“That I can help with.” Leelo produced a bottle of some kind of liquor, fresh bandages, and a jar. “If you’ll let me.”

Jaren studied her for a moment. There was none of the flirting he experienced with Lupin, and none of the teasing he was used to from his sisters. This girl was quiet and serious, her eyes wary even when her posture was relaxed. She didn’t trust him—why would she?—but he sensed that deep down, she didn’t want to hurt him. “I would be forever in your debt, if you would help me, Leelo.”

She glanced up at him, their eyes meeting for a moment.

“I am, however, going to have to insist you take the blanket.”

“I’m fine—”

“Please,” he said. “Your hands are shaking like leaves. And I’d really like to keep my leg, if possible.”

She rolled her eyes but finally took the blanket from him, draping it over her shoulders like a shawl. And then she set to work.

Jaren had never experienced a more exquisite, blinding pain than the alcohol being poured onto his wounds. It was so horrific that for a moment he thought he might faint again. But just as his vision started to tunnel, she was applying the cooling ointment to the wound, and he felt his pulse slowly return to normal.

“Can I ask you something?” he said when he’d found his voice.

Her eyes flicked up to his and then immediately back to his leg. She didn’t like maintaining eye contact, that was clear. “What?”

“That song I heard. The one the bird was singing. What was that?”

She bit her lip, worrying it with her two front teeth. He noticed there was a tiny gap between them.

“You don’t have to tell me. I was just curious. I’ve had it in my head for so long, and it’s been a bit maddening to not know the rest of it.” He hummed the little bit he knew.

Her eyes went wide, just for a moment, and she cleared her throat. “It’s a prayer.”

He winced as she tightened the bandage around his leg. “I think I must have heard it in my sleep, that night I camped by the lake. What kind of prayer is it?”

She blinked, her eyelashes suddenly damp. “It’s a prayer for lost things,” she said in a ragged voice. “A prayer for them to be found.”

Gently, he asked, “What did you lose?”