“Oho, so that’s why people went boiling down to the city!” Gennie said. “I guess you got caught?”
“You were lucky!”
His stomach growled and Gennie patted his hand. “I’ll go get you some food. Something you can eat with a sore jaw.”
She came back shortly with soup, mashed roots, and a custard. He managed to get his swollen and bruised eyes open enough to see to eat, and about the time he finished the Healer turned up again.
“Ah good, this isn’t the thing to take on an empty stomach, unless you want it even emptier.” He handed Mags a mug. Mags knew very well it was medicine, it was probably going to taste nasty, and that he might as well get it down in a hurry.
It wasn’t as nasty as he thought. In fact, the Healer had, very considerately, sweetened it with honey.
“Thenkee sor,” he managed.
The Healer just grunted and sat down on the bed. “Hold still. I’m going to do something about those eyes and that jaw before I leave.”
Once again, warmth spread out from the Healer’s touch, and drove the pain away. Mags sighed with relief, and relaxed, and the next thing he knew, it was morning.
Chapter10
MORNING was absolutely lovely. His room in the stables didn’t have glass panes, only parchment and shutters, and as cold as this winter had been he hadn’t opened the shutters once. Every window in this big room had glass in it, and he was right under an eastward-facing one. He woke with warmth soothing his battered face, and just lay there enjoying it for a while.
Slowly he managed to get his eyes open. They weren’t as swollen as he thought they would be, but he still couldn’t get them open more than a slit. Still, it was nice. With sunlight pouring in the open window and now warming his bed as well as his face, Mags was feeling remarkably comfortable, considering that his chest and belly were so black and blue it looked like he’d had ink poured all over him. And he didn’t want to think about what his face looked like.
He’d gotten off easy, and he knew it. Only the fact that the foreigner had wanted to know who had sent him and what Mags knew had kept the man from just taking out a sword or a knife and killing him on the spot. He could have gotten away with it too, before Dallen got there.
Strangely, that realization didn’t make Mags feel frightened, just grateful.
There were birds outside the window, just ordinary creatures chirping cheerfully, but caught up in the lassitude of this morning, Mags found it very pleasant to listen to. Whatever had been in that medicine that the Healer had given him last night had left him still feeling pleasantly numbed and just sleepy enough to enjoy lying abed. Aside from the bruises, of course. He made a conscious effort not to move, because moving still hurt quite a lot. Not moving was nice. He even closed his eyes and dozed a little, and woke up a second time only when a voice roused him.
“Usually when I see someone with two black eyes, they tell me the other fellow looks even worse,” said Bear, making him open those blackened eyes and squint at him.
The young Healer-Trainee was standing at the foot of his bed and peering at him somewhat anxiously through those thick lenses. He looked as if he had been awake for several candlemarks already.
“Nope. I barely nicked ’im,” Mags admitted. He wiggled his jaw a little. It hurt, but not nearly as much as last night. “Least I kin talk this mornin’. Bastard ’bout broke m’jaw and tried t’ knock out teeth.”
Bear came close and peered at his face, moving his head from side to side. “Most of the swelling is gone from around your eyes, or I doubt you’d be able to open them,” he observed, “Or at least, so I surmise. You’ll look like a ferret for a while, but that’s just looks, and I am pretty sure we can do something about the bruising so you don’t look like Gennie beat you at the Kirball game.”
Mags grunted. “ ’M not ’xactly anybody’s sweetheart. Reckon that bruisin’ won’ keep the girls away anymore’n they already are.”
“I wouldn’t count on that.” Bear grinned. “You’re something of a minor hero. You spotted the bad fellow, you had the courage to follow him, and you moved in close to try and learn what you could. Plenty of people would have figured telling the other Heralds was doing your duty enough. Following him to the right inn was going above that. And going right inside isn’t something I would have tried. Mind you, Dallen is a bigger hero.”
“ ’E should be.”
“Yer right there. ’E saved m’life. ’E came at that bugger e’en though the bastard was hackin’ at ’im right smart.” Mags put up a hand to touch his puffy face, and winced. “Me, all I did was get m’face in th’ way of ’is fist.”
The Healer from last night came in behind Bear, and theatrically clutched at his chest. “Dear gods. No boasting. I have a Herald Trainee in my care who isn’t boasting about how bad his assailant looks.”
Mags got a better look at him, now that there weren’t two of him. Medium height, a sort of pleasantly-plain face, brown hair, brown eyes. Nothing very distinguishing about him, other than an expression of sour weariness that looked as if it was habitual.
“I believe my heart will stop from the shock of such behavior, modesty, and good sense. I don’t believe I have ever had a patient like you before,” the Healer concluded. “Hello, Trainee Bear, you are just the person I was hoping to see. Have you any suggestions for me to help my patient look less like he landed face first in a vat of blackberries?”
Bear pursed his lips, and looked just a little surprised. “Aye, a few. Leeches won’t hurt. Draw off some of that blood that’s in the bruises.”
The Healer nodded. “Leeches it is. If you want to run the treatment, you have my permission. I highly approve of things that don’t require the Gift.”
“Me too,” Mags said fervently. “Like what ’f sommun was brought in so bad hurt ’e was tore up inside, an’ ye’d wasted a mort’ a Healin’ on me?”
The Healer looked surprised and gratified. “Tell that to your Companion, would you?” the Healer replied. “If he doesn’t stop ambushing me whenever I step outside the Collegium I am going to put in a strong recommendation that he be volunteered to haul firewood until you’re on your feet and out of here.”
“Yessir,” Mags said politely, though the only reason he didn’t laugh was because he knew it would hurt too much.
“I’ll do the leeching, sir,” Bear said. “I’ve done it a lot.”
“Then I’ll put in an order for the leeches, thank you, Bear. Your breakfast is on the way, Trainee. Oh, something you should know. I think besides Mindspeech you either have, or are developing, a bit of Empathy. As strong as your Mindspeech is, it probably won’t be much, but it might be useful to you to know you have it. If your
