Thoth located the penicillin with a triumphant smile and placed it carefully on the counter top.

“No herbs, I’ve got real medicine.” He told Minnow bluntly. “And the first thing we need to do is wash her down.”

With much more tact and politeness than he tended to show to other fairies, he persuaded the nervous mare to cross the lab and stand over by the window, away from his precious books and experiments. As an afterthought, he also tugged the window open to give her some fresh air. Thoth had made a point of keeping the door and window locked since he’d had people try to break in, although why anyone would want to gain illegal access to his lab was beyond him.

Morveren danced excitedly around his feet, threatening to trip him up, as he pulled an old plastic bucket out of a cupboard and tipped out the dusty contents. It was the same bucket he used to use for washing down Junebell, and Morveren recognised it as her favourite childhood swimming pool. Thoth had to shove her gently away to stop her from trying to climb into it.

“I think the brushes are over there somewhere,” he said to Minnow, gesturing vaguely to some boxes on the far side of the room. Most of Junebell’s things had been donated to Eselda when he’d passed his pony onto her, but he’d kept a few.

While Minnow hunted for the brushes, Thoth placed one hand over the bucket and concentrated. Generating water was usually easy, but Morv proved to be an annoying distraction and filling the bucket took a little longer than normal. Once the bucket was about three-quarters full, Thoth rolled his sleeve up and dipped his elbow into the water, bracing against the cold. Controlling the temperature of the water was a new trick which he had a lot less practice with. After a few minutes of careful concentration, in which the water temperature rose gradually, he felt satisfied that it was warm enough without being too hot and removed his elbow. It took both hands and a lot of straining and slopping to drag the bucket over to the mare, who eyed it in askance.

“Got the brushes?” Thoth asked, scooping up some of the water with one hand and pouring it over the mare’s back. She watched him carefully but didn’t protest. “If we clean her up, I can put some antiseptic on the wounds and bandage them. Then we can get her out to the stable and let her rest up.”

It was amazing, given the short time he’d known her, how easy it was to talk to Minnow. Thoth glanced at her from around the mare.

“So… guessing you haven’t been in Shaman long.” He didn’t ask why she was here. Shaman’s sanctuary magic meant the majority of its outside-born residents were refugees; that could be a painful topic. “Where are you staying?”


MASTER OF THE ORBIS . MASTER OF THE WATER ELEMENT . SON OF AURA