With fast and precise movements, Bubs folded the towels and tucked them around the selder’s body; under his head, along his neck, and down the length of his sides. Then he pivoted neatly on the stool, turned his back to the selder, and addressed the tairan, who was still in the borman’s clumsy care.
“Let me,” Bubs said, not even looking up, as he pushed the borman’s massive arms aside with a small, firm gesture.
Well, the borman obviously let himself be pushed, but still, the sight made Yu’s stomach knot. He had been taught, repeatedly and harshly, to keep a five-step distance to any borman. And that was if he was in public, with other people watching. He knew that a borman could crush a full-grown fina’s head with one paw, yet here this giant stood and allowed a tiny, wobbly mianid to direct him. He was right opposite Bubs, shifting back and forth from the bed with his paws hovering awkwardly. Yu realised that he wanted to help but did not know how. It was a disturbing realisation. It was unheard of; a borman caring for a tairan, yet Yu had no other interpretations for his behaviour.
“Step back. You’re blocking the light,” Bubs showed no intimidation whatsoever. There was no fear in his voice, only focus.
The borman’s restless paws halted right above Bubs’ head.
A moment passed.
Then, slowly, reluctantly, the borman stepped away.
As he moved, the floating orbs overhead brightened. Shadows retreated with his bulk, peeling back from the cot toward the walls. The shaman’s shadow was already there, clustered in a dark corona behind her chair. It was broken by shimmering motes of light. They came from her cloak. As the light caught the edges of the semi-translucent cloth, it was scattered into eerily mesmerising specks of colour that were caught by the stone. They seemed to shift more and more, the longer Yu stared.
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