Nameless Read Online Free PDF Page B

Gate.”
     
     

     
     
    The following days dragged like a grindstone through the mud. After training, Gryphon walked to the Medica to sit with Joshua. The boy usually slept the whole time, giving Gryphon ample time to consider his meeting with Barnabas and the consequences of his mistakes with the Raven boy. He didn’t dare tell anyone—not even Ajax—about the mercy he’d shown. No man wants the world to see his weaknesses.
    Gryphon tried to hide a bulge under his shirt as he smuggled his contraband past the Medica workers. He found Joshua staring blankly at a bare wall in a room with six empty beds.
    The redheaded boy jumped when Gryphon entered.
    “Slow down, kid. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
    Wincing, Joshua settled back into his pillow. “I smell food. Please, please tell me you have food.” They both looked at the door, making sure no one heard him.
    Gryphon eased onto the bed next to Joshua like an old man. After the last excursion, Zander had put the mess through a grueling series of workouts. “Is that healer still not letting you eat?” Gryphon half groaned as he tried to relax his tight muscles.
    “She’s a monster. I’d rather take another arrow than force down more salty beet and barley soup.” Joshua’s shoulders sank with the burden of feeling sorry for himself. “Look at me.” He flexed his biceps. “How am I going to get big like you without any protein. A man needs his meat.”
    Gryphon pretended to cough into his fist before unrolling the chicken leg from its wrapping. He offered it to Joshua just as the healer strolled into the room.
    “I hope you plan to eat that, soldier.” The girl was young and slight, but had a stern quality to her voice.
    Gryphon sat back and took a modest bite before setting the chicken back in its wrappings. “Of course.”
    She eyed him as she walked over to Joshua’s side carrying a tray of medicines and bandages. Her white Medica uniform was clearly meant for a man. It hung off her small frame in an almost comical way. A red headscarf covered her hair and most of her face; the exposed portion of her skin was hidden behind a cracked layer of mud or plaster. Like she herself might carry some disease. But beneath it all were unique eyes framed by thick black lashes. Very different from the old men and women who usually attended the sick in the Medica.
    Joshua grumbled something about systematic starvation as he rolled onto his good side. The healer’s practiced hands undressed the bandage. She unstopped a bottle from her tray. “Try to relax this time,” she whispered.
    Three drops into the wound made Joshua’s whole body flex into a ball. He breathed hard through his teeth.
    Gryphon didn’t remember gaining his feet. “What was that?”
    The girl ignored him. She rested her hands just outside the raw hole in Joshua’s side and said, “Take. Clean. Heal.” She repeated the words over and over again. They flowed like a calm wind.
    Gryphon’s arms dotted with goose bumps.
    The healer’s hands swept along Joshua’s skin, starting at the wound then moving outward, as if willing the medicine into his bloodstream. Joshua’s legs and arms turned limp. His eyelids sagged. His jaw slackened. The healer continued her words as she dressed the wound and rolled him onto his back. She pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and cleared the wild red hair from Joshua’s eyes with a sympathetic grin before moving toward the door.
    “Wait,” said Gryphon.
    The girl stopped but didn’t turn around.
    “Show me your hair.” Gryphon didn’t have the right to demand anything of this healer, but something about her voice sounded familiar.
    She grimaced, but pulled the linen wrap from her head to reveal a tangle of thick black hair that fell in an uneven line below her shoulders.
    “You’re the Nameless who saved Joshua.”
    She stared back at him, daring for a small moment to look into his eyes. Willful, if a tad frightened.
    “I’ve never met a