“We don’t know that this is what’s hurting Jonas, but I think it’s best we assume it is. If I can cure Jonas …” She nibbled her lip. Nothing they’d done so far suggested she could heal him fully without getting to the tree in Taither, and her theory relied on Jonas’s connection to that tree. No one else could count on that. She looked in the direction of the well, though the homestead blocked her view. Karlani was right to fear getting infected. Llew had no idea if she could help the Syakaran woman. Or even if she would. And she didn’t know if she would have long enough to make a choice.

  “Contain it as best you can and come and eat,” Llew said. “We wouldn’t want animals spreading it. I’ll talk to Karlani.”

  Alvaro gripped Llew’s shoulder before she turned away. “Karlani said this is the second one she’s had come at her. The first was a few days ago, it was heavier, more full. She smashed it with a stick and doesn’t think any of that stuff got on her, but she also had no idea what it was. She’s real scared this time. Some splashed on her skin. And she’s seen Jonas …”

  Llew clenched her teeth on a rebuttal. They’d all seen Jonas. A man with so much to live for. Why should he fade and Karlani live? It didn’t seem fair for Karlani to remain unscathed, but she couldn’t speak such an uncharitable thought. Should she even think it? Llew was Aenuk: healer. What would the likes of Raena do when faced with such a choice? Certainly, it wasn’t a choice to be made in an instant. She nodded her understanding and Alvaro released her.

  Llew returned to the homestead – already having noted the absence of Karlani by the well – to find the Syakaran woman in the back corner of the kitchen, still naked and vigorously rubbing at herself with a towel. And sobbing.

  Anya stood by her, pleading with Karlani to let them help her. She turned a helpless look Llew’s way.

  “Al and Rowan will come in soon,” Llew said. “We might as well eat.”

  Karlani stopped her scrubbing and turned a dark scowl on Llew. “Food? You need me whole and all you can do is talk about food? You need me. You need to fix this.”

  “And you saw how it was done. Now, tell me you want my blood injected into you for no good reason. We don’t know if what was in that thing is what Jonas has. We don’t know if skin-contact means you’re infected. And we won’t know if you’re infected for a few days—”

  “One,” Jonas said. “I knew somethin’ wasn’t right after a day. She’ll know.”

  Llew closed her eyes. By the time Jonas had admitted his weakness to her, he’d been suffering in silence for days? Llew wished he’d felt he could have told her, not that she would’ve known how to fix him, and she doubted Braph would’ve helped any earlier. But, still. They could’ve done something.

  Llew took a breath, opened her eyes, placed herself behind Jonas and rested her hands on his shoulders. Why had he not trusted her? A conversation for another time.

  “Well, I suppose, the sooner we know, the sooner we can decide what we’re going to do about it.”

  “Decide? What is there to decide?”

  Llew held Karlani’s gaze, a fury heating her. “Even if you want my blood, you think I’m just going to give it to you? You who held me down while Aris killed our babies?”

  As Llew spoke, the door opened and Alvaro entered, holding the handle of a cast iron pot at arm’s length. He stopped, staring between Llew and Karlani.

  “Bacon and eggs.” Rowan stepped through the door, avoiding Alvaro and carrying a bowl, and also paused. “Ah …”

  Karlani met Llew’s glare with an impassive gaze, wrapped the towel around her and rolled it to secure it. “Well, yes, I suppose you would bring that up.”

  Llew almost laughed off the dismissal, rage trembling through her. She had to focus on not squeezing Jonas’s shoulders too hard, and put the energy into a firm but gentle massage. He partially turned his head in query, but accepted her ministrations.

