Page 122 of Moon Chosen

Sora poured the yellow disinfecting water on the wound, and then just as Mari had instructed, held pressure on it, watching Mari closely.

Mari didn’t hesitate. She was afraid to—afraid if she hesitated at all she would give up.

“Now!”

Sora lifted the bandage and, before the wound could fill with blood again, Mari pressed the glowing cautery rod against the area of the worst bleeding.

A guttural scream was torn from Nik, and Sora held him firmly down. Within moments his body sagged into unconsciousness again.

“Get me the other one. The smaller one,” Mari said, breathing a sigh of relief and brushing her sweat-dampened hair out of her face with the back of her forearm. Sora quickly offered the other rod to her, and Mari exchanged it for the cooling one, pressing the newly glowing head against the other bleeders.

Nik’s body jerked then, but spasmodically, an automatic response to the cauterizing. He made no sound and as soon as Mari took the iron from the wound his body stilled again.

“Bring me the poultice,” Mari said.

Sora gave her the wooden bowl in which they had muddled her mother’s concoction of honey, witch hazel, sage, and calendula flowers. Mari had added some of the goldenseal root to it because she was so worried about infection. Working quickly, she packed the cauterized wound with the sticky, fragrant mixture.

“Okay, now I just have to sew it up.”

Sora handed her a threaded needle, and Mari set to work stitching up the wound. She was surprised how little it bothered her to sew flesh. She had, of course, watched Leda do it countless times, but she had only practiced on dead rabbits and pelts.I’m good at this,Mari realized with a happy little jolt of surprise.I’m really good at this.

Together Mari and Sora wrapped the sutured wound carefully with clean bandages before laying him on his back and moving to his leg wound. Mari had already decided against stitching up the head wound. Once it had quit bleeding she’d realized that it hadn’t been as bad as all the blood had made it appear. But the leg wound was something else.

“That’s really deep,” Sora said, moving to hold Nik’s ankles, though he remained unconscious and still.

“Yeah, I’m going to clean it out and pack some of the leftover poultice I used in his back in it before I sew it up. But it worries me almost as much as his back.”

Mari set to work, and time seemed to pause. She was so focused, so in a little bubble of concentration, that she didn’t notice Sora’s growing agitation until her hands were trembling so hard that she made Nik’s legs shake.

“Sora, you have to hold still. I can’t—” Mari glanced up. Sora’s face was pale with pain, which contrasted eerily with the silver flush that was spreading across her skin.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to fight it, but—”

“It’s not your fault. Go. You need the moonlight. Go now.”

“But you need my help,” Sora spoke through teeth she’d gritted together against pain.

“I need you to be whole and not filled with pain and depressed.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.” Sora pressed a silver-tinged hand over her mouth.

“Go on. You need to get outside in the moonlight.” Mari glanced at the pup, who had taken his spot in front of the door. Hands pressed against Nik’s leg wound, she shifted her concentration, imagining her young canine finding his way through the maze of brambles with Sora following him. “Rigel, lead Sora above.”

“But he won’t!” Sora said.

“Of course he will.” Mari turned back to sewing the nasty leg wound, sparing only one small glance at her pup as Sora opened the door for him and he went out, then turned and waited for the girl to follow.Thank you—you’re so smart and handsome and brave and kind. Thank you, Rigel!Mari sent the thought, along with a wave of love, to her Shepherd. Then, knowing Rigel wouldn’t let her down, she bent over Nik’s leg and resumed her work.

***

“That went better than I expected,” Mari said. Sora and Rigel had returned in time to help Mari bandage the newly sewn leg wound. They’d arranged Nik as comfortably as possible, half on his side, half on his back. And after putting the instruments in a goldenseal bath and gathering the bloody bandages, the two women were finally taking a moment to relax by the hearth, sipping tea and staring at the still body of their patient.

“Me, too. I thought for sure he’d wake up and thrash around,” Sora said. “What was in that tea you gave him?”

“Poppy juice and cannabis.” She glanced at Sora and felt herself smiling. “I wish I could take some myself right about now.”

“Ha! Usually I would encourage you to make yourself a lovely sleeping potion, and then drag him out of here while you’re unconscious, but I’m so proud of all of that work we just did that I don’t think I could make myself do anything to mess it up.”

“Well, that’s encouraging,” Mari said, and she meant it. Then she drew a long breath and turned to face Sora. “You did a good job tonight. I appreciate your help.”