03 - Sworn (6 page)

“Nothing so far,” Kel said. “Looking for somewhere to swim.”

“Oh, perfect,” Rowan said. “I have something I need to practice, but I need water. A lot of it. And preferably away from people, just in case.” She looked down at her hands, and a pinched expression came over her face.

She was a strange person. Too innocent, too trusting, too eager to please. She hadn’t complained about the insulting task Ulric had set for her, and her lack of spine didn’t warm me to her. And yet she’d been kind to me even after I stated outright that I didn’t like her, offering help, thanking me for the potions and ointments that had helped heal her injuries and Aren’s, asking me questions about my work. She’d saved our lives when we escaped from the city, and that was a mark in her favor. She obviously cared deeply for my brother. That was another. But in spite of the great things she’d done so recently, she seemed unsure of herself. Seeing a person in that state made me uncomfortable. Where I came from, hesitation and doubt made one a victim, as did seeking the approval of others.

I would know.

“Your magic is fully recovered and under control?” I asked.

She turned to me, eyes wide. Probably surprised I was speaking to her. “I think so. But I need to practice. I learned control in that cell, but I haven’t had many chances to practice at full power since the pushback effect wore off. I don’t want anyone to get hurt if it turns out I still need help containing it.”

I was about to point out that her joining us might not be the best idea if she could injure us, but didn’t. Kel caught the tightness of my expression, and watched the two of us carefully.

Rowan noted it, too, and took a step back. “I’ll ask in the kitchen where we can find water.”

“I’ll come,” Cassia added, and they left us.

“That was pleasant,” Kel observed.

I sighed. “I’m trying to be nice, but what was I supposed to say? She rubs me backwards, that’s all.”

Kel laughed. “Pardon?”

“It’s an expression. If you pet a cat the wrong way, back to front, they hate it. It ruffles them.”

I waited for the
I’d like to ruffle you
comment that was clearly waiting behind his smile, but he held back this time. “I’m not going to tell you what to do, Nox. You can’t force these things. But you might think about why you don’t get along with her. See where that takes you.”

I frowned, but couldn’t put my heart into it. “Not everyone can be friends.”

“I know. But tolerance wouldn’t be a bad thing, right?” He pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.

Rowan’s shoulders slumped with disappointment when she returned. Cassia looked absolutely devastated.

“There’s no water.”

“What?” Kel released me and placed his hands on Cassia’s arms. She just shook her head.

Rowan stepped closer. “We talked to a woman in the meal tent. They used to get their water from a lake nearby—nothing impressive, but it provided enough for drinking and bathing, and was clean and clear when they got here. It’s almost dried up now, just since the autumn, and everything in it was dead before that. They were collecting snow through the winter, and now they’re using rainwater.” She gestured to a set of wooden barrels outside the tent. “Even that’s running low. It hasn’t rained properly in weeks. A lot of the people want to move on, but Goff and Laelana won’t have it. I suppose they feel safe here.”

I scraped at the ground with the scuffed leather toe of my boot. Beneath a layer of dust, the soil was hard and cracked. “You can call water though, right? That’s your magic thing?”

Rowan paled. “I... I have, when it’s available. I could try now, but—”

“Never mind.” I sighed and tried not to blame her for being nervous about it. She’d just killed a man with her magic a few days ago, something I wouldn’t have thought her capable of. I’d try not to judge her for shying away from it now.

That’s progress,
I thought. I was clearly spending too much time with nice people.

Kel rubbed a hand over his face. “So there’s nothing?”

Rowan glanced back at the tent again. “I don’t think they’d be too happy if you stuffed yourselves into their barrels of drinking water. But we could look for what’s left of the lake, and I could try to get something for you. Might get us in good with the people, too, and that’s what Ulric wants.”

Cassia leaned into her brother, and Kel stroked her hair. “It’ll be okay, Cass.”

“It’s just so dry,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt.

I tried to think of something comforting to say. I didn’t get a chance.

“You!” An old woman in a dirty brown dress hobbled quickly toward us, pointing a bony finger at me. A young man stumbled out of the way as she shoved past him. “You, black-haired girl! You’re a Potioner?”

