Free Web NovelChapter 188: Important happenings
Even the children knew something important was happening.
They did not run through the streets shouting about it. Veyrhold children were not raised to waste breath or draw unnecessary attention, especially during preparation for an outer expedition. But they watched from doorways and rooftops, eyes bright above their scarves, whispering to one another whenever Jorren passed with his great shield or Maerin crossed the central lane with that expression that made everyone stand a little straighter.
Rohan tried to stay out of the way.
Veyrhold refused to let him.
On the first morning after accepting the quest, Iri summoned him to the ash-house treatment room before he had finished breakfast. She found him in the watch hall, sitting between Bryan and Liora while he tried to decide whether the grey paste on his plate was meant to be eaten or used to seal cracks in walls.
"You are needed," Iri said.
Rohan looked up at her. "For healing work?"
"For carrying work."
"That is less flattering."
"It is also less likely to result in someone dying because you guessed wrong."
Bryan, who was carefully eating with his uninjured hand, did not look up from his bowl. "She has a point. You are very useful when the task involves reaching high shelves and not making medical decisions."
Rohan set down his spoon. "I am surrounded by people who deeply value my talents."
Liora leaned back on the bench, her leg brace stretched beneath the table. "You have several talents. Unfortunately, many of them are most useful when something is on fire or trying to eat us."
"And Veyrhold considers that a common enough situation that I should be appreciated more."
"You are appreciated," Iri said, completely without expression. "Now come lift crates."
So he lifted crates.
He carried sealed ceramic jars from the lower storage room to the preparation benches. He moved bundles of treated ash-cloth. He hauled two heavy filter frames that looked light until he tried to pick them up and realised Veyrhold apparently made medical supplies out of compressed resentment. He held open a cracked metal cabinet while Iri inspected old packets of emergency salve and muttered angrily at whoever had stored them incorrectly.
After an hour, she handed him a narrow strip of dark cloth.
"Wrap this around your wrist."
Rohan took it cautiously. "Is this another test where you wait to see whether I accidentally poison myself?"
"No. It is a stabilising wrap. Your left forearm still reacts unevenly when you use ash-working, especially where the skarn bite healed. The wrap will keep wild ash from entering the scar tissue too quickly."
Rohan looked down at the faint crescent marks along his forearm. The wounds had closed weeks ago, but the skin there still felt different whenever he activated Molten Assimilation. It pulled harder than the rest of his arm, as though the old injury remembered the ember-mouth that made it.
"You noticed that?"
"I treat your injuries. Of course I noticed."
"I thought it was just lingering sensitivity."
"It is partly that," Iri said. She took the cloth back, wrapped it around his forearm with brisk, practised hands, then tightened it with a small clasp of black bone. "It is also because you keep forcing an ability you barely understand through damaged tissue and pretending stubbornness is the same as control."
Rohan winced, though not because the wrap hurt. "That sounded like something Maerin would say."
"Captain Maerin is not the only person in Veyrhold who recognises foolishness when it walks into a room."
"You all make me sound like a constant burden."
Iri paused then.
For a moment, some of the sharpness left her face. She kept her eyes on the wrap, smoothing the last fold with her thumb. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter.
"You are not a burden, Rohan. If you were, we would have stopped giving you work. We simply do not have the luxury of pretending recklessness is harmless. Not here."
He looked at her properly.
Iri was not old, but exhaustion had carved fine lines around her eyes. She had the look many Veyrhold adults did: someone who had learned grief early and efficiency soon after. Her hands were steady, but the skin across her knuckles was scarred by old burns and pale ash marks.
"I know," he said. "I do not always act like I know, but I do."
"I believe that is mostly true."
"Mostly?"
"I am being generous."
Rohan gave a small laugh.
Iri tightened the clasp one final time and stepped back. "There. Wear it during the expedition. If the wrap heats, tingles, or turns white, stop using your ash-working immediately."
"What happens if it turns white?"
"Your arm may not remain useful."
Rohan stared at her.
She stared back.
"Right," he said. "That is a very persuasive instruction."
"I hoped it would be."
The Great System chose that moment to appear.
[Minor Quest Complete: Assist Ash-House Preparations]
[Reward Acquired: Expedition Medical Kit]
A small leather roll appeared on the bench beside the jars.
Rohan blinked.
Iri blinked too, but at his face rather than the roll. She could not see the panel, but she saw his reaction.
"What did it say?"
"It says I received an expedition medical kit."
She followed his gaze to the roll and frowned. "That is not from your system. That is from me."
Rohan picked it up.
Inside were compact bandages, a packet of green-black salve, two fever ash filters, a small needle case, burn strips, and three labelled vials wrapped carefully in cloth.
He looked back at her.
"The system is taking credit for your generosity."
Iri’s mouth pressed into a thin line.
"I dislike that."
"I also find it rude."
"It is not generosity," she said, though her voice softened again. "It is practicality. If you are injured beyond the wall and no healer is close enough, I would prefer you not die because you did not know which salve goes on which wound."
"Thank you, Iri."
She looked uncomfortable with the direct gratitude, as many people in Veyrhold did. After a moment, she waved one hand toward the door.
"Go. If you remain here, I will find more things for you to carry."
Rohan secured the medical roll at his belt. "I am leaving before you realise I still have one free hand."
"That is the first wise thing you have said today."
