Though she understood his point—he would be no good to their mission any longer; he wouldn’t be able to ride a horse, let alone walk if it wasn’t healed by magic—she chose to tease him rather than placate his self-pity. “So,” she raised her brow, “you don’t want me to set it?”
Thom snorted humorlessly. “Of course I do.”
Evylin offered a light smile and shifted toward his knee. “Then you’ll need to tell me how.”
“What?” he gasped, head shooting up. He groaned and leaned back against the wall once more. “You don’t know how to set a bone?”
“I never needed to learn.”
“And you’re going to practice on me?”
“Do you want your leg repaired or not?”
Thom sent her a flat stare. “Yes, but it’d be nice if it were by someone who knew what they were doing.”
Ethenn moved to sit next to Evylin by the mangled leg. On the far side of the room, Ilain now sat in Vayden’s arms, the siblings crying silently together.
Ethenn set his hand on Evylin’s arm. “I’ve got this,” he said.
“You know how to set a broken limb?” she asked.
He nodded, sizing up the leg. “It’s a rather necessary skill when you’re out in the woods for weeks at a time. If you or your fellow hunters break something,” he felt along the knee, causing Thom to grimace, “you need to be able to set it as you’re likely to be days from the nearest healer.”
Ethenn leaned back on his haunches, releasing the leg. “The good news is,” he said to Thom, “this isn’t as bad as it looks. The kneecap isn’t fractured, just dislocated. However, there is a fracture on the bone beneath. That’s what’s causing the strange bend. I can set the break and shift the kneecap back into place.” He paused and offered a frown. “But it’s gonna hurt like hell.”
“What’s new?” Thom replied, lips still twisting from his current agony.
Ethenn shrugged. “The bad news is I don’t have anything to use as a splint. I can’t set it until there’s something to hold it steady, so it’ll heal properly.”
Thom sighed. “So much for that.”
“I can fuse it,” Ilain murmured, kneeling next to Ethenn. Her cheeks looked sunken, her body worn ragged with exhaustion and grief.
“Ilain,” Ethenn argued, “you don’t have the strength.”
She held his gaze steadily. “With you and Evylin helping me, I can manage a simple fusing,” she said. “You do the hard work of setting and fixing it, then I’ll channel Day to speed the recovery.” She looked at Thom then. “You’ll be able to walk just fine in the morning.”
Thom eyed her warily. “You’re sure?” he asked.
“Shocking as it may be, I’m not that fragile,” she said, but the words were empty.
After a second of consideration, Ethenn turned back to the task at hand. “Raff, take off your belt,” he instructed.
“You’ll have to buy me a drink first,” the weasel snarked.
Ethenn stared at him with dull annoyance. “It’s for Thom to bite down on.”
While Rafferty moved to follow orders, Thom raised his brow. “It’s gonna be that bad?” he asked, worry pitching his voice higher.
“Sorry,” Ethenn apologized. He turned to Vayden. “Could you hold his left leg down?”
“Seriously?” Thom said incredulously.
“I don’t care to be kicked in the face,” Ethenn returned.
Rafferty offered the leather belt. Thom rolled his eyes, then bit down. At Ethenn’s continued instruction, Rafferty leaned against Thom’s shoulder, carefully wrapping his arms over him to hold his torso down. Evylin continued to hold Thom’s hand, fear causing the whites of his eyes to appear.
She squeezed his hand and smirked. “Don’t be a baby,” she teased. “You were just bleeding out a moment ago. This will be nothing.”
