Chapter 11
Lorali
“ S araina, by Ostara’s light, what were you thinking?” Lorali murmured with her head in her hands. She was finally alone, sitting on the floor with silent tears slipping through her lashes as she thought of losing the girl she knew to be so kind and caring and unafraid. Her heart ached, the thought of what would have happened if she was too late pulling a whimper from her throat.
At the sound of footsteps approaching, Lorali wiped away her tears, composing herself. Familiar brown leather boots stopped before her. Lorali’s gaze trailed up to find Eldric’s suntanned face staring back at her, his hair wild from worried hands running through it.
“Can I?” he asked, gesturing to the spot beside her on the floor. She gave a nod, scooting slightly so he could lean against the couch with her. They stayed like that, blessedly quiet, as she looked at Saraina, just waiting for her to wake up. Eldric fidgeted at her side, his fingers interlocked and thumb running across his palm in that way he did when there was something he wanted to say but didn’t know how. She didn’t have it in her to pry it out of him and settled into the silence while he searched for what to say.
“So, you know her? Saraina?” he finally asked. She raised a brow, unable to believe that was the question that had him so worked up. She nodded.
“I’ve been treating her monthly for the last three years at the temple. She’s become like a younger sister of sorts.” Lorali chuckled, shaking her head as she gazed down at Saraina lovingly. She still remembered that first meeting when Archcleric Sage had introduced her to councilman Stellian Dumont, desperate for a cure to his daughter’s illness. As he was a generous donator to the Order, Sage felt called to help. Looking back now, Lorali could see how the archcleric had begun to weave responsibility into her daily duties, testing her to see if she could take their place.
Lorali’s healing capabilities are second only to mine , Sage had said with a squeeze of her shoulder. I wish I could help you personally, but she comes with my recommendation and my blessing. I have no doubt she will help your daughter immensely.
Councilman Dumont would do anything to keep Saraina healthy and safe until he found a cure. He told her everything—how it had started with a rash six months ago that spread across the bridge of her nose. They tried many ointments and salves from the local healers, but none of them helped. But then Saraina became weak and fatigued, her joints aching as if she were not sixteen, but sixty, making it difficult for her to even move. He called her frail, incapable of even holding a cup. And Lorali had believed him—until she met Saraina for herself. Even at the tender age of thirteen, Saraina’s stubborn streak was apparent. Lorali knew the girl’s father would never understand and that she was twice as clever as any guard he would ever assign to watch her. She was sick, not dying. There was a life to be lived, and Lorali knew the girl wouldn’t just let it pass her by.
“Her body’s sensitive to the heat, so the summers are usually hardest on her. To be out alone on a day like today, she must have been up to no good.” Lorali’s chuckle was empty, no humor behind it. Tiredness had seeped so deep into her bones, she didn’t know if it would ever leave.
She noticed that Eldric was staring at her, slack-jawed. Her nose wrinkled, feeling exposed beneath his gaze.
“What?”
“You do that—” he gestured to Saraina and the markings surrounding her “— every month?”
“Not quite. This time was… different.” Lorali closed her eyes, taking a shuddering breath. Her voice only came out in a whisper as she continued, head cradled in her hands.
“Ostara spoke to me when I entered the room and saw Saraina lying there. I had this feeling within me, within my gut, that I would need more. She was so close to death. I didn’t know if I would pull her back. Didn’t think I could. But then I knew I must call upon Aesis and Sylvene, to enlist their aid. And Ostara guided me, showed me how to incorporate them into her healing ritual I already knew. It was—”
Hot tears spilled over her cheeks in waves. She wanted to forget it happened. Didn’t want to think about the way it felt to have the energy of three gods tangle within her body, touch her very soul. Within the Order, the other gods were honored and respected. They never took power from another deity. It went against every teaching. She didn’t know what it meant if Ostara herself had guided her to do so. Didn’t know what others at the Order would think when they learned of it.
“—amazing,” Eldric finished for her, taking her hands from where she hid her face and holding them tight. “It was amazing, Lorali. You were amazing. You saved her life.”
His smile was sweet and warm, like the hands that now held hers. Though her face was warm and wet with tears, she couldn’t help but smile. At least there was one person who thought so. She noticed that the shadows had grown long, the sun finally beginning to rest and put away its oppressive midday heat until tomorrow, while the valley breeze swept in.
“Thank you,” she whispered, squeezing his hands back. “I think it’s time we head back to town; we need to get her home.“
She nodded toward Saraina, who breathed softly as her body recuperated. Eldric nodded, standing. “Let me tell the others, then we’ll go.”
Lorali nodded in agreement, eyes following him as he left and taking in the room for the first time. It would have once been nice, quaint even. But the ornate wallpaper was faded, furniture within it old and worn and in desperate need of repair. She stood to stretch her legs as she looked at one of the many dusty portraits of a young, happy family on the mantel that hadn’t been moved in ages—all with matching dark hair and pointed ears, reminding her of the old paintings of forgotten kings that collected dust in the temple’s basement. She wondered who they were, the original owners of the home. What could have happened to them for Eldric and his friends to end up living here, leaving the dark hardwood floors covered in scuffs and scrapes accumulated over years of boots trodding across them. She took in the dazzling chandelier in the center of the room she hadn’t noticed earlier, brushing her hand carefully along the wall moulding as she continued her curious explorations.
“—I don’t care, I don’t trust her,” a voice said in an agitated whisper from the other room across from the foyer. Lorali froze when she heard Eldric’s voice in response.
