The Book of Maladies Boxset

by D. K. Holmberg

  “I thought you said it wasn’t she?”

  “It might not have been, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need to know who it was. There’s another alternative, one that is possibly worse.”

  “Worse? I thought you were excited to see this friend of yours.”

  Alec nodded. “I was, but now I’m concerned that someone who is very dangerous might have been getting into the university.”

  They hadn’t seen Marin for months, and Sam believed that she might have left the city, but the city was enormous, and there were many places where she could hide.

  There was another possibility, but it seemed too hard to believe. Could Marin have been hiding in the university all this time? Could she have been skulking around someplace?

  If she had, why?

  He needed Sam, but she was still inside Master Carl’s quarters. If they were lucky, she’d find the man poisoned by the foxglove and get him out of there. He knew they had to return him to Bastan, but he hoped they could possibly heal him with the easar paper before that.

  Alec glanced back at the door, looking for a sign that Sam might be coming. There was nothing.

  What would happen if her augmentations failed while she was up there?

  If they failed, she could get caught.

  “Alec,” Beckah said.

  “What?”

  She grabbed his arm and pulled, dragging him down the hall.

  “Beckah, Sam is still in there.”

  She dragged him down the hall until they rounded a corner. When they did, she motioned down the hall, pointing in the direction of the entrance to the masters’ quarters. When Alec looked, he saw that someone was coming. They’d been lucky so far and hadn’t encountered anyone up to now, but the longer they stayed, the more likely it was that they would come across somebody trying to reach the masters’ quarters. Worse would be if they came across Master Carl, but any of the masters would question their presence.

  “Who is that?” Alec asked. It wasn’t Master Carl. Carl was far too fat to be this man. The person coming down the hall was not slender, but certainly not as robust as Master Carl.

  “I don’t know,” Beckah said.

  Alec frowned. There was something familiar about the figure.

  What was it?

  He crept forward, ignoring Beckah pulling on his arm.

  As he approached, there was something about the size—the muscularity—that he recognized. It was Tray. Alec was certain of it. Why would Tray be here? Alec hadn’t seen him since Tray had caught him breaking into Marin’s home.

  Why would he have come to the university? And why would he try to get into the masters’ quarters?

  “Where are you going?” Beckah asked.

  If Marin had been somehow hiding out in the university, maybe she’d asked Tray to meet her here. Tray didn’t yet know that she was his mother, but she’d used him many times in the past and seemed to have no qualms about putting him in danger.

  “I know who that is,” Alec said.

  “Who?”

  “That’s Sam’s brother.”

  “Why would her brother be here?”

  “I… I have no idea.”

  Alec’s mind was racing trying to figure out what he needed to do. If it was possible that Marin was here, and with Tray definitely here, Sam needed help. Her augmentations would fail. He hadn’t used enough blood to keep them functional. Had she only left him with the easar paper, he could make another quick note.

  But… He had a piece.

  “We have to get to my quarters,” Alec said.

  “You’re going to leave your friend there?”

  He shook his head. “Not leaving her. There’s something I can do to help her, but I can’t do it here.”

  “I’ll help. Anything I can do, just let me know.”

  Alec should probably send her away. Sam would be angry that he allowed her to participate, but he needed help. He didn’t think he could do this on his own.

  “Good. I’m going to need you to keep an eye out for me.”

  He would have to tell her about his ability. What choice did he have?

  “What’s this about?” Beckah asked. “There is more to this than just finding the poisoned man, isn’t there?”

  “I didn’t think so, but I’m beginning to realize there is, but I have no idea what or why.”

  They reached his room, and Alec hurried inside. He grabbed his notes off the table, left there after Sam had appeared.

  “What are you after?” Beckah asked.

  Alec reached into the stack of notes and pulled out the slip of easar paper. He held it out, and Beckah took it from him, scanning the page.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s called easar paper. There’s something about it that grants specific abilities.”

  Beckah looked up at him, a frown etched on her face. “Abilities? It sounds a lot like you’re trying to suggest to me that the paper is magical.” Beckah looked back down to the page, and her eyes darted across it as she scanned what he’d written there when trying to help Elaine. “This is your description of the woman you helped in the outer section of the city, isn’t it?”

  “It is. There’s something about the paper that when a specific combination of ink is used grants power. It has the potential to heal, as well as a few other things.”

  Beckah looked up with a frown. “What kind of combination of inks?”

  “Mostly blood.” Alec took the page from her and laid it down on the table, next to a few of the narrow pens he’d used before. He grabbed one and pulled out his knife, which still had a dried coating of their blood. He didn’t know if it would work to moisten it again, but he had to try.

  Using water from his basin, Alec scraped blood off of the knife and started. He dipped the pen into it and took a deep breath, preparing what he would write.

  What did Sam need from him?

  She’d had speed, and strength, which worked well with an equal combination of their blood, but to help her now, he tried to think of what else they’d tried. It had been too long since they’d spent much time experimenting. In that time, his comfort and familiarity with the various ratios of blood needed to perform the specific augmentations had changed.

