The Book of Maladies Boxset

by D. K. Holmberg

  “What are the chances that both Kaver and Scribe are accelerated like this?” Elaine asked.

  “The Scribe was trained by Aelus. Of course he would be accelerated.”

  “All right. I think it’s time that you explain why you brought us here and why you’re talking around us.” Sam stood and looked at Elaine. “You promised that we would be told more when we reached the palace. How is the city able to protect us from the Thelns?”

  Master Helen’s gaze went from Elaine to Sam, and finally to Alec. Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to consider the question. Then she shook her head. “Just know that it does. Without the city, the Thelns would have even easier access, seeking to destroy those with blood magic.”

  “And you?” Sam asked. “Do you have the same blood magic?”

  Helen shook her head. “I am neither Kaver nor Scribe.”

  “I just thought…” Sam began.

  “Yes. You just thought.” She turned her attention to Elaine. “It is a mistake to think that we should share with those who are too young to protect themselves.”

  “Too young?” Sam asked.

  Alec was surprised that it seemed the master physicker was commanding Elaine, the princess’s Scribe. How many physickers other than Master Helen would have the same confidence?

  Helen studied Sam. “Yes. Too young. From the conversations we’ve had, I can tell you with certainty that you are too young for what you seek to know. Stay and train, become useful. The city is safe.”

  “Safe? We’ve been attacked by Thelns multiple times,” Sam said.

  “In an unprotected outer section. I can promise you that we are perfectly safe here.”

  “For how long?” Sam snapped. She would have to be careful, especially around someone like Master Helen.

  “I thought Elaine said that I was useful? I think the fact that I helped save her from three Thelns proves that I am useful and that I am progressing in my training.”

  “It proves nothing other than that you have learned some, but you have much still to learn. I will return to visit with you later this week. Perhaps if you make progress there, you will continue to make progress with your training.”

  Master Helen turned and left, not even paying any attention to Alec as she did. Elaine remained for a moment before she followed Master Helen from the room. It left Alec and Sam alone.

  “What is this?” Alec asked. “Why are they keeping things from us?”

  “I believe Elaine has been tracking Marin but hasn’t found her. I think she ended up having Thelns follow her into the city.”

  “But if the city has protections that keep the Thelns from gaining access…”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time they managed to get into the city,” Sam said. “If there are protections in place, I’m not entirely sure how they managed to get into the city before, but I know that it troubles Elaine. And whatever Marin is doing has to be related.”

  “You think Marin is somehow allowing the Thelns to enter?”

  Sam stared past him and at the door. “The merchant attacks. The Thelns in the city. Marin missing. It has to be related. I just don’t know how.”

  Alec watched her for a moment before deciding to ask the question that had been bothering him. “What’s the real reason you haven’t come to the university?”

  “I told you. I tried, but you were with… your friend.”

  “This has nothing to do with Beckah. What is it?”

  “Well, it was the first time. But the second time, I couldn’t get in.”

  “If you had truly tried, you would have been able to reach me. The university wouldn’t have kept you out, not anymore.”

  He noted the pained expression on her face.

  “What? There’s something about that which bothers you.”

  She shrugged. “It’s… difficult for me.”

  “It’s difficult for me, too. That doesn’t change that I want to—”

  “It’s difficult for you? You’re highborn. You’ve always known who you were and what you were. But for me, all of a sudden, I have access, and I’m granted access to places that I never could have gone before.”

  Alec stepped closer toward her. “That’s what’s been bothering you? You’re upset about being granted this access? That you’re treated like a highborn now?”

  She shrugged. “Well, yeah.”

  Alec laughed until she shot him a hard glare. “I thought you’d be happy to be highborn. Weren’t you the one who kept telling me how much more access the highborns have than anyone else? Why is it now that you’re essentially highborn that you are struggling with it?”

  “I have never wanted to be highborn.” Alec arched a brow at her. “I haven’t. I wanted to know where I belonged. I wanted to know where I fit in. Once I learned that my mother was not only alive but also a Kaver, I thought I might actually begin to feel like I had someplace where I belong.” Sam swallowed. “Instead, it makes me wonder if maybe I was better off before. Maybe it would have been better for me just to think my mother had died.”

  Alec shook his head. “You don’t mean that. I know you don’t mean that.”

  Sam looked down at her hands. “I’m not sure what I mean. All I know is that I’m no closer to understanding my abilities than I was before I found her. Well, maybe some. But most of that has come from the training of others. She’s been gone. You’ve been gone. And I… I continue to train, but I’m not getting any better.”

  Alec leaned over and took her hand. Her hands were soft and smooth and fit his. They were hands that he had cut into more times than he cared for, needing blood for their magic, so they could use the easar paper. In the short time they’d known each other, he’d seen her injured and had done things that had hurt her as he’d attempted augmentations, but she’d always seemed so strong to him.

  Here she was, more vulnerable than he had ever seen her.

  What could he say that would make her feel better? What could he do that would show her that he saw things in her that he suspected she didn’t even see in herself?

