Chapter 66. Healing the Healer

e lay back on the hard table, thanking one of the servants for placing a pillow behind his head as Xiang Yi cut away his blood and ichor stained clothes.  The infirmary bustled with activity as Armand was carried into the room laid out on a bed with Brigit limping determinedly after him despite the fact that she was little better off than Pendaran. 

“Brigit!” shouted a familiar voice, “PEN! You’re alive!”

He laughed as Lemony’s tiny form bounded past the crowd of servants and healers and nearly leaped into Brigit’s arms as she curled around the warrior’s battered chest.

“Liang Meng!” Xiang Yi protested, “It is late, should you not be asleep?”

“I think not,” Lemony replied, stamping a foot, “I’m here to take care of my friends, so make room.”

“I’m glad to see you, Lem”, Pendaran said as the little monk dragged Brigit toward him and placed an appraising hand on his brow.

“What a mess,” she murmured and he sensed a flash of grief shadowing her, a knot of blackness that lurked behind her radiant spirit.  She needed to be here, she needed to have hope and purpose once more.

“Xiang Yi, would you let Lemony take care of me, please?”

The man frowned, then bowed, standing aside so that she could take his place.  Which was just as well, for Brigit stumbled in her exhaustion and Xiang Yi went immediately to her side and began administering to her.  Lemony, meanwhile, looked him over thoughtfully, reading in the tensing of his jaw and the way his hands were curled over the edge of the table that he was hurting.

“The haven’t done anything to dull the pain?” she grumbled, “Poor Pen.”

“I’ve only been here a few minutes,” he said, grinning despite the pain as she fussed over him.  Praying softly, she wrapped a soothing enchantment around him and he relaxed, aware now only of how incredibly tired he was.  He longed for a real bed and the warmth of Teleri’s arms.  How he had missed her.

“That better?” she asked and he nodded, smiling upon her.  She bent her attention to cutting away what remained of his boots and leggings, peeling the ichor encrusted leather and cloth away to reveal limbs scored with blackened wounds.  Her gentle hands flowed over his broken flesh and the azure glow of healing energies poured into his flesh, sealing them.  She raised her face to gaze upon him, smiling sweetly.

“Is Teleri alright?” he asked as she drew a blanket over his mended legs and moved to his right side to gaze upon the wound on his belly.  He suppressed a grin as she gasped, finding flawless skin where the hideous ruin of the assassins’ blades had once lain.

“Pen… how’d you do that?”

“I’ll tell you later, I’m tired now and you haven’t answered my question.”

“You’re not crippled?”

“No, I’m fine now.”

Lemony bit her lip against a flood of tears and Pendaran reached out an arm to her and drew her close.  She sobbed into his shoulder, her tiny form wracked with mental pain that seared his consciousness.  Nandao had died and she felt so alone and devastated.

“At least one of my prayers was answered,” she wept.

He stroked her head and she nestled against him like a frightened bird, unaware of how activity in the busy infirmary had stopped momentarily to take notice of her.  Lemony was small, but Pendaran was amused by her ability to fill even the grandest hall with her expansive personality, be it childish joy or devastating grief.  She was as honest and real as a human being could be without being completely mad.  He loved her for that.

“I bet Nandao is robbing the gods blind with his gambling,” he whispered into her ear, “Wherever he is now, you can bet he is amusing himself while he is waiting for you.”

Lemony snorted and he could see her mind ticking over imagining Nandao getting Balthazar and Grenth drunk while shuffling his tiles and preparing to pick their pockets with his skill and luck.  She giggled through her tears and kissed his temple.

“I’m glad you’re home, Pen, and that you’re alive.”

“Me, too.”

“And you killed that horrible demon for good?”

“Yes, my friend.  Nandao is avenged.”

“Thank you,” she sniffled, “at least something good came of this.”