I’ve been able to do is things like moving broken bones back into place, or holding a wound closed while it is stitched, or stopping bleeding. And I’ve recently worked out how to pinch the pain paths to numb an area of the body. That’s all, though.”
“So how did you mend the broken back?”
“It wasn’t broken. It was all out of alignment. Once I put it right all the pathways straightened and unblocked. Though there was a lot of swelling that had to be discouraged.”
“But... how did you know it wasn’t broken?”
Tessia paused. Of course, ordinary healers couldn’t see into their patient’s bodies.
“I’m able to see inside people,” she explained.
Kendaria smiled. “You might not be able to actually heal magically, but what you can do is marvellous.” Then her smile faded a little. “Which is why the healers aren’t happy about what you’re doing. Don’t be surprised if they try to stop you. They’re worried that if magicians can heal then they’ll lose their richer customers.”
“How could they stop me?”
“By convincing the king that, because you’re not guild trained, you might do more harm than good out of ignorance. Or that magicians will take all the work from the healers, which will leave them less able to afford to do charitable work with people who can’t afford to pay magicians. Not that they do much of it, anyway.”
Tessia laughed quietly. “In other words, they’re afraid they’ll end up no better than a lowly village healer.”
“Yes.” Kendaria gave her a serious look. “Don’t dismiss them. They are the most powerful guild in the city. They won’t give up what they have without a fight.”
“I’ll be careful,” Tessia assured her. “I’m not going to stir them up then disappear like my grandfather did. He used to say the mistake he made was to try to change them too quickly. He’d have had more success making changes so slowly that they didn’t notice them. But he was young and impatient, and people were dying... what’s that shouting?”
The calls in the background were growing rapidly louder and more numerous. Kendaria frowned as she listened.
“Go! Get in the carts!”
“They’re coming!”
“Leave it! Just go!”
Suddenly there were people everywhere, darting between tents and shouting. Servants were emerging. There were questioning calls from within the healers’ tent. A man strode up to Kendaria and placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder. She yelped in fright.
“The army is coming and the Sachakans are close behind. We have to get everyone onto the carts and leave. No packing. Just get the people out.” He looked at Tessia and blinked. “Apprentice Tessia? Master Jayan is looking for you.” He pointed towards the centre of the camp.
“Thank you,” Tessia said. She looked at Kendaria. “Good luck.”
“You too.”
Turning away, Tessia jogged through the tents. She was forced to dodge several times as men and women raced towards the outskirts of the camp where horses and gorin were most likely being harnessed to carts as quickly as possible. Once she crossed the gap between servant and magicians’ tents, she found herself following apprentices all moving in the same direction.
As she emerged onto the road, into the space before the king’s tent, she saw Jayan standing on a large box. He was shouting orders and repeating the same information again and again, in response to the apprentices’ frantic questions.
“Our army is retreating. The Sachakans are following. They will be here soon. We must be ready. The servants are bringing horses.” He paused and frowned at one of the apprentices. “Stop wasting time asking stupid questions and see if your horse is here!” he snapped. He turned away and pointed. “You! Arlenin. I can see someone bringing your horse. Yes, I’d hardly miss that ugly beast if it were on the other side of the country. Go and get it.”
Tessia put a hand to her mouth to stop herself laughing, then felt a wave of affection for him. He had no patience with fools. While it was not always a good trait in times of peace, right now it was just what the apprentices needed to snap them out of their panic and get them organised.
It seemed to take for ever, but within a few minutes they were all mounted and waiting. As the crowd around Jayan diminished she was able to get closer. A servant came to tell Jayan that the carts were loaded and ready. Jayan paused for a moment.
“Then go. You’ll travel more slowly than us. Is there any road you can take other than the main one, to get you out of the Sachakans’ path?”
“Yes. It has already been chosen, in case there was need.”
“Good. Then go.”
The man bent into a short bow then hurried away. For some reason this sent a shiver down Tessia’s spine.
“Jayan,” she called. His head turned in her direction, then another shout drew his attention away. Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to find Ullin, Dakon’s servant and former stable servant, holding the reins of her horse out to her. As she took them he smiled then raced away.
Only then did she glance at the saddle and realise that her father’s bag was not there. It was back in the tent.
“The army!” someone shouted, and the call was taken up by several voices. Tessia tried to see past the apprentices to the road, but there was no hope of seeing anything with a crowd of horses milling before her. She turned away and swung into the saddle, then looked back.
A dark shadow filled the road ahead, and it was advancing rapidly.
For a moment an eerie quietness descended, through which she could hear the distant shouts of the cart drivers and bellows of gorin somewhere behind the sea of tents, and the thunder of galloping hoofs. Tent walls snapped in a lively breeze. She realised that the sun had come up and she hadn’t noticed it.
“Where’s your father’s bag?” a familiar voice asked.
Turning, Tessia found Jayan beside her, Mikken on his other side.
“Back in the tent. I had no time to go back for it.”
Jayan gazed at her intently, then turned to look at the advancing army. “There might be.”
“No,” she told him firmly. “There’s nothing in it I can’t replace.”
He looked at her again and opened his mouth to speak, but another apprentice drew near.
“What are we going to do?” he said. “Start galloping ahead of them? Or move aside and let them pass?”
“They’re slowing down,” Mikken said.
He was right. The lead horses had slowed to a canter. She watched as they dropped into a trot and then a walk. Lord Sabin and the king rode at the head. She scanned the faces, sighing with relief when she saw Lord Dakon. He was riding a different horse, she noticed.
But something wasn’t right. Where was the rest of the army? With sinking heart, she began a new search – of her memory. For the names of those who must have fallen. The names of the dead.
As the magicians stopped they turned to regard each other, heads swivelling as they took stock of their number. Tessia read the same shocked realisation in their faces. Some even blinked back tears.
She saw the king lean towards Sabin and gesture back down the road. Sabin nodded and stood in his stirrups.
“Apprentices, join your masters,” he shouted. “We ride to Imardin.”
As he urged his horse forward Tessia heard Jayan curse. He had risen in his stirrups to peer over the heads of the magicians.
“What?” she asked.
“They’re coming,” he said, dropping back into the saddle. “The Sachakans are coming. We should have evacuated Coldbridge. Too late now.”
