Karsite Army.
“What in the name of Vkandis Sunlord are we supposed to do with a thief?” Alberich demanded, not obliging Kantor with the brush.
“Well — ”
“Well — ”
Belatedly, Alberich brought the brush up and began vigorously using it along Kantor's crest. The Companion sighed in blissful pleasure, and closed his eyes.
And Alberich began to consider just how he was going to break the news about this newest trainee to Dean Elcarth and the rest.
Assuming, of course, they weren't already having similar conversations with their Companions.
* * * * * * * * * *
It was a good thing that Bazie had taught him how to cook. Yes, there was food here, but it wasn't the sort of thing the ordinary city-bred boy would have recognized as such.
“Somehow I ain't s'prised,” he replied, turning the cakes deftly once one side was brown. “Is there anything ye can't do?”
She — and he — were both much cleaner at this point. Beside the pump, there had been a generous trough, easily filled and easily emptied. After she'd drunk her fill, and he had washed and brushed her down as she asked, he'd had a bath in it. Then he emptied it out and refilled it for her drinking. The cold bath had felt wonderful; it was the first time in a week that he'd been able to cool down. He'd also washed up his clothing; it was hanging on a bush just outside. It was a lot more comfortable to sit around in his singlet, since there wasn't anyone but Cymry to see him anyway.
She'd told him which herbs to make into a poultice that did a lot to ease the ache of his eye and nose, and more to make into a tea that did something about his throbbing head. She already knew, evidently, that he could cook, and had left him alone while he readied his dinner over the tiny hearth in the Way Station. Now he couldn't imagine why he hadn't figured out she was a Companion immediately.
Unless it was just that the idea of a Companion wandering around in an old worn set of tack was so preposterous, and the idea of a Companion deciding to make a Herald out of a thief was still more so.
“Ye — ye kidnapped me!” he accused.