I will not marry a handsome soldier,
I will not marry a handsome soldier.
He would not want me when I’m older.
Hi-dee hi-dee ho-la!
Step on out ...
By—unspoken agreement they took the long way, not passing through town; as a result they didn’t see anyone. Savn wondered if there were still parties out looking for Vlad, and if Mae and Pae had joined them. Thinking of Mae and Pae filled him with a vague unease over and above his fear of whatever punishment they’d inflict on him for staying out all night. He thought about it, trying to figure out why, and eventually remembered how oddly they’d acted the night Vlad had come to their home, at which point Savn realized that he wasn’t afraid of what Mae and Pae would say; he was afraid of what they wouldn’t say.
It was as bad as Savn had feared, or worse. Mae looked up, nodded at them, and went back to stripping seeds. Pae, who was counting sacks, just gave them a brief smile and said, “Savn, isn’t it time for you to be at Master Wag’s?”
“Yes, Pae,” said Savn, trying to keep his voice from trembling.
“Well, be on your way, then.”
Savn watched Polyi, who was obviously trying to conceal how upset she was. She said, “Don’t you want to know where we’ve been?”
“Well,” said Mae, straightening up and stretching her back, “you’re here, aren’t you? You’ve been fine, haven’t you?”
“Yes, but—”
Savn caught her eye and she fell silent.
“We’ll be going, then,” said Savn.
Mae and Pae nodded abstractedly and returned to their work. Savn and Polyi didn’t speak until they reached the house, where Savn gallantly offered to let Polyi bathe first.
She ignored his offer and said, “What’s wrong with them?”
“With who?”
“Cut it out,” said Polyi. “You know what I mean.”
Savn started to protest, then gave up and said, “I don’t know. I think—No, I don’t know.”
“What do you think?”
“Never mind.”
“Is it something Vlad did to them?”
Savn looked away and repeated, “I don’t know.”
“Maybe he—”
“I don’t know.”
“AH right,” she said, pouting. “Don’t yell at me.”
“Do you want to bathe first, or should I?”
“I don’t care. Go ahead. No, I will.”
“Let me, I have to get to Master Wag’s.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“I don’t know. I’ll hurry.”
Savn bathed quickly, and leaving the house, cut across the fields away from the counting bin so he wouldn’t have to face Mae and Pae again. He also skirted the town, although he was frightfully curious about whether they were still searching for Vlad.
When he arrived at Master Wag’s, he was greeted with the words, “I didn’t expect you to be here today. How’s our patient?”
“He was well when I left him, about five hours ago.”
“Had he eaten?”
“Yes.”
“No fever?”
“None.”
“Still weak?”
“Very.”
“Did he empty his bowels?”
“No. Liquid only.”
“Hmmm. Not good, but not yet bad, either.”
“Are they still looking for him?”
The Master nodded. “Not with any great intensity, perhaps, but Speaker insisted that they keep searching the area until they were certain he had left.”
“That sounds like they think he did.”
“Speaker probably does, but that doesn’t much matter. They’ll keep looking, I’m afraid, and eventually they’ll find the caves.”
“It may take a long time.”
“Oh, yes. It would take days to just search the caves—they’re immense, convoluted, and lead all the way back into the cliff. But still—”
“Yes. I hope they don’t get to them soon.”
“In any case, Savn, the Easterner shouldn’t be alone for very long. He could relapse at any time.”
“All right,” said Savn. “I’ll return at once.”
“No, as long as you’re here, you may as well relax for a while. We can discuss that procedure you performed. I want to show you just what you did, and why it worked, so you can be more certain next time.”
Which is what they did for the next hour; the Master explained the problem and the cure, while Savn listened more intently than he ever had before. It was different, he realized, when you knew exactly why you were doing something, when you’d actually seen someone with the injury and were learning how to save him.
After that, the conversation drifted onto other matters of the healing arts, and even here Savn noticed a difference in the Master’s attitude: he was less brusque and somehow more respectful of Savn—as if by saving the Easterner, Savn had proven himself to Master Wag.
At one point, the Master stopped in the middle of explaining the sort of thoughts that must be kept out of the head of a person in danger of fever, and said, “What is bothering you, Savn? You seem disturbed about something.”
“I’m not certain, Master.”
The Master looked at him closely. “Is it,” he said, “that you aren’t certain you should have saved the Easterner? Because, if that is the trouble, it shouldn’t bother you. Saving lives is our trade—all lives. Even, sometimes, that of livestock. Yes, if it is a choice between saving the life of a human being and saving the life of an Easterner, that is one thing. But in this case, you found someone who was injured and you cured him. It is no betrayal of His Lordship for you to perform your calling.”
“It isn’t that, Master. I think it’s Mae and Pae.”
“What about them?”
“Well, they’ve been acting funny, that’s all.”
“Funny? What do you mean?”
“Well, they seem distracted, like they’re far away.”
“Explain what you mean, Savn. Be precise.”
“It’s hard to, Master. It’s a feeling I have. But when Polyi and I were out all night, they didn’t say a word to us about it.”
“You’re growing up, Savn. They recognize this, and feel you can be trusted more. That’s all it is.”
Savn shook his head. “I’m afraid Vlad put a spell on them.”
The Master cocked his head. “A spell? What sort of spell, and why would he do something like that?”
“A witchcraft spell.”
“Witchcraft!” said the Master. “Nonsense. If you believe all of the rubbish that—Hullo, is someone there?”
There did, indeed, seem to be someone clapping at the door. Savn got up and opened it, and was startled to find himself looking up at Fird, the fruit-seller from Bigcliff.
Savn stared, open-mouthed, his thoughts racing. For one thing, he had forgotten how tall Fird was. For another, Vlad had been asking about him just the other day, and ... Savn realized he was being rude. He closed his mouth, opened it again, and said, “May I be of some service to you?”
“I be here looking,” said Fird, in his low, careful voice, and with the odd grammatical formulations of Bigcliff, “for Master Wag.”
“Who is it?” called the Master from inside.
“Please come in,” said Savn, stepping out of Fird’s way.
“My thanks to you for that,” said Fird, ducking his head as he passed under the Master’s doorway. Over his shoulder was a large sack, which Savn assumed contained the fruit he’d been selling.
The Master rose as he entered, and said, “What seems to be the matter, goodman?”
“A note is sent me to you, by for this Eastern devil. You know him?”
“Eastern devil?” said Master Wag and Savn with one voice. The Master gave Savn a look, then continued. “Do you mean the Easterner, Vlad?”
“The same as him, yes,” said Fird.