Soulbonder

Chapter 19 - Departure at Dawn

The next day, Shale was shaken awake. She almost screamed at the sight of the amber eyes hanging directly over her. When the fog of sleep faded from her mind, she realised who they belonged to.

"Karlar?" she said.

Love of Bragan, it was extremely early, judging by the dusty light seeping through the slanted shutters.

"Apologies. I didn't mean to frighten you, Mistress Shale."

"I'm just relieved you're not a tree monster."

"Quite."

Next, the Stargazer moved to the beds of Bandor and Ezil and shook them awake too.

"Kah take you," the Wolfbonder said, springing up even sharper than Shale had. Her brow furrowed. "Oh, Karlar, it's just you." She slumped back into her bed. "What are you doing in our room at this ungodly hour? I thought we weren't leaving until morning."

"It's dawn, Mistress Ezil."

"It is? But I feel like I just fell asleep."

"I'm afraid that the night has been and gone. Come, Master Daziran wants us to get on the road as soon as possible." Karlar went around to each of them and handed them bundles of roughspun.

"What's this?" Shale asked, holding her clothes aloft.

"Appropriate travel attire."

"Great," Ezil said. "As if we didn't already look like street rats."

"There is something else too."

"What's that?" Ezil asked.

Karlar opened his kaelvi, which was lined with dozens of slender pouches. From them, he fetched out three vials of clear liquid and three thin needles. "Master Daziran would like a blood sample from each of you."

"Why in the name of Tarshara does he want that?" Shale asked.

"He did not say."

"Typical Daziran," Ezil said, lazily extending a finger. "Don't worry, Shale. This is just a health check he likes to conduct with his apprentices every now and then. It's a solution of pudder pom extract mixed with ground squiluc root and infused with erix flakes."

"Commonly referred to as Illumination Potion," Karlar said.

"Probably wants to make sure we didn't pick up anything nasty from the ship," Ezil said.

"Oh, right."

Karlar went around and pricked each of their fingers. There was a tiny burn as the sharp needle drew a fat bead of blood from Shale's fingertip. Then, as instructed, she held it over the open vial until the blood dripped into the solution and turned it pink. The solution began to fizz as it reacted with the blood. Shale gasped, but Ezil assured her this was normal and it took a few hours for the test to yield results. Karlar returned the vials into his cloak and then gave them each cotton pads to clean their wounds.

"Thank you kindly. We'll be in the common room when you're ready. Do try to make haste."

Ezil unfurled her clothing and muttered something to the effect that Karlar was worse than a nagging parent. It was apparent by Bandor's cheeky grin that he agreed.

Shale lifted the covers to shield herself from view while she changed. It was a technique she'd perfected from many years of practice at the monastery, where privacy was a rarity. With the travel clothes donned, she suddenly felt grimy. The garments were dusty, old, and grainy, but she supposed, that was the point.

When Ezil and Bandor changed, much less concerned with hiding their nudity, they immediately lost their exotic allure. Clad in the plain roughspun, they appeared as common as peasant children. Their distinct features which had previously made them so striking, now came across as slightly sickly.