Healer's Touch (6 page)

It was getting to midday when she heard horses approaching from behind. Her pulse quickened and she scanned the area for cover. There were always trees by the side of the road and she readied herself to dart amongst them. Then, glancing over her shoulder, she relaxed. It was a carriage with a small escort of riders. Not the Farries, then. If she stuck to her path, hopefully they would just ride past her.

The leading riders caught up and passed her. She kept her head down, still feeling too close to Cheer to be safe from scrutiny. But the carriage pulled up just ahead of her.

“You alright, son?” The driver was a man a little past his middle years. Beside him sat a prim woman in a chaste, yet flattering dress, with her hair scooped up at the back of her head. A pretty blonde girl about Llew’s age, dressed as properly as the older woman but with a more relaxed air, completed the trio.

Llew cleared her throat and made her usual octave drop. “I’m fine.” She kept walking.

The carriage moved forward with her.

“It’s just that there ain’t much but road for miles. You sure you wouldn’t be wanting a ride?”

Llew stopped.

“You mean it, mister? You’d take me with you?”

The rider behind the carriage moved into view.
Uh-oh
. It was the man Llew had stolen the knife from several days before. And, judging from his expression, he remembered her too.

“Hey! You’re that kid from the other day.” One of the leading riders swung round. “Remember him, Jonas?” Al. That was it. His name was Al.

Jonas grunted and gave Llew a none-too-impressed look.

“You know him?” the girl in the carriage asked.

“Kinda. He stole Jonas’ knife at the market the other day.”

“You let him steal your knife?” The older man gave Jonas an incredulous look.

“I didn’t let him–”

“What you doin’ all the way out here?” Al asked.

“I told you I wanted to leave Cheer. So I’m leaving Cheer.”

“Just how far were you hoping to get with bare feet and . . . ” The older man looked her up and down. “ . . . no provisions?”

Llew shrugged. “Figured I’d walk. There’s gotta be a few towns between here and Ryaen.” Ryaen was the only Aghacian city with a port. Cheer should have had one, but an unfortunate tide just out from the peninsula made it a dangerous stretch of sea. Too dangerous for the few flakes of gold coming out these days.

The older man smiled. “A few, sure. But we’re not due to reach the next till tomorrow, and we got horses.” His head dipped. “And footwear. Come on.” He patted the carriage platform behind him. “We’re all headed the same way.”

It hardly needed saying. Cheer was at one end of Aghacia, ocean to the south and east, hills and mountains that dropped off to the sea to the west: the only way to get anywhere was to take the North Road.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Aris.” Jonas brought his bay and white-patched horse forward. “We don’t know nothin’ about him–”

“Look at him. Clothes too big, no shoes, planning to walk the length of the country.” Aris waved an arm up and down, drawing everyone’s attention to Llew’s attire. “What more is there to know?”

“I just think we should be careful, is all. Anya’s gotta be delivered safely–”

The girl in the carriage laughed, at which the woman beside her scowled. “Sorry, Emylia, but I think Jonas underestimates me. I think I could defend myself from a boy
that
small.”

Everyone, apart from Jonas apparently, could understand a young lad wanting more from life than Cheer had to offer, and it was agreed that extra hands could be put to use. So Llew clambered up into the carriage, and they set off. As he snapped the reins to make the horses walk, Aris explained that they were escorting Anya to her future husband.

“This is so exciting!” Anya exclaimed. “We’re barely out of Cheer and we’ve already picked up a mysterious stranger. What’s your name?”

“Llew.”

“Nice to meet you, Llew. My name is Anya, this is Emylia, and this is Aris.” The woman nodded to Llew with a tight yet friendly smile, and the man offered his hand. Llew shook it and smiled at him. “Up the front,” Anya continued, “are Cassidy and Alvaro. They’re cousins from Rakun – where we’re going. The blond one is Cassidy. And behind is Jonas, who I believe you’ve met . . . ”

“Yes, I, ah, ran into Al– Alvaro and Jonas the other day . . . ”

“How poetic!” Anya said, with a sparkle in her eyes. “I guess it was fate.”