  Karlani looked Elka up and down, noting her twisted hands, then glared at Anya. “Somebody wash my clothes. And find me something else to wear in the meantime.” With a huff, she sat on the seat across the table from Jonas, not looking at anyone.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Llew looked to Anya, whose eyebrows raised in question. Indeed; why did they have to put up with the Syakaran woman? While Llew’s first instinct was that Braph’s bug couldn’t have infected a more deserving person, she also couldn’t help harboring some sympathy for Karlani. Underneath every action Llew was taking, every decision she was making, the fact that Jonas might weaken to the point of dying under her watch kept a certain anxiety buzzing at the edge of her conscience. The only thing keeping her going was the shred of hope she could heal him, returning him to full strength. But that belief relied on his connection to the Taither Ajnai. Karlani didn’t have that. But she did have the advantage of early warning, if Llew could bring herself to give blood to the Syakaran woman who had ruined her life.

  Alvaro placed his pot on the stove, glanced at Llew and eased around the table to sit by Karlani.

  “Are you alright?” he murmured.

  “No.” Karlani clipped the word, anger protecting her, but for a waiver in her tone that tugged on Llew’s hint of sympathy that she really didn’t want to feel for this woman.

  Rowan placed his bowl on the bench and looked around the room, seeking Anya who emerged from the main bedroom with a selection of garments.

  “Good,” she said, placing the clothing in Karlani’s lap. “Before we do anything else, I think we all need a good feed.” She met Llew’s eye with a gentle expression.

  She was right. But Llew was still reeling from the discovery of the flying automaton. They’d just put their good friends in the ground, and now this? Not to mention the heat Karlani set boiling within. She felt crowded in that space, everyone looking to her for guidance and solutions she didn’t have. The wrong string of words could tip Karlani into a despair or violent rage they couldn’t afford. Or Llew might find herself unable to maintain her veneer of strength and she might admit how little faith she had in her own plans.

  She managed to say, “Thanks, Anya. I’m going outside for some air. I’ll be back, I promise,” before words failed her.

  “Really?” Karlani asked. “You’re running away?”

  “Shut up,” Jonas said.

  “Don’t talk to Karlani like that,” Alvaro snapped.

  “Hey, everyone. Can we have a little calm for a moment?” Rowan held up his hands to placate the room.

  “Calm.” Karlani rolled her eyes.

  “Just shut up, get dressed, and eat somethin’,” Jonas said. “We don’t know anythin’, yet. So all this? You’re just suckin’ energy out of the room. Give us all a minute, alright?”

  Karlani glared at him.

  Anya placed a hand on Llew’s arm. “Go,” she whispered. “We can manage. I’ll keep something aside for you.”

  Grateful, Llew stepped outside into blessed encroaching darkness and silence. Relative, of course, with sheep baaing in the distance, and the constant chatter of the chickens closer. Away from people and their expectations, at least. But those flying critters were out there, somewhere. She let the shudder rock her body this time, then stretched out her hearing, glossing over the warbles and chirps of birds, darting her eyes to follow whatever buzzed in the night, but that was all they were. Perfectly natural. She’d never forget the clackety tapping of the metal legs on the stone floor. Likely, the critters would have a distinct sound when they flew, too.

  She sucked in and blew out a few deep breaths, trying to center herself in calm. It was safe out here, for now.

  The door swung open behind her.

  “You need to fix me.”

  Llew closed her eyes and let her breath leave her body before turning to face Karlani again.

  “You might not even be infected. And I’m only asking for a few minutes. Please, Karlani.”

  “Karlani.” Jonas stood in the doorway, leaning into a crutch, his voice full of the confidence he used to possess, Anya at his shoulder looking ready to take the Syakaran woman on herself.

  Karlani’s eyelids shuttered briefly, and she rocked back on her heals. “Fine. Have your little breakdown, or whatever, but you better pull yourself together, ’cause this looks a whole lot like the beginning of a war, to me. A war you’ll want Syakaran power to fight.”

  “And a soldier gives her captain space to come up with a plan before a battle,” Jonas stated flatly.

  Karlani laughed, but she stepped back and back, then turned into the kitchen, Jonas let her pass.

  Llew acknowledged Jonas with a nod before turning back to her trees.