Aldric Thornwood's Arc

Chapter 11 of 11

The carpet dropped over the creek and Mycel brought it down soft in the grass outside Sylvana's glass house. Aldric was off before it settled. He held the pot against his chest with both hands. The wax seam was still whole. The sky over the trees was gray but not yet pink. He had made it before dawn. Sylvana opened the door before he knocked. Her hair was tied back and her sleeves were pushed up to the elbow. A bowl of crushed dark leaves sat on the table behind her. She looked at the pot, then at his face. "You're on time," she said. "Bring it in." He set the pot on her workbench. She broke the wax with a thin knife and lifted the lid. The moss inside was still damp. The roots were still white. She let out a breath he had not seen her holding. "Three days of tincture," she said. "She'll wake by the second." "She's here?" Sylvana pointed with the knife toward the back room. "Since yesterday. I moved her when the fever climbed." Aldric went past her. The wolf followed and stopped at the doorway. His sister lay on a low cot under a green blanket. Her face was thin. Her lips were cracked. But her chest rose and fell, and her hand twitched when the wolf whined once at the door. He knelt beside the cot. He put his forehead against her knuckles. She smelled like sweat and mint. He could feel her pulse through the back of her hand, small and steady. Two months of tracking, and here she was, breathing. He reached into his pocket and found the coin his oldest daughter had given him. He pressed it against his sister's palm and closed her fingers over it. He did not know why. It felt right to give her something. Sylvana came in with a clay cup. "Lift her head." He slid his arm under his sister's shoulders. Sylvana tipped the cup to her mouth. His sister swallowed twice, then coughed, then swallowed again. Her eyes did not open, but her jaw softened. "That's the worst of it," Sylvana said. "She'll drink more at midday." Aldric sat on the floor beside the cot. He let his back rest against the wall. The wolf came in and lay across his boots. For the first time in two months, he was not moving toward something. His hands started to shake. He let them. Sylvana watched him from the doorway. "You should sleep." "In a minute." She nodded and left him there. Outside, he heard Mycel speaking to the carpet in a tongue he did not know. He heard the wolf breathing. He heard his sister breathing. He closed his eyes. Then he remembered his wife. His daughters. The four sets of boot prints. His sister was safe, and the rest of them were still gone. He opened his eyes again.