Healers (23 page)

Eva turned to look at the judge who’d watched the proceedings with a bemused expression. He said to the man, “You didn’t know her before today?”

“No sir.”

The judge turned his gaze on Eva, then to a guard. “The king said if I ever found a healer who actually helped people, he wanted to meet him. Or I guess in this case, ‘her.’ Put her back in holding. We’ll take her to see the king after court today.”

“But…” Eva began to protest.

The guard gave her a stern look and said, “Shut it!” He guided her back into the holding area, where she turned to shrug helplessly at her family in the witness area.

Daum, Daussie, and Kazy headed back to the caravan to run their restaurant business while Tarc remained behind to follow what happened with Eva. The day dragged endlessly. Finally, the last court case finished and the judge got ready to leave. For a while Eva thought he might have forgotten her, but then the judge told a couple of guards to gather her up and they set off for the king’s palace.

They walked quite a distance into the middle of the town. Eva could see Tarc following along a ways behind her little group. The palace proved to be a huge stone building. There was a separate wall around the palace and its grounds. The judge stopped at the guardhouse outside the wall and spoke to the soldiers there. A guard trotted away into the complex. When he returned, the guards opened the gate and led Eva and the judge inside. Eva glanced back at Tarc one last time. As they took her to the main palace building she saw a substantial group of smaller outbuildings stood inside the wall as well.

As Eva wended through the palace, she wondered what kind of man the king of Realth would prove to be. All she knew of him came from the laws posted by the gate. Of course she didn’t like the ones about healing, but she did think many of the others showed a degree of simple common sense that she respected.

The guards led Eva to a large room where a tall, corpulent, florid-faced man had a couple of attractive young women serving him small tidbits of food. Eva wondered if they were some of the pretty girls she’d been told were often enslaved for minor offenses in Realth.

As they escorted Eva across the room, the big man caressed the buttocks of one of the girls. She skittered away, but at a sharp word from the man, she stopped and held still while he fondled her. Though she had dark coloration, Eva could still see a blush rising across her face. Eva decided that, though she might respect the king’s laws, she had a low opinion of the king himself.

The guards halted Eva about twelve feet from the king and they stood waiting with the judge for the king to notice them. After another minute, the king smacked the girl on her bottom and turned to eye Eva. His gaze flicked to the judge then back to Eva, “So, this is our healer who can actually heal?”

The judge answered, “Yes, Sir King.”

A smile split the king’s face, “Good-looking too!”

Eva had never felt quite so put off by a compliment.

“Yes, Sir King,” the judge said.

“Well, healer woman, can you help me lose weight?”

Tempted to a snide remark, Eva restrained herself. “Only by suggesting you eat less and exercise more, Sir King.”

“Well, you’re no fun.” Then he grinned, “Unless you’re suggesting I ride a few more fillies for exercise?” in case she didn’t grasp his innuendo, his eyes flicked to the two young women who’d been serving him.

“No, Sir King.”

Though Eva had tried to answer in a flat and uninflected tone, the king’s eyes darted sharply to her as if checking for signs of her disapproval. Eva kept her face as still as she possibly could and a moment later the king grunted and said, “What
can
you cure?”

“I can only
cure
a few things Sir King. For most conditions, I can only help the patient a little. The patient’s body will cure some of those conditions by itself if it’s supported for a while.”

“Give me an example.”

“Some urine infections. Some infections of the sinuses,” she pointed to her face in case the king, like most people, had no idea where the sinuses were. “Plugging of the ears with wax; relief of some ear infections. I can drain abscesses and set broken bones. I can wash, suture, and bandage non-mortal wounds. I know how to prepare pastes of poppy for patients in pain and willow bark tea for patients with mild pain, especially from arthritis.” Eva carefully didn’t mention any of the plethora of conditions Tarc and Daussie could help her treat. She didn’t want them getting dragged into this.

The king looked at the judge, “I thought she was supposed to have cured people with kidney stones and pneumonia?”

The judge responded, “Yes Sir King.”

