Chapter 10
Eldric
T he rainy spring ended and brought about a summer heat that scorched the air and scalded the skin with no relief. Heated haze clung to the ground, refusing to let go. As if it were waiting for the summer solstice just days away before it would consider releasing its grip.
He’d been sure the shimmering heat played tricks with his vision when he saw a familiar figure crouched in the distance beneath a tree. He was all too familiar with the lithe build, recognizing it in an instant once he realized it was no trick of the light. Daeson was on the side of the road, cradling someone in his arms beneath a shady tree.
The girl’s short brown curls clung to her pale yet ruddy face in sweat-soaked strands and her parched lips parted, wanting water yet unable to lift it to her mouth. Daeson took the canteen of water and trickled it into her mouth, slowly. Making sure she swallowed every drop before he gave her more to keep her from choking ,
He looked up, face guarded until he realized who had found him and the mask dissolved into relief tinged with an edge of panic.
“Thank the wind it’s you.” He gave a weary chuckle. “I found her like this—I don’t know how long it's been. Do you think it’s heat sickness?”
“It could be,” Eldric murmured, pressing his fingers to the pulse point just below her jaw. It was weak and thready, beating fast as a hummingbird’s wings. “Though I don’t think I’ve seen it quite this bad before. Quick, help me get these layers off her.”
“She needs a healer. I think—” Eldric started, moving his focus to loosening the girl’s clothes. Sweat poured in buckets down the girl’s back, soaking through the smock that stuck against her skin and dampening the strings of her kirtle. She slumped against him as Daeson shifted, pulling the many layers off her and leaving only the thin garment clinging to her skin. He put an arm around her to help keep her upright. “I think we should take her to Lorali; she’ll know what to do.”
Daeson’s clothes were drenched with sweat, as if he had run miles before he came upon her. “No, all we need to do is get her out of this heat. She’ll improve once she’s somewhere cool. Help me get her to the house.”
“Why don’t you take her and I can go get Lorali—”
“ No . We will get the girl out of the heat, and she will be fine.” Daeson’s voice rose, cutting him off. Stubborn as always. “We do not need her. We’re not involving people we can’t trust unless necessary.”
Eldric held his stare for a long moment; breathing had become difficult in the oppressive humid air. His eyes trailed the way he had come. The road that led back to Lorali’s. She was a cleric, she healed people for a living. But Daeson was right, it was too far; the old summer home Daeson had inherited was just over the bridge and around the bend. Besides, he didn’t want Lorali involved in or anywhere near his personal life. It was too risky. Maybe Daeson was right—the girl would improve just by being somewhere cool. The old wards on the Athera house still had traces of wind magic that kept it chilly even on the hottest days. It could work.
“It’ll take longer for me to get there while I’m carrying her. Go ahead of me, get supplies. Clear the living room. Have everything ready when I get there.” Eldric gave instructions as he pulled his shirt over his head in one quick motion, using it to wipe as much sweat from the girl’s body as possible before they were on the move. Daeson’s eyes lingered for a moment, hesitant, before he nodded and ran to prepare his home for their unplanned guest .
When she was as dry as he could get her, Eldric scooped her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. She was so small; she couldn’t be more than sixteen. What could she have possibly been doing all the way out here alone? The girl gave a small gasp, and when he looked down he saw her eyelids flutter open for just a moment.
“ Hey —hey there, it’s okay. I’ve got you. We’re taking you somewhere to cool down,” he said in a soft, gentle voice. Trying to do his best to exude a calmness that could soothe any nerves or any worries, the way Lorali did. “What’s your name?”
Her eyes couldn’t focus as she gazed up at him, her form slumping against him as if keeping her eyes open took all the strength her body had. Her lips moved, forming a word he couldn’t make out. She tried again, voice weak and cracking, but louder this time.
“Saraina.”
“Saraina ,” he said. He could feel the old sweat of her underdress seeping against his skin. “We’re going to keep you safe. I promise.”
She fell unconscious again, and he covered her head and torso with his shirt, hoping to keep as much of the sun off her as possible. His stomach was in knots as he ran with the girl in his arms, ignoring the pounding ache that worsened as he crossed the bridge, that tether telling him he was once again going too far. He fought through it until the manor’s stairs were in sight, door open and Daeson’s sister, Kaela, standing in the doorway.
She met him just off the stairs, leading him to the living room where several of the other girls waited. Eldric laid her down on the makeshift pallet bed on the floor.
