Page 120 of Alchemised
Rhea sighed. “Knitting keeps my hands busy. My parents are from the lowlands in Novis; lots of sheep there. My mother always sends me skeins along with her letters, trying to convince me to bring Titus to live with them.” She pressed her lips together. “He would like the sheep. But the twins are here. Besides, there’s not much chance of a cure for Titus if we go.”
Helena ran her fingers along the patterns nervously. “I’ll try to do some more research, see if I can find anything new.”
“Thank you—” Rhea began but then broke off. “Titus, no! We don’t do that.”
Helena watched as Rhea hurried over and tried to pry someone’s crutch from Titus’s hands.
“Helena, can you find Sebastian?” Rhea said, her voice forcefully cheery as she half wrestled with her husband, who, while usually gentle, was twice her size and sometimes threw tantrums.
Helena hurried from room to room, looking for Sebastian. He was in the little entry at the front door, avoiding everyone under the pretence of acting as a welcoming committee.
Helena barely opened her mouth before he seemed to know. “Titus?”
He was gone in an instant. Helena stood, clutching the knitted pullover in her hands. Her opportunity to exit was clear before her. No one would notice if she slipped away.
“You’re already going?”
She looked around guiltily and found Luc standing behind her, two mugs of mulled wine in his hands.
“I have another shift soon,” she said, grateful that it was the truth. Luc had always teased her for being a terrible liar. Her face, he’d once said, was disastrously honest.
His eyebrows knit together. “They have you back-to-back like that today?”
“Not usually, but everyone wanted the solstice off,” she said. “And they know it’s not really a tradition in the south, so they just assume I don’t have any plans, and—they’re right. I don’t really have people like they do.”
His eyebrows rose. “Am I not people anymore?”
She managed a smile. “Of course you are, but you’re busy. Everyone wants you.”
He dropped down on the slender bench by the door and held out one of the mugs. “Stay. You haven’t even been here ten minutes.”
She glanced towards the other rooms to see if anyone had noticed, knowing they undoubtedly had because Luc would always be immediately missed. If Soren and Lila weren’t shadowing him, that was only because they already knew where he was and were giving him the space he’d asked for.
She could hear Lila in the next room, her voice raised dramatically, telling the story of Orion and the great battle against the Necromancer during the first Necromancy War. The children were scampering in from all corners to listen.
Lila had a mysterious allure when it came to children; she could be in armour and covered in blood, and toddlers would still want her to pick them up. And she would, and a minute later she’d be playing peekaboo with her helmet visor.
Soren was standing near the doorway, wearing a look of grave interest in a story he’d heard a hundred thousand times. Helena caught the corner of his eye for an instant before he pretended not to notice her or Luc.
This interception was carefully coordinated.
“I miss you,” Luc said as she took the mug, resigning herself to Ilva’s impending lecture. Luc nudged her with his elbow as she sat beside him. “Every time I look for you, you’re busy or slipping off somewhere.”
She gripped the mug tighter. “Well, my job starts when yours ends. That’s probably why,” she said. “But I’m always here when you need me.”
She sipped the wine. It was warm but also sour and barely spiced; the shortages were eating into all the supplies.
“Same goes for you. Just because you’re a healer doesn’t mean you don’t get breaks. If you’re getting called in for too many shifts, tell me. I’ll get it fixed.”
She shook her head. “Don’t worry, Ilva always looks after me.”
After all, Ilva considered Helena a vital asset. The Eternal Flame had only one healer, and while they couldn’t afford to lose her, they also couldn’t afford not to use her. They couldn’t take any more losses.
“That’s good. It’s nice knowing there’s one person I never have to worry about,” he said, eyes fluttering closed for a moment, exhaustion visible in his face.
Lila’s voice rose, deep and dramatic. “The dead surrounded them on all sides. Orion and his faithful paladins stood back-to-back. Darkness all around, the only light the fire in Orion’s hands …”
Luc sighed. “You’re going to clear Lila, aren’t you?”