  “Is it true?” he asked.

  “Is what true?”

  “You took on three Thelns?”

  Sam shook her head. “Elaine took on three Thelns. She was augmented, so she took down two of them before she needed any help.”

  “That means that you jumped in and tried to fight off one Theln?”

  “He was the biggest one,” Sam said.

  “I wasn’t saying that because I thought that you should have done more. I’m just saying that perhaps you’ve improved more than you realize. You had always needed augmentations to face the Thelns before. If you were able to fight this one without any augmentations…”

  “Fight might be a bit generous. I managed not to die. I might have distracted him a little bit, but I don’t think I did much more than that.”

  “You saved Elaine.”

  Sam sighed. “I saved Elaine. Marin’s home is gone. And now, there’s no way to see what she’d been up to and no way to find her.”

  “If you did find her, what would you even say?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Maybe I would demand that she tell me why she used me. Maybe I’d demand that she tell me why she used Tray.”

  “Even after everything that’s happened, you’re still worried about your brother?”

  “He’s still my brother. It’s strange. I know that, just as I know that he isn’t really, but in my mind—and my heart—he’s still Trayson. My brother.”

  “I don’t think it’s strange. I think it makes perfect sense. You’ve only known him as your brother. Anything else would be wrong.”

  “I wish I could find him. I don’t know what I would tell him, and I don’t know that if I did find him, it would matter at all, but I’d at least like the chance to try.”

  “Then find him.”

  Sam glanced up, meeting his gaze for a moment before turning her attention back to her hands. “Elaine wants me to focus on my training. Afte
r facing those Thelns, I understand why. Once I’m better equipped to fight with the staff and the other techniques they teach, I’ll be better able to manage augmentations, as well.”

  “You’ll regret it if you don’t look for Tray.”

  “What of you? If I’m supposed to look for Tray, what are you going to do?”

  “Helen seems to know something. She might not want to share, but I’m going to get her to tell me,” Alec said.

  “It seems she’s going to come find me later this week, so if I learn anything from her, I’ll let you know.”

  “Has it been helping?” Alec asked.

  “I don’t know if it’s been helping, but I think she’s been trying to get to some hidden memories. They’re there, but I don’t know how to reach them. Whatever Marin did blocked those memories. All I have are blanks where they should be.”

  “I hope you find what you need.”

  “What if I do and I don’t like what I discover?”

  “Do you think that’s a possibility?”

  Sam turned toward the door. “I wouldn’t have thought so, but the more I learn about Elaine, the more I begin to wonder if maybe Marin did me a favor by taking me away from that.”

  “Sam…”

  “No. You’re right. All I wanted was to know who my parents were, to have a chance to get them back, and now that I got them—well, one of them—I don’t know that I want her.” She sighed. “I’d just like to know what happened. Maybe if I can ever find Marin, I can learn what she did and see if it can be undone.”

  “I’ll keep looking, too,” Alec said.

  Sam swallowed and looked down.

  “I miss seeing you,” he said.

  “I miss that, too.”

  “Now that we have some paper…”

  She glanced up and smiled. “I don’t think Bastan was thrilled that he had to reveal his supply. That made me happy.”

  Alec chuckled. “I’m sure it did.”

  “He has more. I’m sure of it. I’ll go back to him and see what I can get.”

  25

  A Meeting

  Sam made her way across the bridge slowly. She took a moment to flash her papers, identifying herself as from the palace, still feeling awkward about the fact that she did—and could. It was an uncomfortable thing for her to be able to claim that she was from the palace, and even more uncomfortable for her to feel like she could travel as easily as any of the highborns.

  As she moved farther from the center of the city, she felt increasing comfort with her surroundings. Not because she was necessarily more familiar with them, but more because she was away from some of the formality, and away from people who seemed to watch her with judging eyes. She needed that about as much as she needed to fall into the damn canal and deal with the eels.

  If only she had augmentations.

  She felt that way most of the time as she wandered between the sections of the city. She had her canal staff, and she had what she’d been taught by Theron, but she still didn’t have anywhere near the same level of skill as she had seen from Elaine. Her mother didn’t need augmentations to be dangerous.

  Had whatever Marin did to cloud her mind forever eliminate her connection to that part of her abilities? She could augment and access them, but nothing more than that. Without them, she was perhaps better able than most to navigate the city, but she still had limitations.

  There had been no more attacks on merchants in the city. In the weeks since the Theln attack at Marin’s, there had been no further sign of them, either.

  Had they disappeared?

  Sam had a hard time believing that they had, but if they weren’t gone, where had they disappeared to? And why couldn’t she learn anything of Marin?

  All this time, she should have been working with Alec, preparing for the Thelns. Even with her augmentations, the Thelns made her nervous. More than that. She feared them. Growing up in Caster, she hadn’t really been afraid of anything—she was confident she could protect herself—and Tray. But the Thelns did scare her. They had beaten her more than once—and the last time, they’d nearly beaten Elaine, who was better equipped than any to stop them. If she couldn’t, what hope did Sam have?

