The Book of Maladies Boxset

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Great.”

  Beckah took the jar of foxglove as it was passed around the room, and took an entire leaf, setting it on the table between them. She passed the jar to Stefan, who had paired with Matthias.

  Alec looked at the leaf. It had serrated edges and deep green coloration. The surface was practically velvety otherwise.

  “I suppose you’ve worked with foxglove before,” Beckah said.

  “I haven’t worked with it. I know of it. My father used it for other purposes than what Master Carl describes.”

  “So, something other than faking your own death?” Beckah asked with a smile.

  Alec grinned. “I can’t say that my father ever was asked to help somebody fake their own death.”

  “Did he ever poison anyone?” she asked, turning toward the man lying motionless at the front of the room.

  “I find it hard to think of my father attempting to poison anyone. He’s always been so focused on healing.”

  “Isn’t it interesting how medicines can so quickly turn into poisons? Think of what we’ve learned. How many of these treatments have other uses and can be used to harm as quickly as they can help.”

  “It’s all about moderation,” he said.

  She peeled off a strip of the foxglove and stuffed it into her mouth. “Monitor my heart. I would hate to have it stop and not be able to restart.”

  Alec took her wrist and pressed his fingers over the artery, feeling her pulse. He couldn’t help but be impressed that she so willingly had taken the foxglove. She knew the risks and had seen what could happen, the same as he had. Master Carl had not given them any instruction about how much was too much to take. Only a pinch. If she mistakenly took the wrong amount, she could be the one lying on a cot, her heart rate undetectable, and her breathing stopped.

  “Interesting,” she said. Her voice had taken on a sleepy quality to it.

  Alec could feel her pulse slowing. It happened quite rapidly. “We should have documented how much you administered.”

  “He said only… a pinch.”

  The lids of her eyes started to drift closed, and she swayed in her seat. Alec hurried around to the other side of the table and helped her slide down in the seat so that she wouldn’t fall. She was still awake, and she fought to keep her eyes open, but he could see her fighting through the effects of the foxglove.

  “How do you know if your pinch is different from his pinch?” Alec asked. “To be safe, we should have a way of maintaining consistency.”

  Beckah took a deep breath, and her eyes popped open. She shook herself and sat up. “Well. That was interesting.”

  Alec took her wrist, noting that her pulse had rebounded. The effect of the foxglove was short-acting. If that was typical, then why did the man remain so sedated?

  Alec looked to Master Carl and saw him speaking softly to a pair of students near the front, Jason and Sarah. Both were minor highborns, and both were of moderate ability from what Alec had seen.

  “It’s your turn,” Beckah said.

  Alec turned his attention back to her and tore off a narrow strip of the foxglove. He hated taking much more than that, hated the idea that he might end up incapacitated as the man at the front of the room apparently still was, if he wasn’t dead by now.

  “What is it?” Beckah asked.

  Alec popped the leaf into his mouth. It had a bitter quality to it and was strangely meaty. “How is it that the man has been out for so much longer than you were?” He could hear his voice slurring and felt his heart slowing.

  “What? I couldn’t understand what you said.”

  Alec sighed and reached for his wrist, pressing his fingers to it, feeling the slowing heartbeat. It was down to a dangerous level. Had he taken too much?

  Panic set in, and he tried to will his heart to beat faster, to force it to speed up, but nothing he tried worked.

  The effect hadn’t lasted long for Beckah, and he hoped it would be equally short-lived for him, but he felt his mind fogging even more; with each passing moment, it became increasingly difficult for him to think clearly.

  Much longer, and his heart would stop.

  What would Alec do then?

  “Why isn’t it wearing off?” he asked. The words sounded strange, even to him. What must they sound like to Beckah, or the other students?

  He continued to feel himself drifting and hated that he did.

  Then his heart stopped.

  Alec felt it stop, was aware of that moment, and knew fear unlike anything he had ever known in his life. He was going to die. Worse, he would die, and Sam would never know.

  That was his last thought before he knew nothing else.

  12

  Understanding the Past

  Sam hurried through the courtyard, having heard word that Elaine had returned. She hadn’t known the woman had been gone but hadn’t seen her in days. All of her training had been overseen by others, those with skill, but not much more than that. If Elaine was back, she had more training ahead of her, but she also had questions.

  She came across Elaine near the massive rear door to the palace.

  The woman was covered in dirt and had dark circles under her eyes. She was slightly taller than Sam, but otherwise had the same slight profile and dark complexion as Sam.

  “Samara. Is there something I can do for you?”

  A dozen different questions raced through her head, but none of them seemed fully appropriate. “Where have you been?”

  Elaine gaped at her a moment. “I know you feel a certain entitlement here but trust me when I tell you that I have greater responsibilities than accommodating your needs.”

  Sam stepped back, feeling almost as if she’d been slapped. “My needs? I think my needs have been ignored for nearly a decade, don’t you, Mother? And how have I ever come off as entitled?” Sam didn’t know whether to be offended, outraged, or a mixture of both. Both seemed appropriate, but she was willing to remain cautious.

