The Healers' Road (1 Balance Academy) by S.E. Robertson

Author:S.E. Robertson [S.E. Robertson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-10-18T04:00:00+00:00

Keifon: House Calls

Once Agna bought proper winter clothes, things were easier. She had come to Kavera with nothing heavier than a cotton cloak, and after it had been stolen, she had never replaced it. When Keifon had asked about it, concerned that she might not have understood the climate in northern Kavera, she had muttered a vague answer and changed the subject.

Between the infrequent visits from patients, she counted out her earnings from the clinic, wrote page after page of figures and lists, and finally made the rounds of the caravan. Three times she reappeared at the clinic tent to ask him whether he wanted anything, and twice he said no; the third time he asked her for something hot to drink. It was easy enough to cover the clinic alone out here. Hardly anyone made the trek through the snow. The Benevolent Union’s notes explained that their predecessors had begun to make more house calls after the snow began, eventually forgoing the clinic tent.

The thought of venturing out there without the shelter of the clinic tent made his heart pound and his head swim. When Agna left, Keifon pulled his cloak around himself more tightly than was normal. It was irrational; he knew that. They would be attending to their patients in their own homes, not out in the cold. But venturing out on foot ran a little too close to a vein of old fear. It had been bricked over in the Army with order and structure and the relative comfort of the barracks, lying dormant until the image of setting out into the snow broke through the wall.

He would not freeze out there. He had shelter, Agna would not let him freeze, and he had the backing of the Yanweian National Army and the Benevolent Union. He was valued as an agent, as a medic, and even as an infantryman. He would not die forgotten in the snow.

Keifon spent much of the afternoon trying not to think about it. If his hands cramped from clenching, he did not think about that either.

At dinnertime Agna returned. She had bought a thick wool coat, fur-lined boots, mittens and a long scarlet scarf, and she beamed as she showed off her purchases. She had also brought the crock of broth from last night, which she had thawed and heated to steaming. Keifon padded the edges of his cloak over his hands and accepted the crock from her. The smell of the broth calmed his stomach, turning the uneasy flutters into growls of hunger.

“More surprises at the camp,” she announced as he sipped.

“Thank you for this. – You’ve been busy.”

“It’s difficult. There’s so much I could get and so little we can carry. But I think this will help.”

“I’m sure. You look better equipped.”

“It’s so nice.” She pulled the scarf up to warm her cold-flushed cheeks.

“I told you.”

Her breath steamed through the scarf. “Yes, yes. Anyway, I apologize in advance for the next time we have to move it all.”

Keifon took another sip.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.