Children Of The Sky (The Scripts Of Neptune, Book 2)

Chapter 41

It wasn't hard to find a winterling healer; Jack spotted the paper advertisements for them within five minutes of landing in the streets of Cassar. Finding the place was slightly more challenging. When he'd made an appointment for the next day and settled on a price, he went back to the ship to tell Crynia.

There was a storm brewing when they set out from the port in the late morning, clouds angry on the horizon, and Jack was glad the ship was safely in its berth. He could feel the energy of the lightning singing in his bones, hear the thunder in tune with his heartbeat, smell the building moisture in the air.

Crynia ran beneath him where he flew, a streak of black wolf-fur beside the road through the foothills. There was a dark beauty to her Animalia form, the rippling fur and muscle, the sure-footed stride. She'd been giddy when she'd finally been able to shift again. It still made Jack smile to watch her.

They both took their human forms when they'd almost reached the city, and when they passed through the gates they blended with the crowd and had to link hands to keep track of each other. It was butchering day, and nearly every citizen--or their servants--were out to get what meat they needed for curing despite the promise of rain. The stink of animal flesh hung in the hot, humid air like poison; Jack had to breathe through his mouth as they passed the stalls, and Crynia pulled the collar of her shirt over her nose.

The healer's shop wasn't nearly as busy, but it was tucked right in the thick of the marketplace. A quaint building with yellow siding and a grey roof, it sat and sagged a little and watched the people come and go like a sentry. The door was propped open with a stone; Jack ducked under the low doorjamb and tugged Crynia with him.

The inside was dark enough that it took him a moment to let his eyes adjust. Crynia let go of his hand and stepped up beside him, rubbing her palm on her pants, and looked around. Her hair was pulled back in a tail--it was finally long enough to do that, though it still looked something like a paintbrush--and she'd tied the bandana she often wore over it. A few unruly strands came out anyways; Jack itched to brush them out of her face, but kept his hands at his sides. He didn't need another moment like the one at Mick's the week before to rattle him. He liked her too much already, this girl, and he didn't know what in Ahylia he was going to do about it.

The shop was laid out like the herb shop he'd visited the other day for Mick: there were a few chairs for lounging in the front, and the curtained back was barred off by a counter. Coral and other relics from the sea were strewn along it, and a square of solid glass filled with water by the window sported a few rather sad-looking eelfish. Crynia seemed fascinated by those, watching them twist and weave and flash their reflective flanks.

Jack knocked on the counter with his knuckles and leaned on it to wait. The woman who came out was the same he'd spoken with yesterday. Trading a familiar smile with him, she looked to Crynia and ran an assessing glance up and down her back with eyes as green as seaglass. "Is she who you told me about yesterday?"

"Yeah," Jack said, smiling as Crynia turned at the woman's voice. Her arms were folded, and her jaw was tight. She was nervous. Jack couldn't blame her. "Crynia, this is Nell. Nell, Crynia."

"It's lovely to meet you, Crynia," Nell said cordially while shaking the hand Crynia offered. "Is it all right if I call you Cryn?"

Jack knit his brow at how quickly Crynia drew her hand back, the way her face darkened and closed off. The same thing had happened when he'd done it the first time. "No, thank you," she said, and it was quiet. "Crynia is fine."

The woman's smile faltered. "Of course. Won't both of you come in the back room?"

Nodding and folding her arms, Crynia waited until Jack went first, then followed him.