walked across the deck, I was keenly aware of how much attention I was getting from the rest of the crew. I ignored their curious glances, keeping my head down.
We walked down another staircase from the deck and I found myself in a part of the ship I had not known of before. I followed Rio through a cabin full of bunks and hammocks that the crew must have slept in, eventually arriving at a doorway that I estimated must have been right above the storage room Levent and I had been kept in. Inside were three cots, and by the smell of old blood and cleaning solvents, I could tell this was where all the injured were sent to heal. Rio was laid down on the least stained mattress of the three.
Trying to shake the unpleasant scent from my nose, I simply said, “Water and towel, please,” and sat down on a stool positioned by the half-blood’s leg.
The necessary supplies were set beside me almost immediately. I took a moment to examine the faces of the people that hovered around the room. Bolivar entered after a moment, shutting the door behind him. I noticed that Levent had not been invited to join us.
I tried to concentrate on Rio’s breathing alone, but it was difficult with so many different lungs in the room. I unwrapped the splint from his leg, hearing his breath hitch as I ran the damp towel over it. Placing one palm on his heart to measure its beat, I gently began to press magic into the bone.
Convincing a bone to regrow was entirely different game from curing disease and I noticed immediately. I felt jolts of terror shoot through me every time my magic lost its grip. A few images from the half-blood flashed before me, brief and easy to ignore, though they caused my pendant to charge with heat.
I tried to calm my breathing to match Rio’s, my teeth clamping down on my lower lip to keep myself silent. With all those watching eyes, I had to avoid letting my anxiety show. The last thing I needed was an entire room of panicked heartbeats.
My breathing finally fell in sync with Rio’s, and I felt the beat of his heart carry into my hand. I forced all other worries from my mind. I had to feel only the healing and the half-blood in order to help him.
The magic found a grip this time, and I suppressed the elation that filled me. Tissue began to grow, binding the two pieces of bone together again. I could not tell how much time passed in this deep meditation, but upon retracting my hand I did not feel the rush of exhaustion that I had experienced last time. My fingers delicately