HONOR BOUND (The Spare Heir) by Michael G. Southwick Page A

hasn’t.”
    “So, you can’t heal?”
    “Yes, yes I can.  It’s just that,” she paused to gather the courage to go on.  “I hurt people.”  Tears began flowing down her face again.
    “I don’t understand.” Jorem said in confusion.  “If you’re healing, how can that be hurting?”
    “Whenever I use my healing gift on someone, it causes a lot of pain.  It’s not supposed to do that.  They’re not supposed to feel anything.”
    Jorem could see that she was getting angry that he didn’t understand.  She even turned away from him as if to exclude him from her presence.  Jorem reached for her as he had seen Jeseph do when they first met.  When he brought his hand up, he saw the bandages and had an idea.
    “Show me,” he said.
    “What?”  Jennifer almost snarled.
    “Show me,” he said again and held up his hand.
    She seemed to deflate when she looked at his hand.  “I heard you got in a fight with a pile of rocks,” she said with a sigh.  “I suppose that’s better than your brothers being beaten by angry bar maids.”
    “Are you serious?” Jorem asked in disbelief.
    “I talked to one of the girls,” Jennifer said, expecting Jorem to defend his brothers.  “She said they had had enough of their boorish behavior so they took after them with brooms, pots and pans.  About time, if you ask me!”
    Jorem shook his head and laughed.  “No wonder Father was so angry.  They’re supposed to spend mornings at weapons training.  They did say they got in a fight at the tavern, but they didn’t say who it was with.”
    Looking at Jennifer as seriously as he could, Jorem held out his hand again.  “Jen, I want to understand your problem.  Show me, please.”
    “It’ll hurt,” she said hesitantly.
    “Ya, well, it hurts anyway.  Besides, pain is just our body’s way of letting us know that we’re still alive, right?”
    Jennifer took his hand in hers and began unwrapping it.  Jorem winced as the last few layers peeled away from his palm.  Jennifer looked at his hand to assess the damage. Then she looked again.
    “They said you fell in some rocks.  This isn’t from falling,” she said, indicating his hand.
    “You’re right, its not.”  Jorem looked at her steadily.  “But that’s what I need everyone to believe.  Promise you won’t tell?”
    She looked at his hand again then looked back at him.  “I promise, but why?”
    “Let’s just say I don’t want anyone to be punished for my stupidity,” he said a bit grimly.
    Jen looked at the determination in his eyes and nodded.  She looked back down at his hand and took a deep breath.  “Ready?” she asked.
    “Whenever you are.”
    Jorem watched as she closed her eyes.  Stress lines appeared on her forehead and her lips pressed tightly together.  A prickling sensation traveled up his spine.  The feeling intensified rapidly until it was even more intense than when Pentrothe was casting a major spell.  That’s when the pain started and Jorem forgot about the prickling at the back of his neck.  It felt as if someone was pressing white-hot needles through his hand.  Jorem gritted his teeth to keep from making any noise.  The pain was more than he had expected, but he knew he had to finish this.  Even through the pain he was fascinated as he watched the cuts in his hand close and seal.
    Jorem looked up at Jen and saw that if anything, she was concentrating harder than before.  Her eyes were pressed shut and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead.  Her breathing was smooth and steady, but her body was rigid with tension.  He realized that she must be pushing her gift to its limits and began to understand why she was so upset.
    Jorem was beginning to go into a trance to help deal with the pain when suddenly it was gone.  Startled, he looked down at his hand.  He was expecting to see soft new pink skin but to his surprise he saw slightly toughened, calloused skin.  Not only had she healed his hand, she