The Equen Queen (16 page)

Verris nodded. ‘Hot coals?’

The healer nodded. ‘Like in my young friend's chest.’ He laughed and then he left. Two of the herdsfolk stayed on the dune, at a distance, to keep watch.

Philmon, Verris and Vrod tramped away across the dune to collect wood. Fontagu trailed behind them grumbling. ‘I have a bad hip. My body is my livelihood, you know.’

Amelia and Torby joined Tab sitting by Melprin and Aventurine. Torby had dark circles under his eyes. Amelia made him lie down with his head resting on her lap. She stroked his forehead until he went to sleep.

‘It's not really going to plan, is it?’ Amelia asked .

‘There was a plan?’ Tab joked.

‘You know what I mean,’ Amelia said.

Tab lay back and rested her head on the dragon's shoulder. She was tired and her arms throbbed in time with her heartbeat. Verris had not bandaged her other arm since the healer was going to poultice it anyway. She blew on the blisters gently.

‘Does it hurt?’ Amelia whispered.

‘I'm all right,’ Tab answered, closing her eyes.

It seemed to her that since Quentaris had left Amlas all they had met were people who didn't like them! They did enough fighting when they were on the ground without more fighting in the sky. For that matter, Quentarans did enough fighting amongst themselves. It was exhausting.

The five lay silent and still for some time. The air became cooler. It was reassuring to feel the warmth and the rise and fall of Melprin's chest against Tab's back.

After a while of struggling with her emotions, she sent a thought to Melprin.

>>>There are other dragons here

>>>I can hear them

>>>Will you stay?

Before Melprin had a chance to answer, the others returned and set about making a fire halfway between the scout vessel and the place where Melprin lay, and not long after they had a blaze going the herdsfolk healer returned. He brought a family with him and they each carried a shoulder sack. The herdsfolk children eyed Tab and her friends shyly.

Presently, five equens crested the hill, led by Tattoo. They shied and snorted when they first saw Melprin and Aventurine lying side by side in the sand, but soon settled when they saw the healer and his family were not alarmed.

The healer sat cross-legged next to the fire, mixing the poultice in a bowl. Once it was blended he held out the spatula and Tab offered her arms. The mixture was cool and soothing on her burns. He rebound her arms with fresh strips of cloth offered by Verris, then he helped her to her feet.

They approached Melprin together and the healer showed her how to smooth the mixture over the scales and into the wound. He wouldn't touch the dragon himself, but his nerve was steady as he advised Tab.

Tab left Melprin to rest and they returned to the fire where the rest of the family had been preparing the food. They were rolling some sort of meal with water into rounds, which they cooked on hot stones. Then they stuffed the rounds with a gooey, mashed vegetable mix.

Philmon took a bite and his eyes widened. He smiled politely at the herdsfolk lady. ‘It tastes very… wholesome,’ he said.

Vrod turned over his mouthful as if he was afraid to swallow. Verris elbowed him in the ribs when he thought the herdsfolk weren't watching and reluctantly the troll finished, rubbing the floury meal from his hands.

Tab bit into hers and immediately regretted it. It was bland and fibrous, and seemed to stick to the roof of her mouth, but it was too late. She had to finish. She tried to imagine it was a sweet cake, like the ones the sky-traders had given them.

After everyone had eaten their rolls, the family packed away the leftover food into their sacks. The children sat up straight and sang a song for the visitors, slapping their hands together in an elaborate pattern. The visitors clapped in time.

When they had finished Verris looked at Vrod and the two of them broke into a jolly pirate song, except without the swearing. Tab and her friends cheered.

Fontagu stood and sang a melancholy ballad in a powerful and tuneful voice. Even Amelia was gripped by the sound of it.

‘So you're good for something!’ Verris joked when he reached the end.

Fontagu bowed deeply, and Tab was pleased to see him accepting the dig with grace.

After the songs had finished, Torby and the small herdsfolk children curled up near the fire and slept. The others sat around the crackling blaze in silence. A short distance away the equens stood swishing their tails contentedly and dozing.

‘How does it work?’ Fontagu asked finally. Flicking a glance towards Tattoo.

The healer broke up some more sticks and placed them into the fire. ‘It's complex between us. The equens carry in their minds the places that are best to find food, water and to stay protected from the weather at different times of the year. We carry with us the methods to keep them well. When we settle we use their manures to feed our crops. We eat the grains and feed the equens the stalks. By watching them selecting herbs on the ranges we know which ones to collect to protect from illnesses in the chest and in the blood. Their smell tells us when predators will arrive or when the weather will turn sour.’

Fontagu blinked. ‘But what about the magic healing?’

The healer shrugged. ‘The equens find comfort in being in a herd. When they are not with their kin they become distressed and ill. We two-leggeds are the same, aren't we?’

Fontagu stared into the flames. Tab could tell he was thinking that the herdsfolk healer wanted to keep their magic a secret.

Tab reached out for Tattoo's mind. The little equen opened her eyes for a moment and then closed them again. For Tattoo, ‘herd’, ‘comfort’ and ‘heal’ all meant the same thing.

‘Haven't you ever had a friend who makes you feel better just by being with them?’ Tab asked Fontagu. She looked at Torby, with his head resting on Amelia's knee, smiling in his sleep. Perhaps they hadn't found the answer for Torby that she was hoping for down here, but then again maybe they had?

Fontagu ignored Tab. ‘But really, how old are you?’

The healer smiled. ‘Old.’

‘Sixty? One hundred-and-sixty? Four hundred?’ Fontagu guessed.

The healer winked at another of the herdsfolk, the lady Tab guessed to be his wife.

‘I'm just curious because …’ Fontagu began again.

‘Fontagu!’ Tab pleaded.

‘But we will be leaving! This is my last chance to learn their secret!’

‘Let it go!’ Philmon said.

The healer slapped his thigh. ‘All right. Mr Fontagu Wizroth the Third of the great city in the sky, tamer of scavenjaws, possessor of the throat of dreams, I will tell you the answer to the riddle of eternal life. This is mysterious herdsfolk, equen magic. Very secret. Are you listening?’

Fontagu leaned forward, nodding eagerly.

The healer held up his three fingers, and ticked them off in turn. ‘Work hard in the service of your community. Move your arms and legs every day. Let go of anger in your heart.’

Fontagu's mouth dropped open. ‘But I have five fingers!’ he blurted.

The healer laughed. ‘Then you can add; eat lots of fibre, even if you don't like it. No meat! And … What else would you say, little one?’ he asked Tab.

Tab looked across at Lord Verris. ‘Live well today,’ she said.

‘Be good to your mother,’ Vrod suggested.

‘Laugh often,’ Philmon said.

‘Try to get to bed early,’ Amelia added, stretching and yawning.

‘There you have it,’ the healer said. ‘Quentaran magic and mysterious herdsfolk magic is just the same.’

Fontagu growled. He stood up and walked away from the fire while those who encircled it laughed at his retreating back. Even the equens wrinkled their noses as if they were laughing.

Tab sighed contentedly. They would be leaving soon, back to their sky-city to discover new worlds, face more hostile opponents, and hopefully make some new allies too, but right now she was amongst friends and she did feel better.

Lord Verris winked at Tab, and she grinned back.

‘Live well today,’ she said again.