“So, tell me, Llew. Where are your people?” Aris asked over his shoulder.

Llew shrugged. “They’re dead.”

“That’s terrible!” Anya’s perfectly clean and delicate hands flew to her lips.

“Ah.” Aris nodded, ignoring the girl’s outburst. “That’d explain the thieving, then. You lookin’ to make an honest living?”

“If I can.” Llew said, repeating more hopefully, “If I can.”

* * *

A gentle breeze blew across the landscape. They remained close to the coast, and the hiss and crash of waves were constant companions. Now and then, the salty smell reached them across open fields. They stopped at a creek by the roadside to eat, water the horses, and refill canteens. Llew gratefully accepted a share in the fresh bread rolls and fruit on offer.

“So, what’s your special skill?” Anya asked, joining Llew by the creek as she filled one of the spare canteens.

“Sorry?”

“Well, you see, Cassidy is a superbly fine shot with a bow and arrow,” she began, swivelling so that she could point out each of their companions. “My father insisted they prove to him that I was in good hands. He’s good with a sword, too, but it was Alvaro who shone in the mini-tournament they put on for me.” She beamed. “And Jonas has an uncanny knack for knife-throwing. Actually, his knives sliced each of Cassidy’s perfect shots.” Anya looked around, seeking out the dark young man.

It wasn’t hard – he hadn’t let Llew out of his sight since she’d joined them, and he wasn’t hiding the fact. Every time she looked up he was there. When she went off for a privacy stop, he was barely out of view, although he was polite enough not to watch. He didn’t trust her, and Llew hoped that was all. She had stolen from him, after all, so she could understand his concerns.

“So, my little menagerie has an archer, a swordsman and a knife-thrower.” Anya looked Llew up and down. “And what is it that you can do?”

“Fishing?” Llew cursed herself for such a lame answer. She’d been caught off guard and replied with the first thing that came to mind – an archer, a swordsman, a knife-thrower, and a fisher?

Anya clapped her hands with delight. “Oh, that’s wonderful! You can catch us some fresh dinners. It’ll make a nice change from the travel rations.”

Llew blinked. She’d expected a demand for a talent in weaponry. In truth, she had some – you didn’t work for a blacksmith and go on to survive the streets without picking up a few essential skills – but she doubted she compared well with Alvaro, Cassidy or Jonas.

“I’ll need a hook, I–”
Stop. Just stop, now.
“I don’t have a hook.” Why was she continuing with this? She should have been proclaiming her skill with a sword, a sling, whatever they needed. Something useful. These people had money and ample supplies, and it wasn’t as if they had the time to sit around waiting for dinner to bite.
Fishing
.
Sure, Llew. They’ll be happy to have you along. You’ll be
so
useful.

“Perhaps we can get you one when we stop at Orn. I’m sure they’ll have a store.”

Llew nodded absently, and Anya headed back to the carriage. Llew didn’t know what to make of the other girl. She was talkative, bubbly and . . . 
nice
. It wasn’t a normal state for the girls living on the streets of Cheer.

“Damn shame, ain’t it?”

“What?” Llew couldn’t believe she’d been taken by surprise again. She stood and turned to follow Cassidy’s gaze. He was watching Anya chat animatedly with Aris and Emylia.

“A girl like that. Off the market already. Marryin’ a guy more’n ten years her senior, too.”

Llew looked at Cassidy. Her lips began to curl up in a smile, and then she remembered her role as a fellow young male and the smile disappeared.

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “Damn shame.” Anya’s laughter jangled like a cow bell back through the air to them, accompanied by the deeper tones of Aris. Anya was as comfortable in the presence of her elders as she was with Llew, a stranger.

