Script of the Heart Page 11

  "Oh. All three of you lived alone on the Saint Johnswort estate?"

  He snorted. "Not much of an estate, a house and some land on the outskirts of town." Reluctantly, he admitted, "And both are shabbier than I like and need some rehab."

  "How lovely that you have a respectable name and good estate, land of your own that can't be taken from you. Unless you mortgage it, of course."

  The very idea sent shock flashing through him. He choked.

  Giniana blinked at him. "I see you didn't even think of that. But you could get gilt from the house and land."

  "No." He would never short the future for immediate gilt. He could work, now, had prospects and a rising career, everyone said so. Who knew what the future would hold?

  And his FatherDam and his mother had had the house and land when they'd needed it. He might need that, too, later in his life.

  Now Giniana stared straight ahead out the windshield, her smile strained and bordering on false. "We had a house and a little land when I was a child. From my father’s parents and older generations." She waved a hand. "I barely remember it because my parents mortgaged it, then did not keep up the payments."

  Dreadful.

  Her parents had more to answer for than he'd thought. He would never mortgage his home if he had a child. Even if he had to give up his acting career—a deep and scary thought—he'd ensure his child lived well. Pretty much why he'd steered clear of relationships and supported no dependents.

  But he meant to keep time and company with Giniana Filix, who matched him in this, he knew, being solid and responsible. Too responsible for Thrisca, to his mind.

  As they entered the T'Ash estate through the Visitor's Gate and gliderway that went straight to the Animal Healer's section of the Residence, Johns yanked the topic back to Giniana and off of him and his prospects.

  "Back to your schedule. You have a night job and morning exams at T'Spindle Residence," he repeated. "You did those last night and today?"

  "Yes." Giniana continued to pet the kitten, looked ahead. Not much to see since they drove straight down a tunnel of hedgerows and trees.

  "Did you eat a good breakfast this morning?" he persisted.

  Her gaze, her whole body, shifted away from him. "Oh. No," she mumbled.

  "I'm sure I've heard Healers say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

  She turned to him with flashing eyes. "Did you eat a good breakfast?"

  "I sure ordered one, at the Thespian Club. You remember that place? Very good food for starving actors at reasonable prices? Unfortunately, as sometimes happens at the Thespian Club, drama interrupted my meal …" Now that he thought on it, and not his empty belly, it seemed almost humorous. "Actually a FoxFam ate my steak and eggs."

  She stared at him, mouth open.

  "Why don't we try it again, tomorrow? We can both have good breakfasts to start the morning right, and early. We can meet after you finish your night job. You can come to the Thespian Club and I'll treat you to a full breakfast. Then you can head home for some sleep on a full stomach." He thought that was okay, healing and energy wise, wasn't it? "You can sleep before you go in to work at the Residence? When is that?"

  "T'Spindle Residence schedules my time, and I start half-past MidMorning bell." She shrugged. "Healers, especially those who work in the HealingHalls, become accustomed to working after a few septhours of sleep. And I'm good at dropping into a renewing sleep."

  "Hm-mm." He raised his brows at her.

  She sighed. "I tried to keep a regular sleeping schedule instead of altering it. But I've moved into efficient trance sleep, now."

  "Thought so."

  "It's only for a short while," she repeated under her breath as if a mantra. Meeting his eyes, she said, "You know how living on little sleep and efficient sleep can be."

  He inclined his head. "Like during auditions and rehearsals and the first performances of a new play. But you need to eat, too. We can meet a little after dawn at the Thespian Club." He'd be going short of sleep, too, and was sure he didn't have such a good technique manage his sleep patterns as she did, but so it went. "If we meet for breakfast, will that give you enough time to sleep? I want to see you every day if possible, and I'll endeavor to make that happen."

  "I … ah." She exhaled, looked away, then back to meet his eyes, replied firmly, "Yes, I'd like that. I'd like to continue to see you."

  "Good. Maybe you can use the pass for the play now and again—"

  But she shook her head, so he changed direction, "Or come by before the show or afterwards, perhaps the afternoon matinees, if your schedule allows."

  "Maybe …" She eyed him, frowned, "… though I imagine the green room will be crowded since the play's closing soon and people will want to talk more about the play to the cast."

