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But then his leg had improved and his grief over Kivva’s death had faded.
He now sought me out far, far too often.
He’d walk me from my lessons with Pallen to Solin, favouring the slightest limp from Salak’s teeth. He’d befriended Natim, so the fawn was as much a traitor as Syn. He always brought the platter of food to me first, after Tral and Tiptu had taken their leader’s share, not knowing about my aversion to meat.
He didn’t care that I didn’t speak to him willingly or that I always refused his offers of food. He never grew angry or short and would be beside me the next day, walking me to my next lesson, as if my refusal to like him could be cured by time and dedication.
But what hurt the most was, on the days when Aktor escorted me from lupic to lupic, his presence carefully unthreatening and his company eerily gallant, I never saw Darro.
And that hurt more than anything.
The fact that Darro didn’t seem to want me anymore...
I sucked in a breath, rubbing at my smarting heart.
“Runa...what’s ailing you?” Olish asked softly, his kind blue eyes wide with worry.
Dropping my hand, I shook my head. “I’m fine. Just...tired, that’s all.”
Bending closer, he looked at the two hunters who walked past, arguing about which feathers made their spears fly faster, and asked, “Has your moon blood started again?”
“What?” My cheeks blushed bright red. “Why would you ask that?”
He smiled reproachfully. “I’m a healer. Dealing with female discomfort is part of my duties. Way isn’t the only one they turn to for pain remedies.”
I couldn’t keep his stare. It felt too personal. Very personal.
“I-I wasn’t aware it would...eh—”
“Happen again?” He laughed softly. “Every moon cycle, Runa. New moon or full moon, your body wanes to its power. Pallen told me what happened when you first bled—or your first since you can remember, of course. And we can all see the new trees scattered in the grasslands like they’ve always been there. If you’re about to bleed again, then precautions should be—”
“I know how to harvest the absorbent cattail-down that Way showed me. I still have the rabbit skin strip to wear as well.” I swallowed hard, unable to believe I was discussing such things. “I’m fine, Olish.”
“Good. In that case...are you free? Or do you belong to Pallen or Solin for the rest of the afternoon?”
“What are you doing with my mate, Olish?”
I stiffened as Aktor’s lengthening shadow oozed across the ground before he appeared beside me. The sun hung lower in the sky now, thanks to the quickening seasons.
Olish crossed his arms, his pouch holding medicines swinging at his waist. The ash spider tattooed on his shoulder glinted silver against his bare chest. “I have unfinished business.”
“What unfinished business?” Aktor asked, looking at me sharply. “Have you seen how much she’s been working? If it’s another lesson, let her have an afternoon of rest.” Turning to face me, his tone softened in a way that made me shy away from his intentions. “Runa, you’re exhausted. You never rest.” Holding out his hand, he whispered, “Let’s go for a walk. Just you and me. I know where we can go for peace and quiet.”
I backed up. “No, thank you.”
His eyebrows hooded his black stare. “You know you can’t avoid me forever. The Aium festival is fast approaching.”
I did my best to hide my shudder. “And who knows if the blood bind will be broken by then.”
“Broken?” He chuckled. “By who? You? Him? It’s foretold in the flames, Runa.” Temper etched his cooling words. “I’ve been patient. I’ve gone out of my way to show you I’m not bad—”
“If you think a few strolls from her lessons and meat that she doesn’t eat can undo what you did, Aktor, you are stupider than I thought.” Olish reached for me and captured my wrist. “Now, if you don’t mind. I’m borrowing your not-yet-mate.”
Yanking me away, he launched into a fast stalk across the central clearing, heading toward the healer’s lupic, where he and Way worked during the day. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a smoky shadow curling through the grass. I sucked in a breath as Darro appeared, his bare chest tense with temper and hands balled with rage.
He acted as if he’d heard what Aktor said. His eyes locked on where Olish held me.
Most of me wanted to race to his side and fling my arms around him.
But the hurting, hollow part of me chose not to endure any more pain of rejection. Looking away from Darro’s wild black hair and wilder, agony-brimming eyes, I asked Olish, “How do you know I don’t eat meat?”
He laughed and let me go, but he didn’t slow down, assuming I would follow him. “You keep forgetting my vocation, Runa. What sort of healer would I be if I didn’t watch my clan closely? I know what foods cause cramps to some and what illnesses strike others if they do certain things. Healing doesn’t begin when you start suffering. It begins before you ever show symptoms. And if we can prevent those symptoms by advising them not to eat certain things or avoid certain activities, then it saves both parties a lot of time.”
