Blood Song

Vaelin let them laugh for a few seconds before cutting in, raising his gaze to meet each of their eyes in turn. “I don’t know what happened here, brothers. I don’t understand it any better than you do. I do know that we live in perilous times, that the only trust we can have is in each other. Heed Master Sollis, obey the Aspect and, above all, guard each other well.”

The door opened and Sister Sherin entered with a bowl of steaming water, the first time he had seen her all day. “Out!” she commanded. “Time for Brother Vaelin’s wash and you lot have been here long enough.”

“A wash eh?” Nortah raised an eyebrow, leaning close to Sherin as she placed the bowl on the table, Vaelin noting how his gaze scanned her from head to toe. “I trust you’ll be very thorough, Sister.”

Sherin gave Nortah the same wearied, uninterested glance he recognised from her encounters with amorous drunks in the treatment room. “Don’t you have to go and play with your sword somewhere, brother?”

Laughing wryly Nortah followed the others from the room.

“Your friend could do with a lesson in manners,” Sherin observed, placing the bowl on the small table beside the bed. “His demeanour is unseemly for a brother.”

“My order has many different brothers within its ranks, some of them more seemly than others.”

She raised an eyebrow but said nothing, dipping her cloth into the bowl and making to pull back the covers. “I’m strong enough now to wash myself, Sister,” he told her, gently but firmly holding on to the blankets.

She gave him a bemused look. “Trust me when I say, brother, you have nothing I haven’t seen before. Who do you think washed you when you were unconscious?”

Vaelin drove the uncomfortable thought to the back of his mind and kept hold of the bed clothes. “Even so. I’m stronger now.”

“As you wish.” She dropped the cloth into the bowl and moved back. “Since you’re so much stronger you can meet with the Aspect today. She’s been asking for you. In the gardens at noon. I’ll help you, if you can stand to accept my help that is.”

She left the room without a backward glance. It took Vaelin a moment to realise he had actually hurt her feelings.

The Gardens of the Fifth Order were extensive, covering several acres of rich soil where brothers and sisters tended the myriad variety of herbs and medicinal plants that played such an important role in their work. For the most part the gardens consisted of a series of rectangles, a monotonous chequer board of green and brown but here and there were islands of colour, clusters of flowers and cherry blossoms.

“We have gardens in our Order,” Vaelin told Sherin as she helped him along one of the gravel pathways between the allotments. His legs and chest still ached a good deal and he leant on her shoulder more heavily than he would have wished, knowing the proximity made her uncomfortable. She had said nothing when she arrived at noon to take him to the Aspect and did her best to avoid his gaze. “They aren’t like this,” he went on when she didn’t respond. “Master Smentil tends them, mostly on his own. He only speaks in signs, lost his tongue to the Lonak…” His voice faded. Sister Sherin was clearly in no mood for conversation.

She halted at a small series of flower beds. He could see the slender figure of Aspect Elera moving between the blossoms.

“The Aspect will help you on the way back,” Sherin said, moving away to let his arm fall from her shoulder.

“Thank you, sister.”

She nodded and turned away.

“Sister,” he said, reaching out to touch her wrist. “A moment please.”

She pulled her wrist away, avoiding his touch, but lingered, eyes guarded.

“I didn’t thank you,” he said. “For saving my life.”

“It is my role, brother.”

“When I was… undergoing my cure I had many strange dreams. I think I may have said things, things I would never say. If I said anything… offensive…”

“You said nothing, brother.” She raised her gaze, meeting his, forcing a small smile. “Nothing offensive at least.” She folded her arms tightly across her chest, her smile fading. “You’ll be leaving soon, going back to that awful place, going to fight some dreadful war. We… we won’t talk again, perhaps not ever.”

Involuntarily he moved closer, reaching out to grasp her hands. “We’ll talk again. I promise.”

“Vaelin!” It was Aspect Elera, standing at the edge of the flower garden, a small pruning knife in her hand. Her smile was bright. “You’re so much stronger.”

“Thanks to Sister Sherin’s care, Aspect.”

“Indeed. Her care is valuable, as is her time.”

“Forgive me, Aspect.” Sherin bowed her head. “I shouldn’t loiter…”

“There is no rebuke, sister. But the city is still troubled. I fear your skills will be sorely needed again today.”

Sherin nodded, gave Vaelin a parting glance, a sad smile on her lips, before releasing his hands and making her way back to the Order House. Vaelin watched her until she was out of sight.

“What do you know of flowers, Vaelin?” Elera Al Mendah asked him, offering her arm for support and leading him into the flower garden.