The Book of Maladies Boxset

by D. K. Holmberg

  “There has to be something. This is where I followed the Kavers.”

  Bastan waited while Sam studied the ground, and then she stood, looking up at the rooftops again. As she stared, she saw the place where she had scrambled for the edge of rooftop, slipping before falling. She remembered the fall vividly. The fear she’d felt. The knowledge that she would disappoint Alec and Tray. And then she remembered the pain.

  “Samara?”

  She shook herself. “We can go.”

  Bastan watched her, but he didn’t say anything before leading them onward. They veered through a few different sections, heading over bridges, passing over them with a single word from Bastan.

  In the distance, she saw the university. It was an impressive series of buildings that towered over others nearby. There were sprawling ivy-covered spires, and a massive courtyard opened up in front of the building. At this time of night, there were none of the crowds that were found earlier in the day, no throngs of people attempting to gain entry into the university with the hope of healing. It was a misplaced hope. From what Alec had told her, the requirement for entry, forcing people to pay multiple times before they were offered healing, was designed only to help highborns.

  “Tray went there for you,” she said to Alec.

  Not the palace. She had it in her mind that she needed to go to the palace, to see what she might discover of the Kavers that she was convinced had been following her, sent by the princess. But she had come looking for Tray, not because she wanted to know anything about the Kavers.

  “We don’t know what happened with Tray,” Alec said.

  Sam looked over at him. “We don’t, but that was where he went. He went looking for you, which means that before we do anything else, we need to go and see what might’ve happened.”

  Bastan looked over. “I thought the plan was for you to attempt to reach the princess.”

  Sam glanced over to the palace section. From here, it was close enough that she could see the stone buildings gleaming in the night. Even were she somehow able to get into the palace—something that would be difficult even with the ability to place augmentations—she would have to reach the princess without getting caught and getting injured.

  But if Tray was at the university, then she could search for him there. Alec at least knew his way around, which gave him an advantage.

  When she looked over at Alec, she studied him. “I won’t go if it will cause you too many problems.”

  “You need to find your brother. I’ll help. You know that.”

  She stared across the canal, watching, deciding that maybe it was best for her to go to the university first, and from there she could decide what she would do. Maybe her strength would return, and she would be able to go after the princess in the palace later.

  “Samara,” Bastan said.

  She turned to see him pointing.

  He motioned across the canal, not toward the university but toward the palace. Sam looked in the direction he pointed and saw three shadowed figures, two carrying a third. She couldn’t tell who the other two were, but the third was unmistakable. The figure was too large to be anyone but Tray.

  “Tray,” she whispered.

  “Go,” Bastan said.

  She started forward, but Alec grabbed her arm. “I know you’re skilled with the canal staff, but this is too wide. Crossing it would be impossible were you well, and I’ve seen the way that you’ve moved here. What happens when your jump fails?”

  She breathed out heavily. “Then I swim,” she said.

  “Yes. You swim, until one of the eels grabs you.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “Like I didn’t hate them enough as it was. Just… Just try an augmentation.”

  Alec stared at her for a moment before pulling the satchel off his shoulder and taking out a sheet of easar paper. He crouched and pulled a pen from the satchel, and then used the blood they had mixed before. It was a different concentration than what they had used when they’d practiced before, a ratio that was predominantly his blood rather than hers. They weren’t certain what that ratio meant—without having time to practice, how could they be?

  Alec made a few notes and then glanced up at her. Why was there a hint of a smile on his face? “You’re not going to—”

  Alec stared at her for a moment. Then he shook his head. “Not that, but I have a few ideas that might work.”

  Bastan watched, staying silent.

  As he wrote, the augmentation took hold. It washed through her, a cool sense that started at her feet and washed upward.

  “What is it?” she asked Alec.

  “Strength. Speed. The usual.”

  As she walked to the edge of the canal, preparing to jump, inhaling the smells and noting the slight stink of water mixed with the floral fragrance from the university side, Bastan touched her hand.

  “Samara, be careful.”

  “I have to get to Tray.”

  “I know you do. It’s just… There are things that are taking place in the city that are beyond my ability to reach.”

  She sensed from Bastan that was difficult for him to admit. “Don’t worry, Bastan. There are things that are happening in the city that are beyond my ability to understand. I’m going to get to Tray. And then we’re going to get answers.”

  She launched through the air and planted the canal staff into the basin of the canal. She gave a kick, and it sent her soaring so that she flipped over to the other side of the canal. With the augmentation, one of strength and speed, she kicked even farther than was usual for her.

  As she soared through the air, she grinned. More than usual, she felt like she was flying. She felt free. It was an unusual sensation for her.

  She landed ten steps away from the edge of the canal and glanced back to see the water gently rippling in the faint moonlight.

  Had she really cleared the entire canal with that much room to spare?

  The augmentation had helped, but there were limits to augmentations. She knew them and had experienced what happened when those augmentations faded, the way that she would suddenly lose them, often at the least convenient time. Hopefully, having Alec watching would ensure that they didn’t fade. With a greater supply of easar paper, she didn’t have to worry quite as much.