  He didn’t know what she might be facing. Maybe there was nothing. But if Tray—and Marin—were here, she might need whatever help he could offer.

  If only he knew what help that was.

  He grabbed his notebook and flipped to the page with notes detailing the various things they’d tried in the past.

  Most had a specific ratio of blood, but in order for it to work well, many of them required a greater concentration. What he had now was weakened, diluted. He didn’t know for certain whether it would work as he needed it to. If it didn’t, did that mean that Sam would be stuck?

  Worse, he didn’t know what she actually needed. Help of some sort, but what kind?

  He grabbed the page and his notebook, and carefully put what little blood ink he’d salvaged into a small vial, then raced to his door.

  “Where are we going?” Beckah asked.

  “The courtyard.”

  Alec ran, hurrying into the hall. When they reached the entrance to the university, he found two physickers lying motionless on the ground. They weren’t his concern. Not yet.

  He raced out the door and skidded to a stop in the courtyard.

  Standing there, he saw Sam and a figure lying at her feet. Was that the man they sought? But then he noticed someone else, as well.

  “Marin,” he said under his breath. Sam fought Marin, her staff moving more quickly than he could track, more quickly than he thought possible. How had she gotten so good?

  Beckah glanced over at him. “Marin? Who’s Marin?”

  It was apparent that Marin was much more skilled than Sam. Marin was able to spin with more fluidity and easily countered each of Sam’s attempts to stop her.

  Was there anything Alec could do?

  He dropped, and Beckah cr
ouched next to him.

  “What are you doing?”

  “The only thing I can that will help her.”

  He pulled out his vial of ink. What would help her here?

  An idea came to him, but he wasn’t sure if it would work—or if Sam would be aware of the augmentation.

  He started writing.

  Beckah looked over his shoulder, peering at what he wrote. The scrawl was simple. It was the technique he’d practiced with her in the months before his coming to the university. It came back to him, though he wasn’t certain if it would work.

  “I don’t understand,” Beckah said.

  “It’s the paper. There is something about it.”

  Alec looked up, and Sam had been knocked to the ground. She lay there, just as Marin was about to attack, when her eyes widened slightly.

  She jumped.

  It was amazing to watch her do it, amazing to watch the way she quickly responded to the augmentation and flipped up into the air. She hung there a moment, her staff spinning around, and almost connecting with Marin, but the other woman was equally skilled—if not more so.

  Marin was augmented. She had to be.

  Sam landed and spun around, but Marin was there, smacking her on the side with one end of her canal staff. The other jammed into Sam’s shoulder. She screamed.

  Alec darted forward, but he wouldn’t be fast enough. He wouldn’t be able to reach her before Marin finish her.

  With a sickening crack, Marin struck her on the side of the head and grabbed the man lying near them—likely the man they were to find—disappearing into the night.

  Alec raced for Sam.

  He ran his hand along the side of her head, noting the angry wound, the way that her scalp was split open from the last attack. One of her arms was damp, and he realized it was the blood flowing from where the staff had pierced her shoulder. His mind raced through poisons that might have been used, realizing that if he didn’t treat her quickly enough, any poison that might have been on the tip of the staff would have too much time to set in, and might be irreversible.

  She still had a pulse, and she still breathed. If nothing else, she lived. He didn’t know how much longer she would, but for now, he had that.

  “We need to get her into the hospital,” Beckah said.

  “Not the hospital.”

  “Alec, I know how much she means to you. We need to take her someplace where we can get her help. We’re right here. I can go get one of the masters, and we’ll do what we can to save her.”

  Alec closed his eyes, thinking. He couldn’t use her blood, not without knowing if it was poisoned. If it was, it would take too much strength out of her to enact the healing. That didn’t leave him with many good options, but maybe Beckah was right. Maybe taking her into the university would be the only thing that could save Sam.

  Why did it make him so uncomfortable?

  “I need to take her to my apothecary,” he said.

  “Your father might be able to help her, but don’t you think you’d be better able to help her here?”

  It came down to what he believed. What did he believe about the university’s ability to heal? He believed that they had knowledge and skill, but he also knew that once he had her stable, he could use his easar paper to complete the healing. Would the university allow that?

  “I don’t think I can leave her here for healing,” Alec said.

  “Alec—”

  Alec shook his head. “They have prejudices that place her in more danger.”

  “Even if you could help her at the apothecary, you can’t get her there. Your section of the city is too far from here. Are you willing to risk her safety for that?”

  He wasn’t, but he also wasn’t sure that he could leave her here, not without knowing exactly what had been done to her. She was injured, but if it was more than just an injury, if it was a poisoning, as well, that was something he didn’t think the university was completely prepared to manage.

  At the same time, Beckah was right. He couldn’t carry her—not quickly enough. If he tried, he’d end up either dropping her or she’d end up dying long before he could reach the apothecary.

