Page 85 of Forged in Fading

She took a deep breath to keep from heaving and allowed Boden to help her into a chair next to a large counter full of various tinctures and salves, many of which the healer gathered in her arms and brought to Alvara’s side.

“When you meet a human, you can say, Dar et an hanchik in mene rokse. It essentially means, ‘May the gods keep you,’” Boden murmured in her ear. “It’s a common greeting.”

Alvara nodded, and her vision swam. The healer soaked her leg in a bucket of cool water, fending off the pain for a few sacred moments. When the woman poured some kind of herbal liquid in the water and proceeded to wash the burns, a sharp stinging lanced through her leg, and Alvara dug her nails into the edges of the chair.

She needed something to focus on to stay afloat, so she did her best to mimic the human phrase Boden had shared. The healer’s green eyes bulged.

“Heila is asking if you have a concussion,” Boden said.

“Why? I didn’t hit my head.”

His lips twisted, and he took a short breath. “She said that would make more sense than you having a chicken in your pants.”

“What!” Alvara yelped, smacking him in the arm. “I thought you said it was a common greeting.”

He burst into raucous laughter, and her cheeks heated. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I also thought it might help distract you from the pain.”

Boden was right—the entire exchange had pushed the discomfort from the healer’s movements to the back of her mind, and her limbs had relaxed. Heila and Boden chatted while the woman dried Alvara’s burns and applied a sweet-smelling ointment, and a cooling sensation tingled through her leg.

As soon as soft bandages caressed her skin, she allowed herself a small sigh of relief before standing. There was so much to do.

Boden paced in front of the door. “I requested for her to examine your back. I’ll step outside⁠—”

“No, stay. Please.” She had no desire to be left alone in a foreign land, no matter how kind the healer seemed. Besides, her bare back was nothing he hadn’t already witnessed.

“Of course I’ll stay.”

Alvara slumped back into the chair, letting the healer remove her shirt and replace her dressings. Even without seeing Boden’s face, Alvara could feel the guilt rippling off him. “None of it is your fault, you know. They’re all just scared. It will get better with time.” Her wounds twinged with each touch, but it was a huge improvement from the day of her lashing, all thanks to Pira’s healing ointment.

“That’s what I fear the most—that time is something we won’t have enough of.”

“We’ll do the best we can with what we have. We have to,” Alvara said. “Will you show me the town eventually? Once we get everyone settled?”

The healer hummed as she worked, her quiet tune filling the space between them.

Boden shifted behind her. “You’d really like to see more of this place after what it’s already done to you?”

“I want to see more of it because…I want to see more of you. You saw my city, and I want to see yours.” Alvara pulled her shirt over her head and turned in her chair to Boden, nudging his foot with hers.

He nudged her foot back. “You never take long to convince me, do you?”

“Is that a yes?” she asked as the healer cleaned the gash on her neck and the one from the blood oath, wrapping what felt like the hundredth bandage of the day around her hand.

“Only after you rest.”

Heila placed a small container in Alvara’s lap, and Boden slid a pouch into the woman’s hand, but she pushed it away with a few quiet words. “She says she’d like to come to the Eskenti settlement and tend to the wounded who haven’t been healed. I’ll find you somewhere to rest there while I speak with the leadership.”

The healer slid a bulky sack onto the counter and quickly piled it full, the various vials and jars clinking together. Boden swung the bag over his shoulder despite her frenzied protests.

He offered Alvara his other arm. “Ready?”

“No.” She settled her fingers onto his warm skin.

“Neither am I.” Boden’s eyes traveled to where her hand gripped his arm, and a smile tugged at his lips. “Though I am beginning to feel better.”

The healer cleared her throat behind them, shooing them into the street before Alvara could even begin to think how to respond. She found herself tightening her grasp where her touch connected with Boden, wishing she didn’t have to let go.

Chapter Thirty