  Alec watched her from the other side, standing shoulder to shoulder with Bastan. He held the pages of easar paper, with the satchel resting on his shoulder. She couldn’t tell, but she imagined worry crossed both men’s faces.

  Sam turned away and headed forward. She followed the figures that had dragged Tray. When she reached the next canal, the one leading over to the palace, she hesitated. This would be nearly as difficult a jump, but if Alec did as she expected, she would maintain her augmentations. She was aware of when the augmentations faded, which meant that he would be aware of when they faded and could place another—at least until their blood ran out.

  The canal was as wide here as it was near the university. Sam took a running start and jumped.

  She soared, barely needing to press her staff into the middle of the canal before flipping to the other side and landing. She raced forward and managed to catch sight of the two figures dragging Tray into the building.

  She couldn’t go through the main entrance, but was there another way in?

  Ivy grew along the side of the building, and windows dotted the walls, most with thick bars across them. It made her wonder whether the bars were designed to keep others out or to keep those inside trapped. A few of the windows flickered with faint candlelight. One of those windows was open to the night, no bars blocking it.

  That was where she would have to go, but it would require that she crawl along the side of the building. She could use the ivy to climb above the shrubbery growing below, but would she be able to hang on to it long enough to reach one of those windows?

  Sam reached the building and kept her cloak wrapped around her, concealing herself as she backed against the wall. There would be soldiers here, and it was
possible, even likely, she would encounter Kavers, so she needed to move quickly. As she gripped the ivy tightly, she started up. Were she any heavier, more like Tray, she might peel the ivy away and tumble to the ground. Instead, she nimbly managed to make her way up toward the open window, passing a few of the barred windows along the way.

  At one, she hesitated, grabbing the bars to see if she could pry them free, but they were embedded deeply into the stone. What if she were smaller and able to pass through? Alec could place an augmentation that would shrink her, but she was already small enough; she didn’t like the idea of being shrunken even more.

  She shook the thought away and continued up the wall until the ivy began to thin. From here, she would have to move more carefully. She reached for a window ledge and pulled herself up, thankful that the window was dark and that no one seemed to be moving inside. She jumped to the next window, and then the next, pulling herself along, the augmentation giving her enough strength to launch to the next one.

  Kyza, but she hoped the augmentations didn’t fail now.

  Then she reached the window with the light and crawled inside. She was on the second floor, and not so high that she would have gotten too far ahead of the men dragging Tray. She glanced around the room, thankful that it was empty and barely registering that it looked to be someone’s bedroom, with a fancy bed and wardrobe in one corner with a table and shelves on the other wall.

  Reaching the door, she pulled it open.

  The hallway was lit by lantern light set into sconces. Paintings hanging on the walls were more formal than any she had ever seen, and the kind that Bastan would have loved to get ahold of. A few sculptures interrupted the sequence of paintings along the way.

  She sneaked forward. If she were captured now, there would be no way of avoiding prison. It might be worse than that, but Sam had to hope that if she were caught, she could reveal what she had done to help the princess and might be rewarded for it. Would it matter to the princess that she was a Kaver?

  She heard footsteps at the end of the hallway.

  Sam hurried toward them, knowing that if she caught up to the other two—Kavers or not—she could find where they were taking Tray.

  When they came up the stairs, Sam remained against the wall, her cloak wrapped around her shoulders. They didn’t come down her way, choosing another hallway, close enough that she could see where they went.

  Sam tracked them down the hall and watched them enter a room, closing the door behind them. Hurrying along, she was thankful that no one else seemed to be in the hallway. Why would that be?

  Maybe it was late enough that no one was up, not even servants.

  She reached the door and leaned her head against it. She focused, readying her canal staff, prepared to attack and do what was necessary to break Tray free. All they had to do was get back to that open window, and then they could get outside and race across to the canal where they could jump…

  But first, she had to get Tray free.

  Sam tried the door and found it unlocked. That should’ve bothered her, but she was so focused on her task that it did not. When she pushed the door open, light filled the room.

  This room wasn’t empty. There was someone here, and she recognized the golden hair and gentle features, even if she had been much sicker the last time Sam had seen her.

  The princess.

  35

  Answers Sought

  Sam froze.

  The inside of the room glowed with a soft, white light and opened into a massive chamber, with rows of shelves that made it look like a library. The princess sat in an ornate chair covered in ae cloth woven with multiple colors, and heavily embroidered. Even the armrests had intricate carvings worked along them. As her eyes adjusted, Sam wasn’t able to determine what they depicted.

  The princess was dressed in her crimson and navy robes, and sat with one leg crossed over the other, her arms resting on the armrests. She seemed unconcerned about the fact that Sam had barged into the room. Sam looked around but saw no sign of the two people who had dragged Tray in here.

  “Samara,” the princess said.

  Footsteps thundering down the hall drew her attention, and she closed the door behind her, not wanting to have someone crashing in until she knew what was taking place.

