She stared at him suspiciously. «What do you mean?»
He shrugged. «Well, I think I can stop the pain.»
The look of suspicion grew more pronounced. «Why would you want to do that for me?» She scowled.
Wil smiled. «Business. Money.»
«I don’t have much money.»
«Then how about a trade? For the price of the ale, this meal, and a night’s lodging, I’ll stop the pain. Fair enough?»
«Fair enough.» Her lumpish body dropped heavily into the chair next to him. «But can you do it?»
«Bring out a cup of hot tea and a clean cloth and we will see.»
The woman came to her feet at once and lumbered off to the kitchen. Wil watched her go, smiling faintly. Amberle shook her head.
«I hope you know what you are doing.»
«So do I. Eat your dinner now in case I don’t.»
They had finished most of their meal by the time she returned with the tea and cloth. Wil glanced past her to the patrons gathered about the bar. A few glanced were beginning to turn. Whatever happened next, he thought, he did not want to call further attention to himself. He looked up at the woman and smiled.
«This should be done in private. Do you have somewhere we might go?»
The woman shrugged and led them through one of the closed doors into a small room containing a single table with a candle and six stools. She lit the candle and closed the door. The three seated themselves.
«What happens now?» the woman asked.
The Valeman took a single dried leaf from a pouch about his waist and crumbled it into dust, dropping the dust into the tea. He stirred the mixture about, then handed it back to the woman.
«Drink it down. It will make you a bit sleepy, nothing more.»
The woman studied it a moment, then drank it. When the cup was empty, Wil took it from her, dropped in another kind of leaf and poured a small measure of ale from his glass, which he had carried in with him. These he stirred slowly, watching the leaf dissolve away to nothing. Across the table from him, Amberle shook her head.
«Put your leg up on this stool,” Wil ordered, shoving a vacant stool in front of the woman, who dutifully placed her leg on it. «Now pull up your skirt.»
The proprietress gave him a questioning look, as if wondering what his intentions might be for her, then hiked her skirt up to her thigh. Her leg was corded, veined, and covered with dark splotches. Wil dipped the cloth into the mixture in the cup and began rubbing it into the leg.
«Tingles a bit.» The woman giggled.
Wil smiled encouragingly. When the mixture was gone from the cup, he reached into the pouch once more and this time produced a long; silver needle with a rounded head. The woman leaned forward with a start.
«You’re not going to stick that in me, are you?»
Wil nodded calmly. «You won’t feel it; just a touch.» He passed it slowly through the flame of the candle that burned at the center of their table. «Now hold very still,” he ordered.
Slowly, carefully, he inserted the needle into the woman’s leg, just above the knee joint, until only the rounded head was showing. He left it there a moment, then withdrew it. The woman grimaced slightly, shut her eyes, then opened them again. Wil sat back.
«All done,” he announced, hoping that indeed it was. «Stand up and walk about.»
The perplexed woman stared at him a moment, then pulled down her skirt indignantly and rose to her feet. Gingerly, she stepped away from the table, testing the feel of the bad leg. Then abruptly she wheeled about, a broad grin creasing her rough face.
«It’s gone! The pain’s gone! First time in months!» She was laughing excitedly. «I don’t believe it. How’d you do that?»
«Magic.» Wil grinned with satisfaction; then immediately wished he hadn’t said that. Amberle shot him an angry glance.
«Magic, huh?» The woman took a few more steps, shaking her head. «Well, if you say so. It sure feels like magic No pain at all.»
«Well, it wasn’t really magic…» Wil began anew, but the woman was already moving toward the door.
«I feel so good, I’m going to give everyone a free glass.» She opened the door and stepped through. «Can’t wait to see their faces when they hear about this!»
«No, wait…» Wil called after her, but the door closed and she was gone. «Confound it,” he muttered, wishing belatedly that he had made her promise to keep quiet about this.
Amberle folded her hands calmly and looked at him. «How did you do that?»
He shrugged. «I’m a Healer, remember? The Stors taught me a few things about aches and pains.» He leaned forward conspiratorially. «The trouble is, the treatment doesn’t last.»
«Doesn’t last!» Amberle was horrified.
Wil put a finger to his lips. «The treatment is only temporary. By morning the pain will be back, so we had better be gone.»
«Wil, you lied to that woman,” the Elven girl cried. «You told her you could cure her.»
«No, that was not what I said. I said that I could stop the pain. I did not say for how long. A night’s relief for her, a night’s sleep and a meal for us. A fair trade.»
Amberle stared at him accusingly and did not reply.
Wil sighed. «If it is any comfort to you, the pain will not be as bad as it was before. But her condition is not one that any Healer could cure; it has to do with the life she leads, her age, her weight — a lot of other things over which I have no control. I have done as much as I can for her. Will you please be reasonable?»
«Could you give her something for when the pain returns?»
The Valeman reached over and gripped her hands. «You are a truly gentle person, do you know that? Yes, I could give her something for the pain. But we will leave it for her to find after we are gone, if you don’t mind.»
A sudden clamor from the other room brought him to his feet, and he moved to the door, slipping it open just a crack. Before, the inn had been all but empty. Now it was nearly filled as people drifted in off the roadway, attracted by the promise of free drinks and the antics of the proprietress, who was gleefully demonstrating her newfound cure.
«Time to be going,” Wil muttered and hurriedly led Amberle from the room.
They had not taken a dozen steps when the woman called out shrilly and came rushing over to stop them. Heads shook and fingers pointed at Wil. Too many for the Valeman’s comfort.
«A glass of ale, you two?» the heavy woman offered. Her hand clapped Wil on the shoulder and nearly knocked him off his feet. He managed a weak grin.
«I think we should get some sleep. We have a long journey and we are really very tired.»
The woman snorted. «Stay up and celebrate. You don’t have to pay. Drink all you want.»
Wil shook his head. «I think, we better get some sleep.»
«Sleep? With all this noise?» The woman shrugged. «Take room number ten, top of the stairs and down the hall. Sits at the back of the inn. Might be a little more quiet for you.» She paused. «We’re even now, right? I don’t owe you anything more?»
«Nothing,” Wil assured her, anxious to be gone.
The proprietress grinned broadly. «Well, you sold out cheap, you know that? I would have paid you ten times what you asked for what you done. Why, a couple hours without the pain is worth the ale and the meal and the bed! You got to be clever if you expect to get anywhere in this country. Remember that bit of advice, little Elf. It’s free.»
She laughed roughly and turned back to the bar. The free drinks were over. With a crowd of this size, there was money to be made. The woman scurried along the serving board, snatching the coins up eagerly.
Wil gabbed Amberle’s arm and guided her away from the table to the stairway and up the steps. The stares of the patrons followed after them.
«And you were worried about her» the Valeman muttered as they reached the upper hallway and turned down it.
Amberle smiled and said nothing.