  He wanted to scream, to yell out to the gods and demand their help, but that wouldn’t do anything. That wouldn’t get him any of the assistance he needed.

  Alec looked up, feeling helpless.

  As he did, he realized there was another figure in the courtyard.

  He hadn’t seen him standing there, hidden in shadows, wrapped in a strange cloak that seemed to shift light around it, forcing his gaze away. But now that he knew the man was there, he couldn’t help but see him.

  “Tray.” Alec stood and started toward him. He wasn’t certain whether Tray would flee. “How long have you been here?” Alec asked.

  “Long enough,” he said.

  “Long enough for what?”

  Would Tray be upset that Sam had fought with Marin? Would he blame his sister for fighting with her? There was much that Tray didn’t know, but Sam hadn’t wanted him to know. She preferred to keep him in the dark, mostly so that he didn’t have to deal with the stress of what had happened, but also because she wasn’t completely sure what to say to him.

  “Long enough to have heard.”

  Alec glanced back to Sam before turning and looking at Tray. “What did you hear?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Can you help? Sam is—”

  Tray rounded on him, fury rising in his eyes. “Why should I help?”

  “She’s your sister.”

  “Is she? From what I heard, that’s not even clear.”

  Alec licked his lips. Marin and Sam must’ve argued about the nature of Tray’s relationship to Sam. It didn’t surprise Alec. It weighed on her, and she struggled with trying to understand what it meant for them.

  “And what do you think this means for you? Do you think it means that Sam cares for you any less? The one identity she never lost, the one truth she held to was that she is your sister.”

  A trace of the anger faded from Tray’s face. “Is it true?”

  “I don’t know,” Alec answered. “Sam thought it was, but…”

  “Why didn’t she tell me?”

  “She hadn’t found you.”

  “She did. She had an opportunity to tell me, but she didn’t.”

  “She found you?”

  “She wanted me to get word to Marin. Now I think I understand why.”

  “No. That’s not the entire reason why. Marin… did something to Sam… long ago, something that prevented her from remembering her life before Marin entered it.”

  “What do you mean that Marin did something to Sam?”

  “I don’t know what it was, but she somehow wiped Sam’s memories from before. She took away what Sam knew of her family.”

  “Our mother died.”

  “I thought you didn’t believe that?”

  “I don’t know what to believe.”

  “Then help me. I need to get Sam to—”

  “Bastan. That’s where she needs to go.”

  Would it help to take her to Bastan? He wouldn’t have any of the necessary medicines that Alec might need, but then, he might have access to other things that Alec needed. He was well connected.

  “Bastan is the one who sent her here,” Alec said.

  “I know,” Tray said.

  “Do you know who that man is to Marin?”

  “I don’t know anything about Marin,” Tray said.

  He lifted Sam, scooping her with no more effort than Marin had seemed to display when lifting the other man. He started toward the bridge and moved quickly.

  “How did you get access to the university in the first place?” Alec asked.

  “I don’t need to use the bridges, if that’s what you’re asking,” Tray said.

  “That’s not—”

  Tray smiled. “And I don’t use a canal staff, not like Sam.”

  He made it to the edge of the canal and,
holding Sam close to him, simply jumped.

  His jump carried him across the canal, soaring easily over the water.

  Alec had seen Sam jump canals before and had seen her use her staff to carry her up and over, and that had been impressive. When she used her augmentations to jump over the canals, he felt that the fluid strength that she displayed was impressive. With this, it was simply brute strength.

  That had to be the Theln side of Tray.

  Beckah stood beside him, staring over the canal. “How is that possible?”

  Alec shook his head. “I have no idea.”

  He raced toward the bridge with Beckah next to him. Thankfully, he had the necessary papers to give him access to the other side, and he raced through the streets. Tray was nowhere in sight. With his speed, even carrying Sam, he would arrive at Bastan’s long before they would.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Caster section.”

  “Caster? Why would you bring your injured friend away from the university and into a lowborn section like that?”

  “Because that’s where Sam is from.”

  Alec hurried through the streets, and as he ran over the next bridge, an idea came to him.

  He didn’t know what Sam might have been dosed with, but the slowing of her heart made him wonder if perhaps there might have been foxglove on the staff. It was possible there was another explanation, but he wouldn’t have any way to help her without access to medicines. Even had they taken her to the university, there was no guarantee that they’d have had the medicines he believed she’d need.

  That left him with one option, but it would mean a slight delay in getting back to her.

  Alec changed course, a brief detour on his way to Caster. He would go to his apothecary and borrow once more from his father, only this time, the supplies he needed were for someone he truly cared about. The last time had been for thistle root and had been for understanding, as much as it had been to help the other man. This time, he went so that he could help Sam—if only it wasn’t too late.

  As they entered his section, he breathed out, feeling a mixture of relief, as well as trepidation. What would happen if his father didn’t have necessary supplies? If it was foxglove, they needed thistle root to help her, but he’d taken the last of his father’s supply.

  “You’re going to raid your father’s supplies?”