  Elaine took a deep breath. “Yes. You have been treated poorly. You live, when so many with your gifts do not. Excuse me if I struggle to feel as sorry for you as you would like.”

  “What happened?”

  Elaine blinked. “What happened was that I attempted a maneuver outside of the city and was nearly overwhelmed by the Thelns. The other Kaver with me did not make it back.”

  Outside of the city? She’d followed Elaine and lost her in the darkness. Could she have been the one on the barge rather than whoever had attacked the merchant?

  “You lost a Kaver?”

  “There aren’t many Kavers left. Those who do remain don’t have their Scribes. Often, the Scribe is the first one targeted, as without our Scribes, we are limited to how much we can do.”

  “But you’ve been teaching me to function without my Scribe.” Sam had barely managed, but that wasn’t the point, was it? Elaine had tried to prove to her that she didn’t need her Scribe, or her augmentations, to effectively use her abilities. Sam tried but thought that she had only tapped into the barest edge of her abilities. She certainly didn’t have anything quite like what Elaine had demonstrated when they were sparring and working together.

  “I’ve been teaching you to function without a Scribe because at some point in your life, it’s likely you will not have a Scribe available to you. If you continue to follow this path, you will need to be stronger than you would be otherwise. You will need to be strong enough to manage without having a Scribe with you.”

  “What exactly happened?”

  Elaine shook her head. “It was an ambush. With the Thelns, it often is. We continue to suppress them, keeping them from the borders of the territory we control, but they continue to attempt to disrupt the protections we placed long ago.”

  “What kind of protections?”

  “The kind that you may learn if you continue to develop. If that’s all, I have a report to give,” she said, beginning to turn away from Sam.

  “Who was my father?” Sam blurted.


  “Your father?” she repeated slowly. She hadn’t turned back around and stood with her back to Sam.

  “Yes. The man who fathered me. I presume that Kavers can’t do it alone.”

  “Your father was an amazing man.”

  Was. Sam didn’t miss that particular word, which meant that her father was no longer.

  “What happened to him? Was he a Kaver or Scribe?”

  “He was neither. He was a man who helped save me when I was young.”

  “He saved you?”

  “It’s nothing quite like that. He protected me when I still was learning my abilities, concealing me from an attack that sought to overpower me. It was before I truly understood what I was capable of doing. Without him, I would’ve been killed, and you would never have been here.”

  “Why won’t you tell me his name.”

  “His name no longer matters.”

  “What? It matters. How can it not? He was my father. I’d like to know where I came from.”

  “For his safety, I can’t tell you that.”

  Sam took another step back. “He’s… He’s alive?”

  Elaine inhaled deeply. “He lives.”

  “Does he know about me?”

  “I couldn’t tell him about you. Doing so put him—and you—in danger.”

  “Danger? Like the kind of danger that happened when Marin tried to kill you and managed to somehow abuse my memories in such a way that it made me forget my entire childhood? Forget you? The kind of danger that comes from living a life on the streets in Caster, trying to stay ahead of the palace guards, avoiding notice so that I can stay alive? That sort of danger?”

  “No. That’s the kind of danger that kept you alive. What I refer to is an ancient battle, one that has waged between the Thelns and the Kavers for many years. If I had not hidden you—and him—you would have been a target.”

  “You’re not hiding me now.”

  “Because they know about you now. You are a target. Regardless of anything else, you will remain a target. That’s why I am training you.”

  “Why only now? If I have this ability, why wouldn’t you want me to use it? Why wouldn’t you want me to be able to protect myself, and help others?”

  Elaine fixed her with an unreadable expression. “Because I didn’t want another one to die.”

  “Another what?”

  “Another child of the Kavers,” she said softly. “Too many have been lost over the years. It was a mistake getting pregnant. I knew it, but I loved your father.”

  “Loving him doesn’t mean that you abandon him when he’s in danger.”

  “Abandon? Is that what you think I’ve done?”

  “I honestly don’t know what I think,” Sam said. Some of the anger had been extinguished, partly because she struggled with Elaine’s rationale. “Why not keep your Scribe safe, use augmentations on the Scribes?”

  “Scribes have some capacity to receive what you refer to as augmentations, but they don’t have the same innate gifts that allow them to use them the same way.”

  “That’s not the only reason, though, is it?”

  “No.”

  “Are you going to tell me what it is?”

  “I fear that telling you will leave you believing you need to do something dangerous.”

  “I think I’ve done a few dangerous things.”

  “Which is exactly my concern.”

  “At least tell me why I need to be concerned about Alec,” she said.

  Elaine glanced back at the door to the palace, before settling her gaze on Sam and shaking her head. “Scribes are particularly attuned to the dark magic used in the Book of Maladies. You’ve seen that yourself.”

  “You mean when the princess was attacked?”

  “Yes. Such as then. Scribes, by their very nature, are at risk. Thelns capture all Scribes that they can and use their abilities. Why do you think so many Scribes have been lost?”