Normally, she would have been wary of these people. What did they have to gain by taking her with them? Very little. In Llew’s world that equated not to generosity, but ignorance. Giving without expecting in return? Unheard of. In accepting their help without negotiating terms, she had put herself in a vulnerable position, and yet it felt like the right thing to do. She probably wouldn’t have accepted the ride from these people if it hadn’t been for Anya though. She trusted Llew not to take advantage of their generosity, and Llew realised that faith was catching.

Cassidy’s clear blue eyes settled on her. “Of course, men like you an’ me never get girls like that. They keep to their own kind and we keep to ours.”

He wasn’t wrong. But Cassidy didn’t look like much of a street rat.

“And what’s your kind?”

Cassidy’s face lit up in a grin. “Generous.”

* * *

Revera shifted under Braph, her saddle and his trousers creaking. She was growing restless. If she had any notion how to read the signals flying along the telegraph semaphore line, she would have been as riveted as he. Semaphore towers. Braph shook his head. Aghacia was so far behind the times. Turhmos already had a wired telegraph system, and in having such had a far greater level of security for the information crossing the nation. Aghacia still relied on optical signals, which any damned fool could read. Braph wasn’t a fool, and he was certain he knew more about the information currently heading up the length of Aghacia than the sender or receiver.

News was spreading of a witch surviving a hanging in Cheer at the far south of the country, where Braph was now headed. But not only had the girl survived, she had also killed. She was still there then, or at least had been until this news had got out; he doubted she would still be in Cheer any longer. That wasn’t a bad thing. The shape of Aghacia meant that the chances of Braph and the girl crossing paths were high, and Braph was by no means saddened at the prospect of not returning to that primitive and ramshackle town.

The only question remaining then, was whether or not the girl had actually died and lived, or if she had merely failed to die in the first place and healed her wounds. Either way, Braph wanted to see it for himself.

CHAPTER FIVE

“You look as though you haven’t slept in days,” Anya said when they took their places to resume the journey. “Why don’t you go in the back and have a lie down?”

Llew wasn’t sure if she was ready to relax in the presence of these strangers but, urged by Aris and Emylia as well, she did as she was told and lay against some rolled bedding in the back.

The carriage was filled with the belongings of a teenage girl of far greater means than Llew had ever known. There were dozens of bags bulging, no doubt with fine clothing, a guitar, and even paintings leaning up against one side and carefully roped to the cart struts. The entire carriage interior smelt of perfume. While Llew didn’t love the tangy aromas most of the girls she knew wore, this was a pleasant enough fragrance, with none of the cheap undertones she was used to. The perfume wafted from a stack of papers and envelopes tied with ribbon, with a pen, bottle of ink, and a letter opener attached. Llew had been taught to read, but she felt a pang of jealousy toward this girl who could write as well. Llew remembered her mother writing letters to family they couldn’t visit. But her father hadn’t been one for such things, so he had not taught her the skill. Not that Llew had anyone to write to in any case.

The bedding was made of the softest material she had ever touched and it wasn’t long before the soothing sounds and the motion of the rocking carriage lulled her into semi-consciousness.

A shout startled her awake and the carriage pulled up.

“How can we help you, officer?” Aris’ gravelly voice floated back through the canvas to Llew.

Her pulse quickened and muscles tensed, but she swallowed her nerves and the urge to leap out the back and disappear into the trees. For all she knew they were surrounded.
Keep calm, Llew. Keep calm.

The silence that followed did little to settle her.

“Excuse me, sir,” Emylia’s tense voice broke it. “But may I ask what exactly it is that you are looking for?”

“A witch, ma’am.”

“A witch? Well, this is Miss Anyunca Orell, daughter of Lord and Lady Orell of Cheer. And I would ask that you cease looking at her in that way.”

“Sorry, ma’am. The witch is a girl, about your charge’s age. You wouldn’t happen to have seen one, would you? She’s probably naked, and likely dirty.”

So, they’d found the skirt and blouse. Llew guessed they probably expected her to dance around magic stones under a full moon, too. A witch!