The Painted Man. Peter Brett V.

a wide smile. He patted his hands again. ‘The Creator smiles on you all,’ he said, ‘but the hour grows late. I’ll assign …’

      Elona stood up. She too had drunk a few mugs, and her words slurred. ‘Erny and I will take in Gared and Steave,’ she said, causing Erny to look sharply at her. ‘We’ve plenty of room, and with Gared and Leesha promised, they’re practically family already.’

      â€˜That’s very generous of you, Elona,’ Smitt said, unable to hide his surprise. Rarely did Elona show generosity, and even then, there was usually a hidden price.

      â€˜Are you sure that’s proper?’ Stefny asked loudly, causing everyone to turn their eyes to her. When she wasn’t working in her husband’s tavern, Stefny was volunteering at the Holy House, or studying the Canon. She hated Elona – a mark in her favour in Leesha’s mind – but she had also been the first to turn on Klarissa when her state became clear.

      â€˜Two promised children living under one roof?’ Stefny asked. but her eyes flicked to Steave, not Gared. ‘Who knows what improprieties might occur? Perhaps it would be best for you to take in others, and let Gared and Steave stay at the tavern.’

      Elona’s eyes narrowed. ‘I think three parents enough to chaperone two children, Stefny,’ she said icily. She turned to Gared, squeezing his broad shoulders. ‘My soon-to-be-son-in-law did the work of five men today,’ she said. ‘And Steave,’ she reached out and drunkenly poked the man’s burly chest, ‘did the work of ten.’

      She spun back towards Leesha, but stumbled a bit. Steave, laughing, caught her about the waist before she fell. His hand was huge on her slender midsection. ‘Even my,’ she swallowed the word ‘useless’, but Leesha heard it anyway, ‘daughter did great deeds today. I’ll not have my heroes bed down in some other’s home.’

      Stefny scowled, but the rest of the villagers took the matter as closed, and started offering up their own homes to the others in need.

      Elona stumbled again, falling into Steave’s lap with a laugh. ‘You can sleep in Leesha’s room,’ she told him. ‘It’s right next to mine.’ She dropped her voice at that last part, but she was drunk, and everyone heard. Gared blushed, Steave laughed, and Erny hung his head. Leesha felt a stab of sympathy for her father.

      â€˜I wish the corelings had taken her last night,’ she muttered.

      Her father looked up at her. ‘Don’t ever say that,’ he said. ‘Not about anyone.’ He looked hard at Leesha until she nodded.

      â€˜Besides,’ he added sadly, ‘they’d probably just give her right back.’

      Accommodations had been made for all, and people were preparing to leave when there was a murmur, and the crowd parted. Through that gap limped Hag Bruna.

      Child Jona held one of the woman’s arms as she walked. Leesha leapt to her feet to take her other. ‘Bruna, you shouldn’t be up,’ she admonished. ‘You should be resting!’

      â€˜It’s your own fault, girl,’ Bruna snapped. ‘There’s those sicker than I, and I need herbs from my hut to treat them. If your bodyguard,’ she glared at Gared and he fell back in fright, ‘had let Jona bring my message, I could have sent you with a list. But now it’s late, and I’ll have to go with you. We can stay behind my wards for the night, and come back in the morn.’

      â€˜Why me?’ Leesha asked.

      â€˜Because none of the other lackwit girls in this town can read!’ Bruna shrieked. ‘They’d mix up the labels on the bottles worse’n that cow Darsy!’

      â€˜Jona can read,’ Leesha said.

      â€˜I offered to go,’ the acolyte began, but Bruna slammed her stick down on his foot, cutting his words off in a yelp.

      â€˜Herb Gathering is women’s work, girl,’ Bruna said. ‘Holy Men are just there to pray while we do it.’

      â€˜I …’ Leesha began, looking back at her parents for an escape.

      â€˜I think it’s a fine idea,’ Elona said, finally extricating herself from Steave’s lap. ‘Spend the night at Bruna’s.’ She shoved Leesha forward. ‘My daughter is glad to help,’ she said with a broad smile.

      â€˜Perhaps Gared should go as well?’ Steave suggested, kicking his son.

      â€˜You’ll need a strong back to carry your herbs and potions back in the morning,’ Elona agreed, pulling Gared up.

      The ancient Herb Gatherer glared at her, then at Steave, but nodded finally.

      The trip to Bruna’s was slow, the hag setting a shuffling crawl of a pace. They made it to the hut just before sunset.

      â€˜Check the wards, boy,’ Bruna told Gared. While he complied, Leesha took her inside, setting the old woman down in a cushioned chair, and laying a quilt blanket over her. Bruna was breathing hard, and Leesha feared she would start coughing again any minute. She filled the kettle and laid wood and tinder in the hearth, casting her eyes about for flint and steel.

      â€˜The box on the mantel,’ Bruna said, and Leesha noticed the small wooden box. She opened it, but there was no flint or steel within, only short wooden sticks with some kind of clay at the ends. She picked up two and tried rubbing them together.

      â€˜Not like that, girl!’ Bruna snapped. ‘Have you never seen a flamestick?’

      Leesha shook her head. ‘Da keeps some in the shop where he mixes chemics,’ Leesha said, ‘but I’m not to go in there.’

      The old Herb Gatherer sighed and beckoned the girl over. She took one of the sticks and braced it against her gnarled, dry thumbnail. She flicked her thumb, and the end of the stick burst into flame. Leesha’s eyes bulged.

      â€˜There’s more to Herb Gathering than plants, girl,’ Bruna said, touching the flame to a taper before the flamestick burned out. She lit a lamp, and handed the taper to Leesha. She held the lamp out, illuminating a dusty shelf filled with books in its flickering light.

      â€˜Sweet day!’ Leesha exclaimed. ‘You have more books than Tender Michel!’

      â€˜These aren’t witless stories censored by the Holy Men, girl. Herb Gatherers are keepers of a bit of the knowledge of the old world, from back before the Return, when the demons burned the great libraries.’

      â€˜Science?’ Leesha asked. ‘Was that not the hubris that brought on the Plague?’

      â€˜That’s Michel talking,’ Bruna said. ‘If I’d known that boy would grow into such a pompous ass, I’d have left him between his mother’s legs. It was science, as much as magic, that drove the corelings off the first time. The sagas tell of great Herb Gatherers healing mortal wounds, and mixing herbs and minerals that killed demons by the score with fire and poison.’

      Leesha was about to ask another question when Gared returned. Bruna waved her towards the hearth, and Leesha lit the fire and set the kettle over it. Soon the water was boiling, and Bruna reached into the many pockets of her robe, putting her special mixture of herbs in her cup, and tea in Leesha’s and Gared’s. Her hands were quick, but Leesha still noticed the old woman throw something extra in Gared’s cup.

      She