Lupi 04 - Night Season

man—and that was rather a lot. The wound was neatly closed now, and when he laid his hands on the man’s head, the moaning stopped.
    Kai’s anxiety shot up—but the man’s colors were still there. Subdued now, with the pain colors fading. She started toward them.
    Nathan met her partway. “I don’t think he’ll make it,” he said softly. “I’ve done what I can with the wound, but he’s lost a great deal of blood, and infection is likely. I put him back in sleep. It won’t last. His pain will rouse him again in a few hours, but he will rest deeply until then.”
    Kai nodded, brushed her hair back from her face—then remembered the blood on her hand. She grimaced. “If only we hadn’t been delayed in that last village! To miss them by only hours—”
    â€œCouldn’t be helped. And it may be just as well. Dell and I are very good, but I am not sure we could have killed fifty Ahk warriors.”
    â€œThe sorcerer would have burned some of them.” And maybe she could have changed their minds. Or maybe she would just have made them crazy. Fifty insane Ahk warriors would likely be even worse than the regular sort. Kai chewed on her lip. “Nathan, I can’t do this the way the queen wants me to. People are dying.”
    He was silent a beat too long, his expression stilling. “What do you mean?”
    â€œShe doesn’t want us to reveal ourselves or let anyone know she sent us, but—”
    â€œIf the gnomes knew Winter was meddling in this realm, the power balance here and in other realms would be disrupted. More deaths, Kai. Possibly many more.”
    â€œThere aren’t any gnomes with the party from Earth. Not anymore.”
    He considered that. After a moment he nodded. “It’s your quest. If you believe the time is right…we have to catch up to them first, of course.”
    She sighed. “I suppose we’d better eat before we set out.”
    Nathan laughed softly. “Kai, Kai. We will eat, yes, and also sleep. Even if you were able to go on without rest, the horses can’t.”
    This was one of those times when their senses of humor didn’t mesh. She knew Nathan wasn’t heartless, but at the moment, laughter was very far away for her. She turned her head, swallowing the hard words she knew she’d regret later.
    â€œKai.” He put his hand beneath her chin, stroking her there as if she were Dell. “I have lived long enough to know that I do not help others by taking on their grief. We are doing what we must. These people will do as they must, also.”
    â€œI guess I—”
    â€œHsst!” That came from the innkeeper’s wife, who was tending the other patient laid out near the hearth. “She’s waking up,” the woman said. “You said to let you know if she did.”
    They crossed to see. Nathan had spent most of his time working on the guard because this woman, while she’d looked dead, had been unconscious from a blow to the head. The deep, bloody wound in her chest from a sword thrust had miraculously missed anything vital, and Nathan had said that the woman’s own healing ability was sufficient. Since Kai could see from her colors that she had a minor healing Gift in addition to whatever natural healing ability she possessed, she hadn’t argued.
    She was not as pretty as the feline woman. Though Kai had yet to see an Ahk, she’d been told what they looked like. This woman’s skin and short tusks proclaimed her kinship to them, though she’d fought on the side of the party from Earth.
    â€œWho are you?” the woman demanded weakly when Kai knelt beside her.
    â€œI’m Kai, and this is Nathan. What is your name?”
    â€œI’m…” Her eyes widened when she looked at Nathan. “You! You’re a—”
    â€œEh!” he said hastily. “I’d rather you didn’t say it. You’re the first to recognize me, and I’m wondering how.”
    â€œThen it’s true?” She looked shocked. “I didn’t know you could—”
    â€œAs I said, I don’t wish it spoken of.” He spoke with authority this time, a subtle shift that was probably not simply a matter of voice. He looked at the innkeeper’s wife, who was staring, her colors turned fearful. “You may go now.”
    The woman gathered herself to her feet and hurried away