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I nodded, relieved at the news. After yet another major healing, I suspected Josie would be beyond the efforts of any single healer, no matter how powerful. Moving to the city would be a difficult adjustment for the family, no doubt, but it was the only safe course.
“Will we stay here long?” I asked, hesitant but trying to keep it from my voice. I had already made enough of an emotional fuss.
Amara smiled at me knowingly. “Of course we’ve had several offers of accommodation for as long as we want it, but I think this village is in enough uproar. I thought we would move on as soon as I’ve finished some consultations with the village leadership over the pathway of a nearby stream. And once you’ve recovered your energy, of course.”
“Oh really?” I brightened. “I already feel fine after that enormous sleep. We can leave as soon as you like.”
Amara grinned at my hopeful expression, and I tried to school myself into neutrality. It was probably cowardly of me to run away, but it was painful to be so conscious of my bad behavior while everyone kept plying me with gratitude and praises.
“I should be done within an hour or so,” she said.
I gazed toward the edge of town. “Would you mind if I went out walking while you finish your business? I feel out of place here.”
Amara gave me a piercing look, but after a moment she sighed and nodded. “Try not to get into trouble while you’re out there.”
I frowned at her. She didn’t usually worry about me being a troublemaker. Had her view of me changed after my foolishness the day before? But she threw me a knowing smile that didn’t seem to match that thought.
I was still trying to work out what she meant as she moved away toward a small clump of village elders. I turned my own feet toward the edge of town, nearly making it to the edge of the first field before I remembered what I had let slip the night before. I had told her that someone else helped me process my emotions. Given her smile, she must have had a good idea who that person was.
My cheeks heated although there was no one left near me to see it. I didn’t stop walking, though. My last conversation with Nik had been cut short by the urgency of the moment, and I would far rather continue it than linger awkwardly with the villagers.
ChapterEleven
This time I didn’t run, but I did hurry straight to the clump of trees we had sheltered under previously. The sawn-off tree stump stood waiting, but I skirted around it. Casting a lingering glance at the apparently empty fields around me, I pushed into the middle of the trees. There were just enough of them to provide screening from watching eyes, something I had foolishly not thought about the day before.
I just had to hope Nik was on the lookout again today and had seen me arrive.
The minutes ticked by, and I tried to restrain my growing impatience. What if he hadn’t seen me? I could spend hours waiting fruitlessly among the trees. Should I go somewhere more visible?
“No Ember today?” a deep voice asked, making me jump.
“Nik! You startled me!” I put a hand on my chest, tracking my racing heartbeat.
“Sorry.” His expression didn’t match the apology. Was he amused by my fright?
“Ember sleeps at this time of day usually.” I paused. “I wasn’t sure if you were coming.”
“Of course.” He said it simply, as if it was the sort of fact that required no further explanation.
Something warm grew inside me, wiping away the irritation at his earlier amusement. I had come trusting Nik was watching for me, and I had been right.
“What happened?” he asked. “With the injured girl.”
I rubbed my eyes with remembered exhaustion. “It was a long operation—I’m sure my inexperience didn’t help with that. But it was successful. Her health is stabilized now, and she’s not in any more danger—at least not from this injury. Her resistance will have grown even further though, unfortunately.”
He nodded, but something in the way he looked at me gave me the impression he was more interested in how the healing had affected me than in the future of a girl he didn’t know.
“My great-great grandfather did a good thing building the hospitals,” he said after a moment. “But there’s a shortage of healers in the towns and villages.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you noticed that sort of thing.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He sounded stung. “Just because I operate alone doesn’t mean I want everyone else to die.”
“No, of course not.” How had I managed to get off to such a bad start? “I didn’t mean that. It just seems like the kind of detail that…”
“Those with a plants affinity are most drawn to farming,” he said, not meeting my eyes. “They suffer disproportionately.”
I considered his words, slowly nodding. It was true the affinities weren’t evenly spread across the kingdom. There were always people of all three affinities in any village, but villages located in farmlands always had more with a plants seed.
