Heirs of Prophecy - Lisa Smedman [81]
Larajin still had no idea what she had done differently on those occasions. Had her prayers been more fervent-or had Sune and Hanali Celanil simply both been
watching over her in the same instant? If she tried to cast a spell to regrow Kith's wings, would the goddesses respond to her prayer?
Larajin stared into the moonlight-dappled woods, toward the spot where she could hear the sound of Kith crying.
For Kith's sake, Larajin would at least try.
Giving Goldheart a final pat, she instructed the tressym to wait where she was. Larajin didn't need the distraction of a feline rubbing against her leg as she tried to work her magic. She sheathed her dagger and strode into the woods.
Kith squatted near the base of a tree, hands clasped around her knees. Her tears had stopped, but she refused tq look up as Larajin approached. Her eyes were locked on the ground as she rocked back and forth.
Larajin kneeled beside Kith and touched her arm.
"Kith?"
Kith flinched away.
"Kith, I'm a cleric. I know healing magic. I don't know if I am able, but I'd like to try to restore your wings."
Kith was instantly attentive. She rubbed an arm roughly across her face to wipe away her tears.
"You know a great healing? Why you not offer before?"
Larajin felt a guilty blush rise to her cheeks. "I… wasn't sure it would work," she said.
She bit her tongue, resolving not to tell Kith the real reason-that she needed the avariel elf s help to get to the hill Goldheart had described.
Larajin touched the locket at her wrist. "Shall I try?" she asked.
"Yes," Kith whispered.
"I need to touch you-to lay hands upon what remains of your wings. I'll try not to press too hard."
Kith nodded and pulled her shirt down, exposing the raw stumps where her wings had been.
"I be ready," she whispered.
"Then I'll begin."
Softly, Larajin began chanting a prayer. She started with the one she knew best: an invocation to Sune, a plea to set her worshipers' footsteps on the path to beauty, and to give their hands the power to restore beauty that had been lost. She followed it with a prayer to Hanali Celanil, one that praised the goddess for creating all of the brightly feathered creatures of the world. The prayer was imperfect, a rough translation in the common tongue, but as Larajin chanted it, a familiar fragrance arose around her. At the same time, a warm amber glow began to tingle her fingertips.
The scar tissue under her fingers smoothed, and Kith sighed in relief, but then the fragrance of flowers lessened, and the glow beneath her fingertips dimmed. Larajin's spell had smoothed the scars and was easing Kith's pain-but it was not enough. Unless she could restore Kith's wings entirely, she would never catch up to Leifander, Tal would die, and…
Kith gasped in pain. With a guilty start, Larajin realized that her fingers had been digging into the wing stubs. That was when she realized her mistake.
Gentling her touch, she whispered an apology. At the same time she resolved, in that instant, to merely heal Kith. If her spell was successful and Kith's wings were restored, she would not demand that Kith fly her to the hill where Leifander was camped. She would not even ask. If the goddesses willed it, Kith would offer of her own accord. If not…
Firmly, Larajin pushed any thought of the consequences out of her mind. Instead she began to pray once more. This time, the spell was entirely of her own devising. A name sprung to her lips unbidden: Lady Fireheart. Chanting it, Larajin felt a warmth rise in her heart and course down her arms toward her hands. It burst from her fingertips in a bright ruby glow. At the same time the scent of Hanali's Heart filled the air, a scent so strong that Larajin and Kith might have been crouching in an entire field of blossoms.
*
In that moment, Larajin felt something move under her hands. Kith must have felt it too. She gave a trilling cry that was half surprise, half joy, and shuddered. Her wings started to grow.
Flesh and muscle extended under Larajin's hands, and bone rushed outward to support them. A joint formed, then