“You should—”
“Go somewhere else for a minute,” Kaela stopped him. “We’ve got this.”
“Go somewhere—what?” he sputtered as Kaela crowded into his space, pushing him back. The fabric of a fresh underdress in Kaela’s hand brushed his skin. One of the girls removed his shirt and he realized that her garment was practically see-through with sweat; he paled at the nauseating thought of others looking at her in such a vulnerable state. Shame rose within him—he’d never considered that until now. He’d been so focused on just getting her here, saving her, that the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind.
“Understood,” he said with a curt nod, turning away and heading to the kitchen to try and do something to help.
After an hour of changing cooling rags on a near constant basis and fanning Saraina as best they could, she was no longer sweating, her skin turning dry and hot. That once thready pulse now bounded beneath her skin. Bright red seeped into her skin and soon, she couldn’t take even a sip of water, only able to turn her head to the side and vomit. It made his skin crawl and stomach knot with unease. Something didn’t feel right.
They stood at a distance, watching as their friends, their comrades, worked hard to keep Saraina comfortable. Eldric paced, while Daeson stood statue still with arms crossed. Eldric knew he felt it too—things weren’t improving. She was, somehow, getting worse.
“She needs a healer,” Eldric murmured. Daeson’s jaw was tight, eyes focused on the work being done before them.
“Do you trust her?” he asked, refusing to look at Eldric.
Eldric stopped, thinking—truly thinking. Did he trust her enough to risk everything, to risk Daeson? Would she run and tell the guard where they were hiding, or tell the Order that the lost son of Athera was hidden just outside their walls?
I have to believe that someone who would steal from nobles to care for the people of this city would be a man of honor .
Those words had shocked him, revealing more than she knew. The trust she placed in him to not abandon her to the consequences. That they, fundamentally, held the same beliefs. She knew the city suffered and did what she could to help. He did the same—just in a different way .
He swallowed, glancing to Daeson, who finally met his eyes.
“I do.”
Daeson’s face looked pained, but he nodded. “Then go get her.”
***
He sprinted down the street that had grown familiar in the last several months, the tall trees providing much-needed shade with their long shadows as he neared the last house. Eldric could see their small garden, overflowing with lush summer crops that peeked out of their beds. The sunflowers he’d planted reached towards the sky—a bright beacon for him to follow home. He shouted her name, knowing she’d be there.
“El?” she called, voice laced with concern. She must have heard his feet hitting the dirt and pebble path as he rounded the corner. “El, what’s wrong?”
“I need your help,” was all he said, chest heaving as their eyes met. And without word or question, Lorali dropped her tools, ripped off her gardening gloves, and ran to him. Staying at his side all the way back to the Athera house.
** *
That sharp mind of hers needed no direction when she entered the house, pausing for only a moment to assess the situation. Recognition sparked in her eyes when she saw the girl on the floor.
“She’s still unconscious. I don’t know if any of this is working,” Kaela said, a hint of panic edging her voice, thick with unshed tears. Lorali rushed forward, stepping through the group, and taking a place at her side.
Knowing what to do in an instant, she pressed fingers against Saraina’s pulse point, pulled back her eyelids, placed her ear to the girl's chest and listened.
“You did good keeping her stable until I got here.” Lorali inclined her head towards Kaela, dismissing everyone else who scrambled off in a hurry. “You, stay here—everyone else, go.”
“Why isn’t she getting better? Last summer when Jira had heat sickness, just getting him out of the sun was enough.”
“It’s progressing—she’s completely overheated and there are other factors at play. But it’s okay. I’m going to help her,” Lorali said, giving Kaela’s hand a small squeeze.
“Was there anyone with her? Where was her father? A guard?” she asked, not turning to look at him as she set to work taking a stray piece of burnt wood from the fire and drawing marks onto the floor that surrounded Saraina. He could only make out the shape of a star, a wave, and a scrawling wind, each encircled in a runic language he did not know. One meant only for the gods and those that served them.
“No one. She was by herself, beneath a tree. I found her. That’s it.” Daeson tensed, on edge.
“Okay, okay,” she breathed, hands hovering as her eyes flickered over Saraina’s body, murmuring to herself as if she were running through a list to make sure she had everything she would need. She had that same determined crease to her brow as she did during their bonding ceremony. It made his breath catch. He couldn’t help the fond feeling that overcame him. She was in her element, all confidence and knowledge. It was something he found he rather enjoyed seeing.