  He shrugged, bit off some words. "Maybe. Come if you like. I don’t do regrets, like having the play closing too soon. That's looking back and negative. I prefer to look forward."

  And since they'd arrived at the small glider parking area outside the Animal Healer's, he stopped any more thought and scrubbed bitterness from his emotions.

  She waited for him to circle and open the glider door, treating the kitten she held gently.

  "How's she doing?" he asked.

  "She's alive."

  "Good. We should be able to keep her that way."

  "I hope so."

  A few minutes later Johns stood with Giniana in a basic examination room, smaller than he'd expected. Pale sage-colored walls soothed and matched the tile floor. The Animal Healer, GreatLady Danith D'Ash, stood behind a low counter with a thick bedsponge atop it, obviously sized for her to work at comfortably.

  "Ooooh, poor kitten. Poor little girl," D'Ash cooed.

  She confirmed the beastie was female, not that Johns doubted Giniana, who'd known at a glance.

  D'Ash stroked the small cat and her fur smoothed, shortened over most of her body as the mats fell away, leaving an awful smell that neither the Animal Healer nor Giniana seemed to notice.

  "Now—" D'Ash began.

  "Bad eye, first," Johns insisted, suppressing a shudder at the thought of relearning his acting techniques if he had vision in only one eye.

  "Oh, of course." The Lady turned the kitten around. It had awakened when they'd brought it in, then its eyes had closed as soon as D'Ash touched it. Now it rumbled a purr larger than itself that filled the room. Excellent projection.

  Thumbs stroking the eye slits, D'Ash cleaned the gunk, stared down. "Oooh! Infection." A pause. "I can fix this." But she sounded as if it would take a lot out of her.

  "I'll pay for it," Johns said. "I'm paying for everything." Lord and Lady, would it cost as much as the glider Raz promised? It could. He found that his body went stiff at the thought, the danger of poverty.

  Giniana glanced his way, head tilted. He relaxed each muscle, but didn't bother with a fake smile, she wouldn't like that.

  "We'll work something out," D'Ash said absently, drawing in a large breath.

  But Giniana went behind the counter, set her hand on D'Ash's forearm. "Use some of my energy."

  "FirstLevel Healer—" D’Ash began.

  "I worked with T'Spindle this morning, he gave me some energy."

  Yeah, that was a fib on Giniana's part. Giniana wouldn't tell her boss—any of her bosses—of her problems. They'd have to guess at her struggles and confront her. He reached over and caught her free hand. "Take my strength, too. I don't go to work until late this evening." He linked fingers with Giniana, summoned his energy. It bubbled through him, holding strength and pleasure at being with the woman, touching her, sharing an experience.

  "Thank you," D'Ash said, "Usually I'm fine for strength and Flair, but right before you walked in, I'd finished a four septhour labor of a dog, delivering six puppies." She grinned. "I saved them all! A first in the annals of Celta, I think."

  "Wonderful!" Giniana enthused.

  Johns didn't even know dogs could have six pups at o
nce. He wondered about cats, if they'd been equally fertile on Earth. Not many descendants of the Earthan colonists, animal or man, produced large families.

  "Yes, wonderful," D'Ash said, then focused on the kitten, murmuring a short poem-spell. Johns felt the siphoning of his Flair, tried to ensure the Animal Healer tapped from him before Giniana. Then Giniana pushed his draining stream aside, with a powerful rush. I told you, the Residence helped me.

  Not what you said to D'Ash.

  In my case, it's much the same thing, T'Spindle emitted Flair during his physical testing, the Residence picked it up and cycled it, and sent some to me.

  That complete cycle hadn't occurred to Johns.

  FirstFamily GreatLady D'Ash paused a moment, scrutinizing the kitten who lay breathing heavily. "Best if we rest a bit before proceeding further." She disentangled her fingers from Giniana, who moved back to the same side of the bedsponge as Johns.

  The Animal Healer looked at him. "You're in Firewalker, aren't you?"

  "Yeah."

  "I heard it's closing."

  "At the end of the month, yeah." Simple fact, no emotion.