“I—yes,” I stammered, and stepped back. The woman was tiny, but moved with the force of a hurricane.

She shoved past the others and squinted up at me with sharp green eyes framed by wrinkles like the cracks in the earth at our feet. “You’re to come with me. I need help, and nobody around here knows anything.”

“But I was just going to—”

She crossed her arms. “I was told you were all here to help us. This is how you’re going to do it.”

I gritted my teeth.
Damn you, Ulric.
“You all go, I’ll see you later. Good luck with the water.”

Kel nodded, and he and Cassia followed Rowan in the direction she’d indicated when she spoke of the lake.

“Now,” the old woman said as she looked me over. She didn’t seem impressed. “You come back to my cabin. We’ll see whether you’re any more useful than the rest of these ninnies.”

The woman spoke quickly, and trying to keep up with her left me feeling three steps behind. I had no choice but to obey if I was going to help Ulric’s mission, but I couldn’t say I was pleased about it. I’d just begun to find my freedom, out from under the watchful gaze of my old teacher and then my husband. I’d had a year to make something of myself, and suddenly this crone thought she was going to use me as her new helper.

Perfect. Fantastic, really.

I remembered what Kel had said about tolerance, and told myself that cooperation would help us reach our goal of dethroning Severn faster. Perhaps I’d find something of interest to me in the old woman’s supplies.
Maybe even my own confiscated ingredients.

I followed her to a wood hut that looked to have been constructed in stages. Half had been built of logs, the other section planks, and the covered porch on the front could have been slapped on as an afterthought. A man with a bandage wrapped around his head waited outside.

“Mama Bunn,” he groaned, “it hurts.”

The old woman spat on the ground. “What’d you do? Horsing around again?”

“Training, Mama Bunn.” He spoke respectfully, and I thought affectionately, in spite of the old woman’s harsh tone.

He bent over and let the tiny woman unwrap the bandage, revealing a lump covered in cracked skin. “Looks fine,” she said. “Wait here, I’ll put something on it after I deal with this one.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at me.

I followed her into the building, which was well lit by large windows, the only proper ones I’d noticed in the camp. A narrow bed sat to one side of a large room, and a curtained door covered the way into the back, which I assumed was her work area.

There could be something to learn here,
I decided. I’d made the best of bad situations before, and would dig something of value out of this mudpit as well. And she might be a better Potioner than my old teacher. Odds were she didn’t have my natural skill. Few did, but I could stomach a partner for a time. Perhaps we’d come up with something to lessen the people’s need for water, or to expand the food supply.
I could show her what I’ve worked out for my own injuries, and...

The thoughts died as she pushed a curtain aside and ushered me into her workspace. Equipment covered the rough wood counter, every piece of it filthy. The glass jars on the shelf sat un-labeled and almost empty.

“Can’t get out much to forage these days,” the old woman said, and sniffed. “Not as spry as I once was. But you’re my assistant now. You can do it.”

A deep, throbbing pain blossomed in my temples, and I realized I was clenching my jaw muscles tight.

“Of course,” I said, eager to leave. “I’ll head out now and collect—”

“No. First, you clean up. Then we’ll see what comes next.”

She grabbed a glass jar half-filled with creamy ointment from the shelf and marched out the door with a lopsided limp.

I set my hands on my hips and took in the mess. A large tin basin in the corner had an oil heater beneath, which I lit with a flint I found among the items on the counter. In spite of the drought, someone had filled the water barrel in the corner. I added water and soap flakes to the basin, but it would take time for things to warm.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I would need hours to organize everything to my liking, but the place had the right feel for a Potioner’s workshop. Sad as the supplies may have been, I felt their potential calling to me.

“I’ll make this work,” I told myself, and rolled up my sleeves.

I
LOST TRACK OF TIME
, pulled into the silent world of Mama Bunn’s collection. The plants, dry and dull though they were after a long winter in storage, spoke to me, whispering their secrets and their potential. She’d left a brown sprig of death’s light lying out—a beautiful and innocent-looking vine, but fatal even at the brush of a finger. I wondered whether that was carelessness, or a test to see if I was a worthy assistant. I couldn’t help smiling as I searched for forceps to pick it up, and decided that the old woman might be fun after all.

