Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) Chapter 50: 50: Welcome Home

Read chapter 50 of Magician's Touch (Deadly Touch book 3) by Deb E Howell on NovelPedia.

Leon had been right. Fern carried both Llew and Jonas well, but she could do little more than a walk for long. Every now and then, Llew pulled Jonas more tightly to her and urged the mare into a lurching, loping canter for a few minutes, but for most of the next few hours they rocked along at a walk, following the road on faith. The last time Llew had ridden this stretch had been in darkness. She had no remembered landmarks to reference. Farms and forests slid by. They entered a tiny township, riding between houses and past a general store. The smell of fresh-baking breads had Llew’s stomach grumbling and aching. A couple of men watched from porches, sitting casually, relaxed; simply enjoying the quiet of the morning or carrying out small repairs on brooms or other tools. A quiet industry. Most of the women walking the street wore shirt and trousers, that seeming to be a preference in Quaver, with just a few wearing dresses or skirts down to their ankles. Llew could’ve lived there and not felt out of place. The pair atop a single horse attracted many an eye. A woman at the side of the road gasped. “Is that …?” she began in the curious awed tone Llew was growing accustomed to when traveling with Jonas in Quaver. Llew drew rein. “Are we still on the road to Taither?” The woman pointed farther along the road, her hand slack, while leaning to get a better view of Jonas’s face. Llew took the gesture as an affirmative and urged Fern on. “That’s Jonas. She’s got Jonas,” the woman said behind her. A man farther along the road stepped toward them. “Does he live?” “He lives,” Llew said, trying to get a little more speed out of their mount, though she accepted the horse might be tired. Fern’s walking pace quickened. “He lives!” the man repeated. Llew left the town behind, a growing excitement in the air. Thankfully, no one tried to stop them. The last these people had likely heard of Jonas had been him heading for Turhmos. Would they, these common folk of Quaver, have heard of the display fight in Duffirk? The news had reached Gaemil in Brurun, but perhaps that had been via official channels. Given their relief at Jonas’s survival, they either knew of the fight and his injuries, or the effects of Braph’s micro-organism lay ahead, news of its impact spreading. As the sun approached its zenith, the road became cobbled. Jonas’s breath still warmed Llew’s neck. A woman in a long, light dress that floated when the breeze caught it, with brown skin and tightly ringletted nearly black hair hung laundry on a line behind a low brick fence, beside a modest wooden house. Llew urged Fern closer. The woman watched warily, her gaze taking them in, head to toe, and some curiosity when her gaze lingered on the knife at Jonas’s waist then tried to see him more clearly. “Can you tell me the way to the garden with the glowing tree?” Llew asked. “Is that Jonas?” The woman dropped a pair of trousers back into her wicker basket and stepped closer to the fence. “Is he infected, too?” She pressed a hand to her chest. “He lives, and we have a cure.” For him. Llew hoped she spoke truth. “But we need something from the garden. Can you point the way?” The woman pointed farther along the road and indicated an intersection. “On the way to the barracks, turn left up there, then the first right. Oh, it’s been disastrous, the barracks—. I hoped … I’d heard my boy went with Jonas. I thought maybe they were spared, but … Do you know? Hisham?” Damn. Llew clenched her jaw against welling sadness. She didn’t want to be the one to break this woman’s heart, especially when she couldn’t afford to deliver the news gently, nor stay to offer comfort. “He— He remains in Turhmos.” It wasn’t a lie. “With friends.” The woman’s eyes lighting up nearly broke Llew. Was she giving a false hope that would only hurt this woman more, all because she couldn’t handle riding away leaving this woman in tears? They would tell her the truth. “We’ll tell you more on our return, but …” Llew gestured