  “I don’t know! I don’t know much about the Scribes, other than my own. Alec doesn’t seem particularly at risk, but I don’t want him to be in danger.”

  “He won’t be, not if he stays at the university. The university was established as an option to counter the Theln magic.”

  “What of you? Don’t you worry about your Scribe?”

  Elaine fixed her with a hard expression. “Every day.” She started to turn before catching herself. “Continue your studies. Continue to work with the physicker and see what Helen can uncover. She is a skilled physicker, and we have much faith in her ability to uncover what you need to know.”

  Sam swallowed and nodded. What else could she do?

  She was caught up in something different from anything she had ever imagined. When she learned from Marin about the Thelns, she had begun to fear their ability to hurt her. That had been bad enough, especially when she didn’t think there was anything she could do to counter their power. They had poison that could kill her. Somehow, she and Alec had managed to overwhelm it. She had survived, and they had pushed out the Theln attack in the city before it became anything greater.

  And they had done it untrained. Shouldn’t that have given her a chance to get the attention of the princess sooner? Shouldn’t they have brought her in, and offered to help her learn her abilities sooner than they had? Instead, they had not come to her until Sam had begun tracking the princess.

  Sam watched as Elaine disappeared behind the door into the palace. She wanted to help, but it seemed as if those who she could help didn’t want her help.

  All she could do was devote herself to her training.

  And she needed to find Alec. She felt empty having not seen him for so long. They’d already learned that they needed to stay better connected, and when they weren’t, both of them felt off.

  Maybe she needed to discover another source of easar paper, as well. That way, they could continue to practice. Elaine had not revealed her source of paper and had bristled the few times Sam had attempted to find out where it was stored. She knew it was in short supply, but there had to be a way to replicate the process, didn’t there? If the Thelns could manufacture it, why couldn’t they?

  If they could find the secret to creating the paper, maybe they wouldn’t have to rely on the source of it outside the city, stealing from the Thelns and attracting even more of their attention. Already, it seemed as if the Thelns were focused on the city, and as she considered what Elaine had shared with her, she thought it might be more than what the Kavers could withstand.

  Had Sam developed enough skill to face them?

  That might be the worst part.

  She didn’t think that she had. Luck would only carry her so far, and it was possible that she wouldn’t continue to have the same luck.

  And then what?

  13

  The Training Continues

  Sam spun her canal staff, and it whistled through the air with the movement. She’d gotten faster with it over the last few days and managed to strike Thoren twice during their spar. Each time she had, she’d grinned with a vicious excitement, hoping to get past his defenses. He might not be a Kaver, and might not be enhanced, but he was still wickedly fast with the staff, and she considered any time that she managed to get through his defenses a victory.

  Thoren spun, and Sam twisted to counter. As she did, she discovered he wasn’t where she expected, and she swung at empty air. His staff smacked on her arm, then her back, and she staggered forward, dropping her canal staff.

  Sam cursed under her breath, hating losing the staff, but it was better losing to Thoren than to Elaine. At least Thoren didn’t seem to take the same satisfaction in beating her that Elaine did. He was mostly interested in working with her, and teaching, and she appreciated that about him.

  “You have to get up quickly if you fall,” he said.

  “I’m trying, but I don’t think my hand will work.”

  Thoren grunted, and his staff caught her on the backside again.

  Sam swore again to herself and scram
bled forward, grabbing her staff and swinging it around in a low arc.

  Thoren jumped, easily missing her attack, and swung down at her, pinning her staff to the ground. “If you’re too slow grabbing your staff, you’ll be easily defeated.”

  He lifted his staff, letting her grab hers, and she jumped back to her feet, stepping into the ready posture that he had demonstrated for her. He waited, letting her attack first, and she feinted forward, before stepping back, slipping back again, and whistling her staff around in a short arc that caught him on his shoulder.

  His grunt was the only acknowledgment she had that she’d gotten to him.

  He spun and managed to sweep the staff out of her hands.

  Sam jumped toward it, not wanting to let it get too far from her. Thoren was nothing if not annoyed if she failed to learn from her lessons.

  She grabbed the staff and came up in a roll. As she did, she brought it back around, reacting to movement in the air that signaled his staff neared her. They connected with a sharp snap that reverberated throughout the practice grounds.

  Thoren chuckled. “Good. You’re getting better at anticipating. Elaine suspected that you would have an ability similar to hers,” he said.

  “And what ability is that?”

  “There aren’t too many who can anticipate and react to attacks. If you’re anything like Elaine, there’s a subtle sensation she seems to manage that allows her to react even when she can’t see the attack coming. If you have anything similar to that, you will be skilled with the staff.”

  Sam could only nod. She wanted to be more effective when fighting with the canal staff, but so far, she didn’t feel as if she had anything near Elaine’s ability. Her mother managed to flip and leap, leaving Sam staring after her, struggling to react.

  “Now you need to work on your aerial response.”

  “My aerial response?”

  “You’re fighting with the staff. That does not require that you remain on the ground. There are times when it’s better to get above the action so that you can gain a different perspective.”