The king turned back to Eva, “Well?”

“We merely supported the man with pneumonia until his own body rid itself of the disease, Sir King.” Eva didn’t respond about the stones as she wasn’t sure what she could say.

The king’s eyes narrowed, “We?”

Eva’s heart skipped a beat, “I had some help in caring for him. His mother or father stayed at his side the entire time.”

The king chewed his lip for a moment, then said, “That’s enough for today.” He turned to the guard, “In the morning, bring us a murderer and a sharp knife. She can wash, suture and bandage a wound. We’ll see how that turns out.”

Horrified, Eva said, “Sir King! I… I don’t have any of the equipment I’d need to treat a wound.”

He frowned, then turned back to the guard, “Make sure we have a basin of water, a needle and thread, and some clean rags.”

“No!” Eva exclaimed. “I must have special clean water and curved needles with clean thread, as well as special bandages.” She didn’t think she could explain the concept of “sterile” to the king in the time she would be allowed.

The king grunted, “Well, you’ll just have to do the best you can with what we provide.”

“It’s the preparation of these materials to make them especially clean that gives good results! If you make me work with someone else’s water, needles, thread, and bandages, my results will be no better than theirs!”

The king rolled his eyes, “And where are your ‘special’ materials to be found?”

“In my wagon at the Norton caravan.”

“Very well,” the king waved at the head of the guards. “Escort her to her wagon this evening and have her gather whatever materials she wants. We’ll have our demonstration in the morning.” He waved them away, then said, “Wait. Look through the prison and see if you can find a slave with an abscess. If you find one, bring him in the morning and we’ll see if she can really cure an abscess as well.”

When Tarc saw them bringing Eva out of the gate of the palace, he thought she’d been released and started forward. At a sharp shake of the head from Eva, he faded back into the people on the street around him. The small troop of guards surrounding her began marching down the street leading toward the main gate and out on to the merchants’ plain.

Tarc wondered what was going on and wanted to establish a means of communication with his mother in case they weren’t releasing her. He sent his ghost out and placed it right inside her ear. He had it vibrate the molecules there so as to create a whisper, “Where are they taking you?” As he’d expected, she startled away from the whisper in her ear, turning to look back at him wide eyed. He sent another whisper her way, “If you’ll whisper your answer quietly, I think I’ll be able to hear it.”

She turned back to the front while Tarc tried to use his ghost to listen as he had when he eavesdropped on Lizeth and Sam. He heard his mother’s faint whisper say, “They’re taking me to the wagon to get some supplies. In the morning, if I understood them right, they’re going to
cut
one of the slaves and have me sew him back up to see if I can really heal someone!” She muttered, “Freaking animals!” though Tarc didn’t think she particularly intended him to hear that last.

With that warning, Tarc trotted over a street, then well ahead of the guards escorting Eva before returning to the street leading to the merchants’ plain. From there, he alternated trotting and running so he could arrive back at the caravan well ahead of them. Arriving at the Hyllises’ wagon, Tarc found Daum checking on his still. “Dad!” Tarc said, still huffing, “Some guards are bringing Mom back here to get some of her supplies. Apparently the king wants her to treat some people to see if she can really make them better. I’m thinking it would be best if we weren’t here so they wouldn’t be able to arrest us too.”

Daum turned to frown back toward Realth. The little cluster of guards marching Eva toward them was visible a little ways down the slope. “Good thinking. Get Daussie and Kazy, they’re still at the booth. Head for the woods. They won’t believe it if
no one’s
here so I’ll stay. Even if they arrest me, that’ll leave you and Daussie free to try to break us out.” He winked at Tarc, “And you can ask your girlfriend Lizeth to help you too.”

Too worried to be embarrassed by Daum’s teasing, Tarc said, “Okay. In case they arrest you, I’ve found I can hear from a distance using my ghost, but I can’t do it unless I know you’re trying to talk to me. If you’ll put your hand behind your back, like you’re scratching yourself, that’ll signal me that you want to talk. Even if you
don’t
want to talk to me, reaching behind your back every so often will help me recognize you. It’s hard to tell who someone is with my ghost.”