  She smiled. "Then I think we can do a trade. My HeartMate is a blacksmith and works with fire, and we're sure our son is a Fire Mage. Could you get tickets for my husband and me?"

  "For sure." Johns smiled down at the small woman. "It's kid friendly—"

  "There are some very exciting parts, with, ah, raging and threatening fire," Giniana added.

  D'Ash said, "Nuin is a toddler. We won't take him." She chuckled. "We've already had some exciting times." Then her expression turned thoughtful. "Though perhaps it would be better if only I went, and took a friend."

  Recollection struck Johns that all the former Ashes except the current Lord perished in a fire, along with the Residence. T'Ash had built this smooth armorcrete home less than two decades ago.

  "I'll leave passes for you at Will Call," Johns stated. "For the rest of the month for as many times as you'd care to see the show. You can treat as many friends as you like." And, whew, that relieved his mind as to payment. He'd previously hadn't used any passes at all, until Giniana, and now, Danith D'Ash.

  The GreatLady dipped her head. "Thank you."

  Me, Me, Me! whined the kitten, twitching a little.

  "Yes, let's get back to Healing you," D'Ash murmured, her stance relaxed as if not expecting further difficulties.

  Johns sent energy toward Giniana, who also added her Flair to D'Ash, who continued to feather her fingers over the kitten's eyes. They cycled strength like that for a good three minutes before D'Ash raised her thumbs and the kitten opened bright green eyes.

  Another verse of the spellchant, then D'Ash cheerfully announced, "Done with your eyes!"

  Eeek! Me feels so GOOD! The kitten opened wide eyes, a brilliant green, slithered around in D'Ash's hand until she could stare at Johns and Giniana. Lady is pretty. Man is not.

  Johns cracked laughter along with Giniana and D'Ash, mostly from relief.

  Me can SEE, the young cat shrilled. Me can SEE good! She wiggled away from D'Ash and hopped all along the bedsponge, her head turning this way and that.

  Both the women sniffled. Johns swallowed.

  After her own few sniffs, the kitten inspected herself. My furs is GONE. Her high-pitched squeal seemed to pierce Johns's eardrum, left it ringing. Great.

  "You're absolutely fine," D'Ash soothed. "You have a few long tufts left. Your fur, you, are clean."

  "Probably for the first time ever," Johns said, rubbing his ears.

  Ouch! squealed the kitten mentally.

  "Oh, your poor paw!" Giniana said.

  "Now sit still while I deal with your paw," D'Ash commanded.

  The kitten stopped and lifted her deformed paw. Johns winced. Looked bad, all right, as if most of the teeny digits had been broken and not Healed well.

  The little cat gave them all wide eyes and pitiful expression. Very effective.

  Johns tensed.

  Setting her hand under kitten's paw, D'Ash said, "This isn't so bad."

  Looked terrible to Johns. He flinched.

  The Animal Healer sent him a reassuring smile. "Feral Fam animal companions who were born and lived on the streets come to me now, for me to place them in my Fam adoption rooms. I've mended broken and infected and smashed and splintered bones—"

  Johns coughed to break up the litany.

  "This will be much easier," D'Ash stated. She domed her fingers over the small limb.

  "Wait," Giniana said.

  D'Ash looked at her and Giniana stepped close again. "This is how we do it for humans," Giniana said, and taking Danith's hand in her own, placing two of the GreatLady's fingers exactly atop the paw.

  D'Ash frowned. "I didn't learn that. I didn't know that." She raised her gaze to Giniana. "I studied with the Heathers."

  Giniana blinked. "The Heathers taught you this method for digit and bone—"

  "No, that wasn't part of my original training, but my secondary training with the Panaxes …" D'Ash's lips flattened. "Though the GuildHall paid the Panaxes for my education, their … attitude … towards me, a commoner raised to GrandHouse status, was … poor. Until I wed with T'Ash, of course."

  Giniana had stiffened as if in deep offense. "The Panaxes do have a stiff manner, though I had not heard this before. You should request the GuildHall try to get their payment back. Obviously the GuildHall was shorted."

  D'Ash shrugged. "Seven years ago. I'm sure the GuildHall would believe such an action isn't worth the effort."

  Johns shared a look with Giniana. Neither of them stood in a place where they could take that perspective.