  If the protections of the city failed and the Thelns reached them, what could she do to defend herself? How could she keep them from getting to Tray?

  That frightened her most of all.

  It was Marin’s betrayal to her brother, even more than what she had done with Sam.

  He had to know what Marin had done before the Thelns came after him.

  What if they attempted to recruit Tray?

  Sam had no idea if that was something the Thelns did. Elaine refused to talk about them, and every time she’d attempted to bring it up, the woman had changed the topic. Would they learn that Tray was part Theln? Was there anything they could do that would convince him to join with them?

  Tray wanted to prove himself. That was all he’d ever wanted. He wanted to prove to Sam that she didn’t need to protect him, that he could be the one to keep her safe. She’d made the mistake of minimizing his ability to do that and pushing him away all these years. Now she needed him. He might be the one person that could keep her safe from the Thelns if they were to attack.

  She reached the edge of a section—the Yalling section—and paused at the canal. Standing on the edge, she looked out over the water, listening to the soft sound of the current as it flowed past, and took a deep breath. There was a barge in the canal, and it moved slowly with the current, the captain poling his way along, pushing the boat forward and toward the outer sections of the city. There weren’t that many barges willing to travel all the way to the outer sections, so this one must either be poor, or he smuggled something not meant for the center of the city.

  Sam waited until he had passed before she assembled her canal staff and took two steps back before jumping over the canal, plunging her staff in the middle of the canal as she leaped.

  There was a simple joy found in flying over the canal. Wind whistled around her. The scent of the canal was prominent, but it was not unpleasant from up here, not as it could be from street level. The perspective allowed her the ability to see everything around her, to see the section she left as easily as she saw the one she soared toward.

  Then she landed. Sam shook off her staff and disassembled it.

  She could have kept it out, but doing so would only draw attention to her. Traveling to Caster and back to Bastan for the second time in a few weeks left her with a desire for anonymity and the ability to appear without warning. Bastan had enough men stationed along the bridges connecting the various sections of the city that he would know she was coming. Sam didn’t mind him knowing, but she would prefer to surprise him.

  Noise in the middle of the section caught her attention, and she veered away from the road leading along the water’s edge.

  She should ignore the noise. There was no reason for her to go chasing after things that would only distract her, but curiosity pulled her along.

  The section was mostly merchants, though they were lower-level merchants that would not be found in other areas in the city. Some of the inner sections were much more well-off, and the merchants that served those areas had significant financial resources. Merchants found here tended to serve the outer sections, those that had less money, and less prestige.

  As she rounded a corner, she saw a commotion in the street.

  It was a fight, the kind of street fight that was likely to lead to an arrest, and jailing of those involved. These were the kinds of fights that the city guard disallowed, making every effort to clean them up and do everything they could to ensure that they were short-lived.

  Could this be another merchant attack?

  It had been weeks since the last.

  Three men attacked a fourth. The three men were of average size and build, but they seemed to have some experience working together, and boxed in the fourth man, trapping him in the center. None of them were armed, but
they bashed at the other man, pounding him with their fists. The fourth man was larger than his attackers, and he fought back with some amount of skill, his punches sending one after another staggering back.

  As she watched, Sam thought he might actually fight them off, but the other three kept coming, managing to get up time and again, only to throw themselves at the other man once more.

  One of the men pulled out a pair of knives. The faint daylight glittered off of them, and Sam’s heart skipped. What had been nothing more than a street fight—little more than a brawl—now had a different dynamic to it.

  Something prompted Sam to rush forward. As she did, she assembled her canal staff and launched herself up and over the outer men, coming to land in the middle of the fray.

  She spun, bringing the staff around with a sharp crack, colliding with the nearest man, sending him flying backward.

  She flipped the staff around, connecting with the man holding the knives, and the sharpness of the blow cracked his wrist.

  That left only one man.

  The man getting attacked lunged at him, knocking him to the ground, and began pummeling his face. He struck with a furious intensity, one that battered the other man and left his face a bloody mess.

  Sam reached in and tried to pull him back, but he was larger than she was and clearly stronger. Had she any augmentations, she would have been able to restrain him, but, she didn’t.

  What she did have was her canal staff.

  She swung, using minimal force, but caught him in the stomach, forcing him back.

  The man grunted. He spun toward her, and Sam nearly dropped her staff.

  “Tray?”

  “Sam?” Tray’s voice had changed, having grown deeper since she’d last seen him. Had so much changed in that short time? “What are you doing here? You haven’t been in Caster in—”

  “This isn’t Caster. And you shouldn’t be fighting.”

  One of the men groaned, and Sam grabbed Tray’s sleeve and pulled him with her.

  He might outweigh her, but he didn’t resist, letting her drag him as they moved out of the street. She wanted to get him away from the fight, not wanting him to get caught near the three men. She had questions and doubted that he’d answer them, but she would press him.