Yenl and Utha gripped Yauva in simultaneous hugs and held on, Yenl in a kind of tightening ecstasy and Utha quietly weeping into his jacket. Volthar gaped for a while, then offered his stepson a quick but apparently sincere scuff along one shoulder.
After a while, Eirth’thog va-Haldrath spoke up, loud enough for everyone in the Carp to hear. “We believe,” he said, “but let us also prove. May I, with the deepest respect, and as one whose business it is to probe the mysteries of the body, may I… palpate the site of your injury and cure?”
This brought a blanket silence again.
“You see, trained and experienced fingers may discover much that the eye can not.”
“I think he wants to touch your hip, love,” said Yenl to her gaping son. “You know, like healers do.”
“Oh. Right then,” replied Yauv