  "Paw is Healed," D'Ash stated with satisfaction.

  A terrible, pulsing siren went off and Danith D'Ash vanished, then she screamed, FirstLevel Healer, to me, now!

  Chapter 12

  Johns felt Giniana fling the door open, saw her rush through it. He followed, and his brain processed that he heard screaming.

  He ran behind her, stopped when he saw a bloody tangle of large animal and human. Both showed wide red swatches of blood on their hides.

  Ears throbbing, he went to the teleportation box and turned off the siren, left the light showing the pad remained in use.

  "My horse, my horse … help my … hor—" Abrupt silence from the woman Giniana had run to.

  Adrenaline surged through the Healer, heat and Flair flashed and poured out of her into the human who seemed to be holding onto life by a frail thread. Johns stepped back, gave the women room to work.

  A lot of blood and gore, D'Ash tending the heaving barrel of a horse, and was that wrinkled thing a bit of protruding intestine? Johns yanked his gaze toward Giniana whose equally bloody hands pushed against the pale skin of the unconscious woman.

  Long seconds passed into even longer minutes and Johns could only watch, helpless, as Healing sucked energy from the healthy to the critical.

  Both Giniana and D'Ash panted, their eyes glazed.

  "Residence!" Johns called.

  "Yes, MasterLevel Actor Saint Johnswort?" it replied in a light female voice.

  He snapped, "Your Lady and the FirstLevel Healer Giniana Filix are saving lives and need energy! Can you send strength or Flair to them?"

  "Yes!" A smell like a fully flowering summer meadow dropped on them, permeating the room. Both Healers choked, then drew even breaths and applied themselves to their patients. The air around all four sparkled.

  "Better," gasped Giniana. She levitated her patient, inhaled the shiny motes, and moved her hands above the woman, chanting what Johns recognized as the final chorus to a deep Healing spell.

  The rider opened her eyes, gazed around with full comprehension, set a hand on her side that had been crumpled bones under deep red stained clothing. "Zow." She stood, staggered a step and Giniana steadied her.

  "Zow," the woman repeated. "Excellent Healing. Didn't expect that here. Oh, my mare!" She swung toward where GreatLady D'Ash continued to
mutter Healing spells over the animal.

  "Oh!" She fell forward and Johns stepped up, caught her and yanked her out of the way.

  "Wait," he commanded, but she struggled in his grasp. He didn't let her go to interfere, said, "No. You want your horse to survive, you let the Healer you brought her to do her job."

  She snuffled and moved away from him to lean against a wall. "You're right."

  The Residence spoke. "I have a great store of energy, D'Ash, do you need more?"

  When D'Ash didn't answer another puff of scent wafted from the walls, Johns felt his soles warm as the floor radiated Flair that spiraled up into him. From the reaction of D'Ash and the horse, they received much larger doses.

  D'Ash let out a small groan, uncurled herself from the awkward position over the mare, smoothed the animal's sides that flaked away blood but showed whole and unscarred.

  With a whinny, the mare rose to her feet.

  "Oh. Oh. Oh." The horsewoman burst into tears, hurried to her mare and flung her arms around the animal.

  FirstFamily GreatLord T'Ash shot through the office suite door, ran to his HeartMate and whisked her up into his arms. "I felt the change of energy in the Residence, smelled the use of spells."

  He glanced around, saw woman and horse standing Healed. "Greetyou, GraceMistrys Sallow. How can I help?"

  She wiped an arm across her brow. Johns finally noticed she wore what must be special horse training clothes. He observed them, figured them to be tailored, fashionable and expensive. "Noth—nothing." Her voice came out creaky, and once again she studied her horse. "Unbelievable. Truly, D'Ash, you are an extraordinary Healer." The Sallow woman bowed. "You will be well compensated for saving my mare. Not only do I love her, but she produces excellent get. I will let my elders decide on a good price for your Healing."

  D'Ash quoted a figure.

  The woman shook her head. "No. I know that the Residence funneled stores of energy and Flair to you, so that must also be taken into account."

  T'Ash rumbled in his chest. Johns kept an eye on the legendary and formidable man, studying every gesture, his whole manner for future use in Johns's acting career.