Page 112 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
The tent was small, with just enough room for two sleeping rolls and Stowe’s assorted concoctions. Kase had to hunch over just to fit inside unless he stood in the exact middle.
He wasn’t alone. A woman knelt in front of a pack, searching for something; upon Kase’s entrance, she looked up, suspicion in her gaze. “And who might you be?”
Distrust arranged her dainty features in a fierce look, her green eyes bright against her dark graying hair braided and pulled into a tight bun in the back. She wore simple trousers and a green linen sash around her waist over a tucked white lace shirt. Unlike Kase, when she stood up, she didn’t have to slouch. She only came up to the middle of Kase’s chest.
He leaned a little too far to the right, but caught himself. “I’m…I’m Kase Shackley.”
“Zelda Walker.”
Hallie’s mother. She was all right. Kase held out a hand so he could give hers the customary peck, but instead, she took it and shook it like a man would. Kase blinked at her firm grip. “Nice to…nice to meet you.”
The more he tried to talk without slurring, the more his tongue felt too big for his mouth. Eravin left with a sharp look at Kase, and Stowe turned. “Let’s get you some tonic, and you can sleep it off here. You can use my bedroll.”
Kase waved his hands. “I’m fine. I don’t want to be any trouble.”
Zelda raised a brow. “Your knuckles say otherwise.”
Stowe dragged his bedroll to the only open area of the tent and forced Kase to sit on top. He instructed Zelda to fetch a few things from his pack while he examined Kase’s knuckles. “Tore these up something awful, but I got my salve with me.” He grabbed Kase’s chin and inspected his face. “Your jaw’s gonna go purple and blue by dawn, but that can’t be helped. That cut don’t look too bad, though. Your other scar is healing nicely.”
Kase brought a hand up to rub the place where the debris had fallen. He’d not looked in a mirror in weeks, so he had no idea how it looked. The skin was still raised and a little ropey. Zelda handed Stowe a small pot of his salve and threw a packet of something in a cup before pouring some water on top. She rummaged in her own pack and tossed in some flakes before handing it to him. “Drink this. I added some sugar to sweeten it, but this should sober you up soon.”
Stowe thanked his wife and dabbed his homemade salve on Kase’s knuckles. The relief was almost instant, the ache disappearing as soon as the tan goop made contact. Kase sighed in relief and took a sip of Zelda’s concoction. The sickly sweetness warring with the taste of dirt choked him. He coughed and sputtered.
“What in the blazes did you just give me?”
Zelda gave him a waspish look. “Drink it or suffer tomorrow.”
Stowe finished with the salve and wrapped Kase’s knuckles with gauze. “Told you Hal got ‘er tongue from her mama.” Zelda hit her husband’s shoulder good-naturedly. Stowe smiled as he pressed a bit on his knuckles. Kase winced. Stowe shook his head. “Don’t think nothing’s broken, but these’ll be quite tender a few days more, I’d reckon.”
Kase blinked.Don’t think nothing…so did that mean something was broken or not? He really needed Hallie there to interpret the mountain slang. “So it’s broken?”
“It’s not. He thinks,” Zelda said, arms crossed and watching him closely.
“Oh, I just…” He wasn’t sure he’d remember all this the next morning, and when his father figured out he’d left the tent…old dread pooled in his stomach. “I need to go.”
Zelda gave him a look. “And get mauled by the crowds? I think not, Kase Shackley.” She stared pointedly at the cup in his uninjured hand. “Drink it now.”
Kase gritted his teeth, but he took a deep breath before knocking back the rest of the sweet dirt liquid. It tasted even worse than the first sip. He coughed and tried his best not to throw the vile stuff back up. Zelda gave him a nod, and within minutes, Kase’s limbs weighed twice as much as they usually did. His eyelids drooped. Stowe took off his mucky boots and helped him into the bedroll. He felt like a child, but whatever was in that concoction made his limbs too heavy and stuffed his head full of cotton.
As he fell into a deeper sleep, he got lost in the abyss. And he had to say…he didn’t entirely mind it.
Chapter 22
WITH OPEN ARMS
Kase
“GOOD OF YOU TO JOIN the living once more, Master Shackley.”
The voice drove away the last remnants of sleep. Kase’s hand ached, but his head didn’t hurt, and that was saying something after a night of drinking straight whiskey. He wrenched his eyes open. The amount of effort that small motion took was rather embarrassing.
He blinked a few times to clear his vision. A woman stood above him, and his heart stopped.Hallie.
He hastily wiped away the dribble that had escaped the side of his mouth. Shocks, he’d slept hard. He winced at the pain in his hand. The woman held up a familiar jar. She came into focus, and Kase’s heart dropped. Gray hair. Green eyes. Not Hallie.
It was the second time he’d made that mistake.
To say her daughter favored her was an understatement. Kase guessed Hallie inherited her coloring from her father, with his golden brown eyes and red hair, but that was pretty much it. Well, and the whole Yalven thing, of course.