“Heat sickness can turn from uncomfortable to fatal in a heartbeat,” she said, breathing steadily as she took two rags dripping with water from the bucket. He watched as she placed one rag over Saraina’s chest and the other over her navel, the dripping water darkening her thin summer dress. “It’s a good thing Eldric brought me. Any later and she’d have died.”
An eerie stillness settled over the room; not even the house stirred in the familiar presence of an oncoming storm. Her palms hovered above Saraina’s heart and naval as she whispered words he couldn’t understand. He could pick out pieces, familiar names of deities.
Ostara, mother of light.
Aesis, guardian of the waters.
Sylvene, guardian of the winds.
A shivering breeze brushed through the house, causing his hair to stand on edge. Eldric hadn’t seen her magic since they were bound before Athanasios. She hadn’t used writing then, but she hadn’t been asking for help—just an audience. The markings on the floor flared to life, matching the soft and gentle glow emitting from her palms as he realized they were instructions. A way to command the power of gods.
Lorali’s eyes were not her own—bright and unseeing, yet missing nothing. The eyes of a goddess. He swallowed, still as his eyes met hers. He didn’t dare look away first. Water glowed beneath her palms, the cleric’s hands moving in slow, purposeful motions. As if they were being guided across Saraina’s body. Light flared to life within the room, bursting from Lorali as if she were the sun itself.
Heartbeats passed before it dimmed and they could see again, watching as Saraina’s breathing eased, no longer the shallow and ragged saw of her chest it had been. Her skin calmed, no longer a bright and worrisome red as it settled into a natural, healthy olive tone .
The room was stunned into silence. How was it possible for a person to channel the guidance of the gods without being burned alive? Not just a god, multiple gods. All working in tandem, helping her achieve her goal. This was power in its rawest form. Sure, strong, fine-tuned, and used with ease as she worked ceaselessly to help a stranger without question. The woman once chosen to be the next archcleric—the change they needed.
It left him in awe, heart aching with sudden, crashing realization. A whisper dark and cold passed through Eldric, as if Athanasios himself heard his heart and agreed. As if it were the sole reason he had been saved.
The woman before him, selfless and unafraid, was everything he wanted. Everything he wished he could be and more. He had never been a man of faith, but to him she was divine, and he would spend the rest of his life worshiping and believing in only her. It was sacrilege and salvation all at once. A chosen poison and cure—both of which he would gladly take again and again. She was the only one who mattered in this unforgiving world, and he knew he’d be a fool to ever let her go.
Saraina’s eyes fluttered open for a brief moment, glancing side to side as she took in the faces of strangers peering over her. Kaela pushed short brown curls back from her forehead and smiled down .
“Hey, it’s okay,” Kaela whispered sweetly, giving her shoulder a light squeeze. The girl gave a weak nod, giving a sigh of relief as she fell into a restful sleep.
Eldric looked over at Lorali, that glowing light and far away look fading from her eyes. He could tell the moment she was herself once more, not missing the way she wobbled the slightest bit as she came out of the trance. Her hands pressed against the ground to stay steady, a thin sheen of sweat across her brow. He wanted to rush to her side, to take her hand and not let go. She had performed a miracle—but instead of taking pride in her work, Lorali’s expression tipped downward into a frown as she looked at the now sleeping girl.
“Saraina, what were you thinking ?” she whispered with a shake of her head.
Eldric felt Daeson still beside him, not looking over as he whispered. “Did you tell her the girl’s name?”
Brows furrowed, thinking, Eldric shook his head. “No—I told her the situation, but I don’t think I mentioned a name…why?”
Daeson was quiet for a moment before stepping to Eldric, leaning with a slight glance. “Neither has anyone else in the room. So how does she know it?”
They both turned, looking back at Lorali who was fussing with the girl. “Why did she ask about her father or guard, like she knew this girl should have had one? Seem to know that Saraina had something wrong with her, making things worse?”
“Stop it—you’re not doing this again. Taking someone’s kindness and warping it to fit your idea of the world. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.”
“For a girl to show up nearly dead on my running path outside my property in the woods? For the cleric you’re bound to knowing her? This smells like a trap and you’re too much a fool, falling for her tricks, to see it.”
“ Not everyone is out to get you.” The moment the words left his mouth, Eldric wished he could take them back. Swallow them whole as Daeson went stone still.
“Say that to my ancestors,” he hissed, knocking Eldric’s shoulder as he stormed from the room.