The Healer's Legacy by Sharon Skinner Read Free Book Online

glanced over her shoulder at them, nodding when she saw Kira. She lifted the ladle and rapped it on the edge of the stew pot before hanging it on a nearby hook. Wiping her hands on her apron, she turned and walked around the tables to meet them.
    “Och, Ryospar,” she said, her accent thicker than the old gnome’s. “Who have ye got with ye?” Her round face held dark shining eyes over a pudgy nose, and her cheeks were red from the heat of the fire. A small bead of perspiration ran down the side of her face and she brushed it away with the back of her hand. Kira had at first thought she was a gnome like Ryospar, but she appeared to be human. There was nothing gnomish about her, except for her size.
    The woman was obviously curious about Kira. She held her up chin, inspecting Kira, as if sizing up a potential scullery maid and not liking what she saw.
    “Malla, we’ve a visitor. She’s brought some fine game for trade,” Ryospar held out the game hens to the woman. Malla scowled at the birds.
    “Och, they be half-starved. Stringy, too, I expect.” She took the hens, with a fierce look at Kira, as if she expected her to argue with her assessment of the fowl.
    “I’d say they’re plump enough to roast,” Ryospar said cheerfully. “And I’ve already given my word on fair trade.” He raised an eyebrow.
    “Well, perhaps they’ll serve,” Malla replied more civilly. Then she dropped her voice and added, “Mayhap even Talya will find her hunger again.”
    Concern cut across Ryospar’s face. “Still hasn’t eaten?”
    Malla pursed her lips and shook her head. Her eyes seemed to soften.
    “Is someone ill?” Kira asked.
    “Indeed,” Ryospar replied. “’Tis my brother’s youngest. For the past few days, she’s been sleepin’ more than a child should, not eatin’. And she’s been coughin’ deep in her chest. Now, she’s taken on a fever. Malla’s done all we know to do for such child’s ailments as those we know of, but naught has worked.” He shrugged helplessly.
    There is no time for this, Kira thought. She needed to flee, to be gone from this place. She willed her heart to harden. But her healer’s training prevailed. “I know something of herbs and healing,” she offered. “If I could see her, I may be able to help.”
    Malla’s eyes grew wide, her expression hopeful. “Are ye a healer, then?”
    “I have some skill,” Kira replied carefully, “but a true healer I am not. I was unable to complete my apprenticeship.” She didn’t say any more.
    “It would be a kindness to us all, if ye could be of help,” Ryospar said. “She’s in the anteroom.” He motioned to a doorway.
    “I’ll do what I can,” Kira said.
    The room was dim. A small candle guttering on a wooden table offered the only light. Kira knelt by a low pallet where a little girl lay, shivering beneath heavy blankets. Her skin was pale, and dark circles filled the hollows beneath her eyes. Her breathing was so shallow Kira had to hold her hand above the girl’s mouth to feel the moist air that barely trickled from between her cracked lips.
    Kira lifted the girl’s hand and felt for the heartbeat at her wrist. It was weak and rapid, fluttering like a tiny bird’s wings. The child’s skin was hot to the touch, her forehead moist with sweat. A moan escaped from her small lips as Kira began lifting the blankets off. “This is no common fever,” she told Ryospar who hovered nearby. She leaned over the girl, putting her face close to the child’s, and sniffed. There was a sour scent to the girl’s breath. “When did she fall ill?”
    Ryospar rubbed at his chin. “It was a hand-span of days ago.”
    “Did she eat anything unusual, any wild plants or flowers, before she became sick?”
    “Naught that I know tell of,” Malla said from the doorway. “Och, but ye know children.” She frowned. “They’re all the time galavantin’ about. Who knows what they’re into from one moment to the next?”
    “Have you