“Daeson, I told you there was a logical explanation and there is.”
“Right, it conveniently happens to be the person she takes care of. Seems like a load of shit to me. Have you ever thought that she could be lying to you?”
Lorali held her breath, waiting as the silence dragged on to the point where she wanted to beg him to answer.
“Yes, I have,” he finally said with a sigh. She could see him in her mind’s eye, running his hand through his hair in that frustrated way he did. She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain within her heart at the admission. The other man not trusting her, she understood. She was a stranger. But for Eldric to think she could be lying after all these months? She shouldn’t hold it against him; it was a statement she wasn’t meant to hear. But it still hurt.
“Then why can’t you see what’s right in front of you?” the other man—Daeson—asked, his voice calm but steadily rising. She recognized it, then. He was the one who originally found Saraina.
“Because I don’t think she is,” Eldric hissed, his feet moving farther away from the door. “You don’t know her, I do. So you don’t have to trust her, you have to trust me. Trust that I know her well enough to know she isn’t lying. Are you really going to jeopardize—”
His voice dropped so low she could barely hear it over the thrum of her own heart. Lorali stepped forward to try and listen more, but the creak of an old floorboard beneath her foot made both men pause. She could only hear their breaths as she straightened up, deciding the time for snooping was done as she called out.
“Eldric? Everything okay in there? I don’t want it to get too late; we still need to take Saraina home.”
She stepped a couple of paces, feigning innocence as she rounded the corner. They were standing nose to nose, Eldric’s finger pressed into Daeson’s chest. Their stares stayed locked on the other, until Eldric finally looked away first.
“Sorry to interrupt, I’ll just—”
“No, it’s fine. I was just telling Daeson we’re leaving,” Eldric said, storming past Lorali and leaving her alone in the doorway with Daeson glowering at her. He stepped forward, but she did not move. Did not back down .
“You were never here,” he said, voice deathly calm. “Forget about this place all together.”
They stood there, each refusing to break the stare. She heard Eldric shifting, giving a low grunt as he lifted Saraina in his arms and headed back towards them.
“Thank you for saving Saraina,” was all Lorali said as she turned on her heel and walked out the open door.
***
Stellian Dumont’s house was on the other side of the city, and Lorali didn’t think it wise to have Eldric come with her when she escorted the girl home. She watched the too-even rise and fall of Saraina’s chest, how her eyes moved beneath shut lids as she tried to get a sense of Lorali’s living room.
“Are you going to keep pretending you’re asleep and make Eldric carry you home too?” she finally asked between sips of water, brows raised as she looked at the girl expectantly. Saraina’s eyes fluttered open with a sheepish grin.
“But he’s so dreamy, who wouldn’t want to be held in those strong, muscular arms?”
Lorali’s vexation must have been evident as she crossed her arm with a stare, causing Saraina to wince .
“Don’t tell my dad?” she whispered her attempt at a plea.
“You went too far for that. You nearly died, Saraina, what were you thinking?”
The girl propped herself up on her elbows, movements slow as if testing her tired limbs. Her eyes grew sad, but she tried to play it off with a shrug.
“There’s this boy, he was supposed to meet me, but he never did. I—I didn’t realize how long I had been out there until that guy came along and helped me.”
“Never do this again. You want to meet a boy? Don’t slip your guard. Or let me know and I’ll help you so something like this doesn’t happen again.” Lorali wanted to shake sense into the girl but didn’t. It wouldn’t have helped anyways. “You’re lucky that they were the ones that found you and not someone else.”
“The goddess must be on my side, since my luck has yet to run out.” The girl grinned, earning a light swat from her healer.
“How did they know to find you? Did you put, like, a spell or something on me that says ‘if lost, get Lorali’?”
Saraina pushed herself all the way to sitting with a groan and Lorali assessed her for the tenth time that day, worried that she might have missed something and not realized it. Truthfully, Saraina’s usual level of inflammation was better than ever. Lorali presumed that’s what happened when you had the power of three different gods working to save you.
“Coincidence. A damn lucky one. Be sure to thank Ostara tonight. Thank all the gods, actually. Leave good offerings as penance for the trouble you caused.”
“But they could have gotten any healer,” Saraina continued, not satisfied with the answer. “But they got you. Why?”
Lorali sighed, lifting her right arm covered in swirling ink.
“Did you hear about this?” The girl’s eyes lit with understanding.
“So he’s—”
“Yeah.”
“And he’s—”
“Yes, now stop with that look, Saraina. It’s only called a marriage, we aren’t actually married. He lives with me for now; hopefully spending forced time with me changes him for the better, and when his time is up he’ll leave. That’s it.”
Saraina’s eyes sparkled, excitement brimming beneath the surface as she looked between Lorali and the back hall where Eldric washed the day’s sweat and grime off him .
“Oh, how romantic!! This is just like something out of a novel!” she squealed quietly, suppressing a smile behind her hand.
“No, this is real life and—” Lorali paused, processing what Saraina had just said. “Wait, there are books about this?”
She had been looking everywhere in the Order’s library for some kind of text that had a firsthand account of a gallows bond with no luck. Saraina nodded.
“Mhmm, lots of ‘em. The two bonded characters always realize that they love each other in the end but the journey to getting there? Now that’s the good part. You wanna borrow them?” She grinned, ear to ear.
Lorali hesitated, unable to believe what she was about to agree to.