liam would probably not be able to forgive himself. Rivka only then started to realize the depth of the captain’s integrity. This quest—and the unforgivable things done to his family by the pirate Fisk—had already cost him dearly. Even imagining taking his revenge in some unspeakable way, tortured his soul.
Rivka was deeply moved. If it was within her power, she swore to herself, that she would be the one to strike Fisk down, if at all possible. She would give Liam his justice but would try to help him limit the guilt he would feel personally. For, she had just discovered, Liam was a man who took things to heart.
“Your virkin is doing wonders,” Jalina said happily in a soft voice as she approached. She was smiling—probably for the first time since the raid. “I had grave doubts about young Sammy’s fever, but it is gone, and he should recover now, with the resilience of youth. Granny Doris is looking better, too, and I thought for certain she would leave us this afternoon. And look…” Jalina pointed to the big man Ella had just left. His eyes were blinking open. “That’s the village blacksmith. He is also the headman. A good fellow named Larson. His wounds were grave, and infection was taking its toll. Thank the Lady you stopped here!” Jalina clapped her palms together gently and raised her eyes skyward briefly, toward her goddess. “I will go to Larson and examine him, but your virkin deserves praise and thanks. Please tell her for me, if I do not get a chance.”
“We will,” Rivka assured the woman as she walked away on quiet feet. Liam was watching Ella move around the room, seeking her next patient. She chose a man with a large belly, currently swathed in bandages.
Rivka knew that gut wounds could be deadly. It was surprising this man had lived long enough to receive Jalina’s care, but he appeared to be hanging on to life by a tenacious thread. Ella landed at his side and placed her wing over his bandages. Then, the virkin closed her eyes and stretched out her long neck to rest her head on the man’s arm.
“Sir?” The boy’s mother approached Liam. Rivka watched with interest to see how he would handle her.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied politely, turning toward the woman.
“Healer Jalina says your pet helped my Sammy, and I just wanted to thank you,” the woman said in a shy voice that was filled with emotion.
“I wouldn’t call her a pet, exactly,” Liam said with an inviting grin that seemed to put the woman more at ease. “Mistress Ella does as she wishes. I’m just glad she was able to help your son.”
“Is there some way I can thank her, then?” the woman insisted. “Is there anything I can get for her? I’ve been running the kitchen here to feed everyone. It’s not fancy food, but it’s filling. The raiders left most of our stores intact. They just took what they could carry off with them but left the rest alone.”
“That is good news,” Liam replied, and Rivka was glad to hear that at least nobody in town would starve while they were getting over this tragedy. “We originally stopped here to see if we could resupply. Would that be possible?”
“Oh, aye,” the woman replied easily. “There’s plenty of food to be had. We went through everyone’s cupboards that first day and gathered everything edible here in this kitchen. We’ve been using the perishables first, but there’s plenty of cured meat laid by and other items that would last for your journey.” The woman looked over where Ella was flitting to another patient. “What sorts of things does your small friend eat?”
Liam also watched Ella fly, though Rivka noted the portly man was stirring and seemed to look a lot better. Was Ella healing everyone? Rivka didn’t realize virkin had that much magic.
“Ella will eat just about anything. She’s a born hunter and picks off the vermin on the ship that come aboard every time we make port. When they’re gone, she dines with me, and I feed her off my plate. She eats mostly meat but also likes sweet grains and bread. She also enjoys small fruits and nuts. Really, she’ll eat just about anything we would eat,” Liam told the woman.
“I was about to go get soup for my boy,” she told them. “Now that his fever is gone, he’s hungry, of course, blessed be the Mother of All.” Her smile was one of relief and gratefulness. “My name is Meg, by the way. I’d be happy to get a proper meal started for you, if you’re hungry.”
Rivka saw an opportunity to help, and she stepped forward. “My name is Rivka, Meg. I’d be happy to help you in the kitchen. I assume it’s near feeding time for those who are able to eat, is it not?”
“Aye, that it is,” Meg agreed. “I’d be grateful for the help. Come with me.”
“I’ll question her about the raiders while we cook,” Rivka sent to Liam silently. He turned to her and nodded, then strode forward to offer his help to the healer.
Rivka followed Meg into the inn’s large kitchen. The townswoman hadn’t been kidding when she’d claimed they’d gathered all the supplies and taken them to the inn. The counters were almost overflowing with foodstuffs. Baked goods that were probably a day or two old by now, but still quite edible, were on one counter, in baskets and on platters. There were bags full of beans and grains, as well as canisters of different kinds of flour and other grou
nd substances. Dried herbs hung from the rafters in neat rows. In all, it was a model kitchen to Rivka’s mind. The inn must have been quite nice before Fisk’s men came through.
“There’s a kitchen garden out back that the raiders missed,” Meg told Rivka. “You’re welcome to go out there and see what’s ripe that you might like. By the way, same goes for anything you see growing in the village. Everyone who’s left is pooling resources, and we’ve agreed that everything is communal for the time being. Chances are, if you see ripe fruit somewhere, nobody’s left to pick it, so you might as well take some.”
“That’s very kind,” Rivka replied, not mentioning how sad it also was. The fact that so many had been killed by the pirates was something that was going to take this town a long time to get over. “Let me help you clear away the dirty pots first, though.” Rivka dug right into the wash tub full of pots and dishes. She wanted to stay with Meg for a bit and hopefully get her to talk about the raid.
They worked side by side for a while. Meg took the promised bowl of soup out to her son but returned after a bit. Rivka was still working away on the dirty dishes when Meg joined her.
“Thank you for your help with this,” Meg said shyly. “I know I shouldn’t have let things pile up, but…”
“You had other priorities,” Rivka completed the woman’s thoughts. “I understand. I’ve been through this sort of thing before. How is your boy doing?”
“Jalina says he’s out of the woods and will make a full recovery, thanks to that little dragon in there,” Meg said, a fond smile on her face.
“Ella is a virkin from Elderland,” Rivka told her gently.
“She is?” Meg seemed truly interested.