Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) Chapter 7: 7: Trust

Read chapter 7 of Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) by Deb E Howell on NovelPedia.

Llew helped Jonas back to the seat and rearranged the blankets over him, then tightened her blanket about herself again and opened the door a crack, peering through. Elka was coming along the hallway, accompanied by a woman, older, taller, and straighter than Elka, but otherwise identical. She had to be Elka’s mother. The doctor. The woman carried a leather bag, similar to the one wielded by the doctor on the boat from Aghacia to Phyos. Llew opened the door to admit them. “ Hey.” Elka smiled wide and raised her arms to draw Llew’s attention to the pile of sheets and the cotton blanket she carried, then made her way to the bed, using Llew’s new path. “ Oh, wonderful. Wonderful,” Elka’s ma said, taking in the cleared floor space as Elka placed the sheets on the bed. “That would explain the noise then.” Llew felt her cheeks flame and Jonas suddenly found a need to study the floor. “ Might want to keep it down in future,” Elka’s mother said. “Easier to keep a secret, that way.” Her eyes were quick, taking in every detail of the room and the state of their guests. “Yes, those wet clothes wouldn’t have been doing you any good. We’ll get you some dry ones.” The woman placed her bag on the floor and came to Llew. She reached out towards one of Llew’s hands, hesitated. “I won’t get drained, will I?” “ No.” The woman splayed one hand for a shake and Llew accepted. “This is—. Sorry.” She shook her head as she clasped Llew’s hand in both of her own. “Llew. Nice to meet you doesn’t do you justice. When Elka said Jonas needed our help, I thought we were blessed. Then she told me we had an Aenuk under our roof …” She shook her head again. She still had Llew’s hand in her grip. “ Mama,” Elka chastised. “ Yes. Yes. Sorry.” The woman released Llew. “Elka and I have discussed the virtues of Aenuks her entire life. We are honored, to say the least.” “ It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Llew muttered then put on her best smile. “And we are grateful for your help, Miss us ?” “ Ms. Flint. But you may call me Raena.” At Llew’s use of ‘we’, Raena looked past her to Jonas. Her expression sobered. “Time to get down to business,” Raena said, releasing Llew’s hand, picking up her bag, and making her way to Jonas. If the room wasn’t already crowded, four people certainly made it so. Jonas made himself as small as possible. “ And you’re Jonas, the Great Syakaran of Quaver, protector of the weak, guardian of justice. What an unbridled privilege this is.” Jonas gave a long blink, followed by wide-eyed surprise. Llew could hardly believe she was hearing such awe spoken with regards to him this deep inside Turhmos. Even Merrid and Ard had been wary of him. “ There is quite a trade, both in novels and cartoons, featuring you here in Turhmos. Just don’t tell the authorities.” She gave Llew a wink, keeping the tone light-hearted, but Raena’s overall expression said clearly there would be consequences if word got out. Like Merrid and Ard, Llew doubted Raena was a stranger to crossing the line from legal to right. Raena returned her attention to Jonas. “You— I hope you don’t mind me saying, you seem smaller in real life, but, I suppose, given the circumstances … Elka has adored you forever.” “ Mama.” Elka’s scowl soon turned into a grin. Not overly embarrassed, then. Raena shrugged. “I suppose she never had a choice, since I started reading to her while she was still at the breast.” “ Mama .” “ Ha ha. Right, yes, you’re not here for those tales. Still, tales of your father, and then you, allowed Elka to dream far beyond what her life offered.” “ None of them were true,” Jonas said. “ But you were,” Elka said, clearly not easily dissuaded. Llew found herself smiling. While her future didn’t exactly sparkle, their present could have been truly bleak. Yet here, once again in the heart of Turhmos, were two generous and kind women willing to help strangers, one of whom should have been their enemy. “ So, my young Quaven, shall we see what we are dealing with here?” Rae