Lucian lay staring at the rafters. The infirmary was quiet but for the wheeze of distant patients. His thoughts churned like a millrace:
—Three days lost.—Elfriede has my coin pouch.—My Essence has nearly doubled… and the Blessing still shimmers in my status.
Freedom was so close he could taste it, yet now a fresh obstacle loomed: ransom for his own healing. The Sisters' fees were famous—holy water, salves, surgeons' hands, none of it cheap. If Elfriede claimed the treatment cost more than thirty silvers, she would keep every last coin. And the whip would start anew.
I need coin of my own, he decided, forcing himself upright. The ward spun; he steadied on the bedpost.
Footsteps returned. Finley carried a clay cup, steam curling from it. "Not sleeping?"
"I—actually—need work," Lucian blurted. "Something I can do while I mend. Paid work, if possible."
She arched an eyebrow. "Most patients ask for laudanum, not labour."
"I heal quickly," he lied. "And I owe… a debt."
Finley chewed her lip, considering. "Well, the ward could use another pair of strong arms. We're short-staffed on night rounds—changing dressings, shifting fever cases, cleaning the leech basins." She studied his scarred hands. "Think you can stomach that?"
Lucian managed a grin. "I've scrubbed dragon-muck from chainmail. I'll manage leeches."
Finley smiled back—bright, unguarded. "Very well. Two coppers for the shift and supper from the cauldron."
Two coppers was humble pay, but he'd earned less for harder indignities. "Agreed."
"Finish your tea first." She pressed the warm cup into his hands. The willow-bark bitterness bit his tongue, but the pain behind his eyes eased. Small mercies.
Finley fetched a ledger and ink. "Full name?"
"Lucian Rook."
"Next of kin?"
He hesitated, throat tight. "None living," he said at last.
She scribbled. "Mark of trade?"
A pause. Slave, porter, walking punch-bag. Then inspiration: "Bonesetter's apprentice." Not entirely untrue—Father had drilled anatomy into him. Finley's quill scratched approval.
"Report after sundown," she finished. "I'll show you where the linens are kept."