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Chapter 52. Hope |
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eod entered Lemony’s chambers as the first warm light of dawn filtered through the diamond-paned windows. With so little to do most days, Lemony often decided to sleep in until Xue Xue or her captors decided otherwise. Through hooded eyes she watched Leod place the tray on an old table where he correctly assumed Lemony and Xue Xue took breakfast. That morning the crockery rattled slightly as he handled it and the pot containing quince marmalade shattered on the worn tiles before his feet. He stumbled back drunkenly and made a muffled curse. Lemony considered asking him what was amiss and decided better of it considering that her other attempts to gain his confidence had failed. Instead, she rose stiffly, her toes curling in response to the chill of the floor. Her years of healing others of their hurts had taught her a great deal about the meaning of subtle gestures. She could tell by the subtle curve of his left knee that he placed more weight on his right leg and his left shoulder was pitched lower to remove strain on the muscles and tendons around his hip and lower back. She also knew wounded people were more prone to talk to her. Total strangers granted succor by her gift had occasionally told her details about their lives they might not even share with their own family. She needed outside help and he was her best hope. “You’re hurt,” Lemony said in her most soothing and inoffensive voice, “Let me have a look at that. I’m a healer.” He gamely pretended he did not hear her and circled the shattered crockery rather than kneeling to pick it up. A cry of pain edged past his pursed lips when he finally lowered to his left knee and began picking up the mess, all the while ignoring her approach. She placed a hand on his shoulder and wordlessly guided him to one of the two chairs at the table. Though it was hard for him to sit, he did so, his face rigid with an attempt to hide his agony. “Where did Josef strike you?” Lemony asked as if it were the most normal question in the world. Perhaps it was in Ama’s household. Leod cast his eyes down in shame but would not answer her. Sighing, Lemony knelt beside him and placed a hand on his hip. He flinched at her bold gesture but she ignored him, knowing he hurt too much to get up quickly. The long flights of stairs he had climbed to get to the room alone would have heated up the joint. “He struck you around here, didn’t he?” she asked, not pressing hard on the flesh, but tracing her fingers just below the hip bone where she could feel the flesh hardening with swelling, “What did he use?” “He… he told me to help bury a man alive behind the bone house…” Lemony felt the hair of her nape rise in horror. Gods, please let him not have killed Mog. Hiding her fear, she nodded, focusing on the wound. “He struck you with the shovel handle for refusing to do as he asked. This bone has a fracture and there is much swelling,” she said, surmising her guess was correct when he did not flinch away. The bone would heal without deformation given time and care. It was a tiny crack in a thick bone belonging to a young man with good muscle tone. She could speed the process and take the pain away in the blink of an eye. “I will heal you because I am a servant of Dwayna. I know you are scared of Josef. I, too, fear and despise him.” Leod made an unconscious movement with his hand, some Kurzick blessing gesture she had seen several of the servants perform when talk turned to the gods. Her short time in Kurzick lands had taught her they were extremely devout and structured in their beliefs. Of course, the downtrodden often had no one else but the gods to turn to. It made sense the servants, at least, would show some respect on the off chance of divine protection or judgment. With a theatrical nod of her head, she began the chant to knit bone and dull pain. Azure light gathered around her and flowed down her arms in a brilliant cascade. His flesh was warm and vital beneath her touch as the prayer reached its euphoric zenith and faded away. “Sister, thank you and may the gods bless you,” Leod stammered, “They said you were one of the Chosen of Dwayna but I would not believe it. How is it my masters spit in the face of the gods by holding you here? They bring calamity upon this house and all who dwell under its roof.” “Do not speak so, your masters are dangerous,” Lemony said quietly, “I would prefer no one else become embroiled in my misery.” “Sister, if there are any small comforts I can bring to you…” “No… do not endanger yourself on my account,” Lemony said with a calculating frown, lowering her eyes, “The things I wish for are foolish and I should trust instead in my faith. What need have I for my trinkets and prayer books when the gods are always with me? If you could tell me how my friend Mog fares, that would be payment enough.” Lemony bit her lip, hoping Leod would tell her. In her mind’s eye she saw Mog suffering the slow death of suffocation in the earth alone and terrified. It was too cruel a fate for someone so dear and gentle. “I attend to him as well. He is unhappy but unharmed.” Guilt vied with relief at the news. She should not be rejoicing that some nameless man had died instead at Josef’s perverted hands. It also did not change the fact that she was still trapped there and neither of them were any closer to being free. Poor Mog. She wanted to believe that he was not suffering but it was difficult to belief Josef would leave him unscathed. Gods, they had to get out of there. Somehow. “I will get you new marmalade,” Leod said, pleased with himself upon seeing the relief on her face, “and I will tell you how the negotiations for your ransom fare.” Lemony blinked and tried to suppress her shock. It had never occurred to her that her friends on the island would find out where she was. It was the best gift he could have given her. “Thank you. May Dwayna’s wings enfold you.” Leod departed, smiling for the first time since she had encountered him. “Are you going to escape?” Xue Xue asked from the doorway of her bedroom. Lemony turned quickly to gaze upon the little child. “I would never leave without you, little one.” The girl looked up at her with wide brown eyes. Then, without making another sound, she sidled up to Lemony and placed her head against her belly and clung to her. She stroked the child’s silky black hair and remembered an autumn day nearly a year ago before things had gone so terribly wrong. She and Zhou and Shikai were in the garden amid a gathering carpet of autumn leaves. The rain had stopped and at the time she had not understood the bittersweet sound of their laughter. Shikai had told him to become a father and he had merely frowned and shook his head. It had seemed odd to Lemony then that two people so in love had never created a family, especially given Shikai’s love of children and Zhou’s generosity toward the orphanage. “I think your grandparents would love you very much,” Lemony whispered, “I can’t wait to bring you home to them.” “You know them?” Xue Xue asked. “Yes, they are very dear to me,” Lemony said, crossing her arms lovingly over the girl’s shoulders and kissing her silky crown. Was she cruel planting a hope that might prove false in this poor child’s heart? “You owe me this,” she thought to herself, imagining Dwayna hovering over them, “It’s not her fault she’s landed in this mess and you’d better find a way for me to take her along.” |