  Sam realized that a shadowed figure sat near a window behind the princess. For a moment, she thought it was Marin, but there was something about the figure that wasn’t quite right for Marin. She wasn’t exactly certain what it was. Had she seen this person before?

  “How do you know my name?” Sam asked.

  The princess motioned for her to come over. “Samara. Take a seat.”

  Sam glanced back at the door, suddenly wanting nothing more than to disappear through it.

  What was she doing here? Had she really thought she could break Tray out of the palace?

  And now, what choice did she have but to do as the princess asked. Maybe she could tell the princess what she had done for her, explain the way she and Alec had saved her from poisoning, and the way that she had rescued her from Ralun.

  Besides, the figure sitting near the window was likely to be another soldier—or a Kaver.

  Sam took a seat near the princess, sitting stiffly. Her gaze drifted around the room, trying to determine a way out were she to need it. There was a hint of warmth in the room, and she couldn’t find where the steady glow of light came from.

  “You have posed quite the challenge, Samara.”

  Sam shook her head. “I haven’t done anything. I’ve been trying to…”

  She stopped short, shaking her head before saying too much.

  “You have been trying to find easar paper,” the princess said.

  Sam licked her lips, and her mouth was suddenly dry. “I might have been.”

  “And you have been attacking some of my people,” the princess said.

  “I didn’t know they were your people.” Her gaze drifted behind the princess to see the woman sitting there. It had to be a woman, didn’t it? “How is it that you know about easar paper?” Sam asked the princess.

  The princess smiled tightly. “I should ask you the same question.”

  “Who can use it?”

  The princess leaned toward her. There was an intensity to her gaze, and an age that her otherwise youthful features seemed to hide. “My Kaver can use it.”

  Sam blinked. For the princess to have a Kaver meant that she was…

  “You’re a Scribe?”

  The princess nodded.

  “But if you’re a Scribe, why couldn’t your Kaver heal you when the Thelns attacked?”

  Sam’s gaze drifted to the window, realizing that must be the princess’s Kaver. If it wasn’t Marin, who was it? Was it someone she had seen before?

  “There were several reasons. My Kaver was not in the city when the attack took place. Until recently, most Kavers have been out of the city. The Theln attack changed that.” She cocked her head, considering Sam for a moment. “And now that they’ve returned, they have been attacked.”

  “That wasn’t me.”

  “I know. Had they been you…” The threat hung heavy in the words.

  “You said there were several reasons,” Sam said when the princess didn’t continue. She shouldn’t be so forward with her but couldn’t help it. She was nervous, and when she got nervous, she tended to be like that.

  “The other reason was that once my Kaver realized what had happened, risking the remaining energy I had would have drained me even more. That particular malady the Thelns used on me was unpleasant and meant to draw away power. Without my power—and without the combination of our particular abilities—my Kaver didn’t risk it.”

  Sam tried to see past the princess and look at the Kaver. Could she finally understand what it meant for her to be a Kaver? Marin was trying to keep it from her, telling her nothing more than the basics, even concealing from her the fact that there were other Kavers. Sam had been sure there had to be others, and no
w she had that proof.

  “Why hide this?” Sam asked.

  “Hide? I think you misunderstand, Samara. There has been no hiding.” The princess stood and went to the window. She stared out, looking into the night. “The battle between the Thelns and those with power in the city has waged for many years. Those of us who know—those of us who understand—oppose the Thelns as much as we can. That is why the Kavers have remained out of the city, protecting it, but there are limits to what we can do. Taking the easar paper was supposed to change that balance, but there was a complication.”

  “Me?”

  “Not you. Because of you, I’m still here. You pushed back Ralun and the Thelns. You are to be thanked. But the Kavers who have returned have been drawn out and attacked. I have been trying to discover who… and why.” The princess turned toward her, a frown on her face. “Those who fight and protect to keep the city safe can only do so much against the power of the Book of Maladies.”

  “I don’t understand what this has to do with the Thelns and the Book of Maladies?”

  “It has everything to do with the Book. The Book is what Thelns use to threaten. It is what they use to subjugate. They draw power from it, accepting money for terrible purposes. Kavers oppose them, but…” The princess shook her head. “Without easar paper, we are limited.”

  “Is that why you stole the paper from the Thelns?”

  The princess nodded. “And then you stole it from us.”

  Sam licked her lips again. “I…”

  The princess smiled. “At the time, you were difficult to find. For that matter, we didn’t know that you lived. Had we known… It doesn’t matter. Once we realized the Thelns had penetrated the city, the search became more difficult.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sam said. What else could she say? She had stolen from the princess and tracked the princess’s people and continued to try to steal from her.

  “No. Perhaps what happened needed to happen. Because of you acquiring the paper, you came to discover your abilities. Had you not, I would have died. My Kaver wouldn’t have been able to save me and much more would have been lost than you realize. And we wouldn’t have learned of a treachery that has hidden from us for a decade.”