On Fire's Wings - Christie Golden [55]
One day, while she was tending the fire, Sahlik did something completely incomprehensible. The elderly servant positioned herself so that no one could see what she was doing, then deliberately poured a cup of hot eusho on Kevla’s hand.
Kevla cried out, staring in shock at Sahlik. Before she could say anything, Sahlik said sharply, “You clumsy girl! Look what you’ve done! Go see Maluuk right away. If that blisters you’ll be of no use here at all.”
Wide-eyed, Kevla clutched her burned hand and backed away from Sahlik, who continued to glower at her. Then she started running, pushing her way though the crowded kitchen and racing over the courtyard to the healer’s small hut.
The scald was minor. What hurt more than the injury was the knowledge that Sahlik had intentionally inflicted it. Was the head servant trying to kill her? Kevla began to cry as she ran. She tried to stifle the sobs, but she might just as well have tried to dam the Four Waters with a walking stick.
She slowed as she approached the healing hut. She dragged her arm across her wet face and sniffed hard. Swallowing, Kevla straightened, composed herself, and opened the door.
“Maluuk, I—”
The words died in her throat. Standing there waiting for her was Jashemi. She stared at him, and then her legs refused to hold her. It was as if the last few weeks of pain, shame, and exhaustion caught up with her in the span of an instant. He caught her before she fell and carried her over to the table. Still weak, she did not protest.
“Kevla, I am so very sorry. I take full responsibility. Let me see the burn. Good, she didn’t hurt you too badly. I will put something on it.”
Kevla felt as though his words were coming from leagues away. Their meaning registered only slowly. She watched him as he removed the stopper from a jar and scooped out a fingerful of gray, pleasant-smelling ointment. He applied the salve with a delicate touch, and the pain subsided at once.
“Sahlik…she did this to me so I could meet you?”
Jashemi gave her a quick glance. “Of course. Did you think she simply wanted to hurt you?”
“I—I didn’t know what to think,” Kevla said, her voice thick. “I had thought that Yeshi liked me, and when she…then Sahlik was so mean to me….”
He paused in his treatment to look at her gravely. “My mother discovered us together,” he said. “It is my fault. I was careless. I should have made sure that never happened.” He finished applying salve and began to bind the wound with a clean cloth. Suddenly, his mouth twisted in a smile. “It seems as though I am always apologizing to you.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kevla couldn’t help smiling in return. “You are a most unusual khashimu.”
“And you are an unusual….” He paused. “Girl,” he said. Kevla felt her cheeks flush. “Now, you need to finish tying this. Your story will be that you came to the hut and neither Maluuk nor Asha was here, so you treated yourself.”
She complied, holding her arm against her body to better secure the bandage.
“Where are they?”
“Someone has been injured by the river. I saw them go and told Sahlik that we had a chance to meet.”
“Why has Sahlik been so cruel? It seems as though she has been particularly hard on me.”
Jashemi’s face hardened. “My mother has a little spy. One of the five-scores we brought home from the raid. Shari, I think her name is.”
“Sharu,” Kevla corrected. “I tried to be kind to her.”
“Of course you did. For several weeks, Sharu was in the kitchens, watching to make sure you were treated as badly as possible. Mother was satisfied and rewarded Sharu by making her a handmaiden. Now that she is no longer in the kitchen, Sahlik does not have to be so harsh with you.”
“Thank the Dragon for that, at least,” Kevla said softly.
She had not intended her words to be interpreted as criticism, but she saw Jashemi wince. When he spoke again, his voice was serious.
“Because of my carelessness, you lost your position,” he said. “I don’t want anything else to happen to you, but I can’t lie to you. If we continue