The light outside the windows was fading when the door creaked and soft footsteps approached.

“She’s not here,” I called, and dunked a gunk-covered mortar and pestle into the soapy water in the basin.

“I’m not looking for her.”

Kel’s voice sent a pleasant tingle through my body. I glanced over my shoulder and tucked my hair behind my ear, leaving a trail of bubbles across my temple. “Sorry, I got busy. Did you find the lake?”

“Such as it is, yes.” He leaned back against the workbench and crossed his arms over his chest. “Not deep enough for us to bother with changing, and absolutely filthy. We didn’t even try to wet our hands.”

“I’m so sorry. Rowan couldn’t help call more?”

“No. It’s as if she—I don’t know. She tried, then said she couldn’t feel anything to draw from, anyway. She seemed relieved about it. What do you make of that?

“I have no idea what goes on in a Sorceress’ head.” I still suspected she was dealing with a case of nerves, or lingering shock. I might find something to help if she decided to speak to me about it.

“Watch what you touch over there,” I told Kel. “I haven’t finished cataloging it all.”

He pushed off from the counter and wandered around the room. I turned my attention back to my work, but listened as he took the lone book off the shelf and flipped through it, moved a few clay bowls around, and went to look out the window. Always curious. I kept myself from watching him, but couldn’t turn my mind away.

I was lost in my thoughts when I sensed his gaze on me. He moved closer, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

“Everything good with you?” he asked.

“Of course. Why?”

“You’ve been washing that same bit of equipment since I got here.” He looked over my shoulder and watched me rubbing bits of leaf matter off of the dark stone pestle. “Actually, you’re not even washing it. More like stroking. Seductively.”

I pulled a hand from the basin and flicked a handful of water at his face.

He laughed. “No, it’s good. This is working for me. Maybe not so much for the rest of the dishes, though.”

I resisted the urge to thunk him over the head with the club-like instrument, which still had bits of false clover stuck to it. He pressed his body against my back and sank his hands into the water next to mine.

“It
is
working for you, isn’t it?” I teased.

“It’s not the dishes, believe me.” He brushed my hair back over my shoulder with one wet hand and kissed behind my ear, then down my neck. I tilted my head away, leaving more room for his lips to explore.

“I know,” I whispered. Kel always managed to steal my voice away. “Kel, if it seems like I’ve been evasive about—”

“Shh.”

His fingers found mine under the water, and he massaged the palm of my right hand. A tiny gasp escaped me.

It’s just your hand, you silly girl,
I thought,
and in filthy dishwater, at that
. But damned if it didn’t make me think of all the other places I wanted him to touch me, no matter the consequences.
Perhaps a little kiss or three wouldn’t hurt..
.

I turned around. He was standing so close that I had to lean back and put my arms around his neck to hold myself up. “Kiss me,” I said.

He did, long and deep, and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me even closer. His lips trailed down over my jaw and across the scar on my cheek. My hands seemed to have minds of their own as they wandered over his back, then explored the hard curves of his chest under his shirt.

“Nox, wait.” A hint of regret tinged his voice.

“What?”

He pulled away. “Nothing bad. I’ve been thinking, and it seems important that we talk again about—”

The door in the front room slammed open, and Kel jumped back.

“You still not done?” Mama Bunn threw open the curtain. Her eyes widened. “What is this? You have men in here already?”

“Just the one,” I said, biting back my irritation at the interruption.

She didn’t seem impressed. “It’s supper time. They’ve been roasting the damn pigs all day, but it won’t take that long for them to be eaten. Get out of here.”

We weren’t going to be able to enjoy any more privacy in the cabin. I grabbed Kel’s hand and pulled him out before she could change her mind and make him leave without me.

The carcasses were half-demolished before we arrived, and the line for food snaked back from the cooking pit. The crowd living in the village was larger than I’d thought, and they were all hungry.