Daum’s eyebrows lifted, but he only said, “Okay… Now get out of here before they get too close. I’ll be right over to close down the booth, so tell Daussie and Kazy not to waste time on that.”

Tarc grabbed Daussie, Kazy, and the cash from the drawer out of the booth. He led them out through the main caravan rather than back toward the wagon and they headed to the woods. They hadn’t reached the woods yet by the time the guards were at the wagon.

Once they were in the woods a little bit, they turned to watch what was happening. Eva and Daum had the wagon opened up, presumably so Eva could choose appropriate supplies. Tarc hunkered down next to Daussie and whispered, “I’ve figured out some new tricks I can do with my talent. I’ll bet you can do some of the same things.”

Daussie lifted an eyebrow in query, but on the other side of her, Kazy said, “What’re you guys whispering about? You’re scaring me!”

Tarc said, “Sorry. I was just saying how Mom’s been really brave through this whole thing.”

“Yeah,” Kazy said, “I just wish she hadn’t felt like she had to keep trying to heal people.”

Tarc and Daussie exchanged a glance. Kazy’s words made it obvious she still didn’t think the Hyllises actually helped people with their healing.

Tarc stepped away about ten feet, then sent his ghost to Daussie. He focused on a little group of air molecules just inside Daussie’s ear canal and generated a whisper, “It turns out I can vibrate air molecules with my ghost to make sound like this.”

Daussie’s head spun violently in reaction. She stared at Tarc in wide-eyed surprise.

Tarc continued, “I don’t think you can
make
sound like this. But I can also use my ghost to
feel
the sound vibrations people make when they’re talking a ways away from me. I can even understand their whispering from a fair distance. Since your ghost’s ability to sense things is better than mine, I’ll bet you can do that part of it.” He was struck by a possibility that he hadn’t thought of for a while, “Maybe Dad can make sound with his ghost if he can see who he’s talking to?” Daussie was still staring at him, so he continued, “I’ll stop sending the sound to you and try just whispering a few words so you can try to listen from where you are.”

Tarc began whispering the numbers starting with one and counting upward. He saw Daussie frowning as she focused on him and suspected she was trying to listen. After a moment, her eyebrows rose again in surprise. He saw her mouth start to move and sent his ghost her way. He heard the end of her whisper, “… can hear you!”

Kazy pointed out that the soldiers were leaving with Eva. Several of them were carrying bundles, presumably Eva’s equipment, but, to their relief, Daum wasn’t with them.

They headed back to the caravan and Tarc gave Daum the cash from the booth. After a brief conference, they decided Tarc should follow Eva back to the palace and try to see where they put her. Tarc said, “Kazy, can you find something for me to take along for my dinner? A sandwich of some kind? I still need to talk to Dad about a couple of other things.”

Kazy nodded eagerly, happy to have something to do to help. As soon as she stepped away, Tarc turned to Daum and said, “I’ll follow Eva with my ghost. As long as they don’t put her too far from me I’ll be able to talk to her. Is there anything you need me to tell her? Something you couldn’t say when the guards were here?”

Daum’s face fell, “I told her I loved her. I’m not sure what else there is to say.”

Daussie’d been listening, “Give her my love too.”

Tarc frowned, “I wish I understood what this king’s trying to do! Having her
try
to heal someone? Is he just trying to
catch
her causing harm instead?”

“I… don’t have any idea,” Daum said.

Daussie shook her head, also looking confused.

Kazy returned with Tarc’s sandwich. He started walking rapidly after Eva and her guards, eating, but not really tasting his food.

Once he was inside the town, Tarc moved over to a parallel street and ran to pass the guards again. Arriving at the palace before they did, he loitered near the gate, then followed Eva with his ghost as they conducted her inside. He was able to follow her as they took her to a room which proved to be quite close to the east wall of the palace grounds. One of the guards took up station outside her room. Tarc moved to position himself against the wall, as close as possible to where she was inside.