The Book of Maladies Boxset

by D. K. Holmberg

  “The man that Tray intends to take her to has access to resources, and I don’t doubt that he will do all he can to help her, but he doesn’t know what to use. I know what I might need.”

  “How do you know what you’ll need?”

  “Well, I don’t entirely. I have an idea—and that might be enough.”

  He reached his father’s shop and checked the door. It was unlocked. That was a surprise, but more surprising was when he pushed open the door, he saw a lantern glowing near the back.

  “Father?” Alec called.

  His father stepped out from the back of the shop and glanced from Alec to Beckah. “It’s awfully late for you to be visiting, Alec.”

  “I need your help. Sam was possibly poisoned.”

  “Possibly?”

  “I don’t know if she was poisoned, only that it’s likely.”

  “Alec, I’ve taught you well enough to know that you need to know what the potential toxin is in order to adequately counter it.”

  “It might be foxglove. Then again, it could be something else. It was Marin.”

  “Marin?”

  Alec still hadn’t figured out how his father and Marin knew each other, but there was no doubting that they did.

  “Why would Marin poison Sam? You told me she’s always tried to help her.”

  “It’s a long story, but Marin did something to Sam long ago that wiped her memories from her mind.”

  His father’s eyes widened. “That’s a dark use. There’s only one thing that would make that possible.”

  “Whatever augmentation Marin used on her took away memories of her family, memories of who she was before.”

  “It’s not an augmentation,” his father said.

  “It would have to be. Marin is the one who did it.”

  “The same Marin who has helped protect a half Theln?”

  “You’ve known?”

  “I know many things about the goings on within the city.”

  Alec would have to find those answers later. Right now, he needed a way to help Sam. “What is it? What would Marin have done that could take away memories?”

  “You’ve seen it before. When you helped the princess, you saw how the Thelns have a way of damaging others.”

  “The Book of Maladies?” he asked. If it was the book, the only way to counter its effect would be to destroy the page involved. That was how they had managed to save the princess, though he still wasn’t certain how Marin—and it had to be Marin—had managed to take that page from the book.

  “That’s the only thing I know of that could do what you’re describing.”

  Alec squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a bit daunted, before opening them again. “We’ll have to deal with that later. First, I need to help her.”

  “You can’t simply use your easar paper?” his father asked.

  “She’s too weak to use her blood. Doing that would put her in danger, and I’m not willing to risk it.”

  “If she’s dying, you may have to take that risk.”

  “If she’s poisoned, I need to counter the poison before I do anything else.”

  His father considered him a moment before nodding. “There are a few things that might be able to help,” he said, starting down the row of shelves. “If you think it’s foxglove, there is only one possible counter for that.”

  “Thistle root,” Alec said. “Did you get my note?”

  “A note? Alec, I’ve been gone for some time. I haven’t received any note from you.”

  Alec looked over to Beckah. If he hadn’t received his note, that meant that he hadn’t restocked the thistle root. “How hard is thistle root to find?”

  “It’s difficult. Collecting it requires a careful approach that’s not easy to do. I have a reasonable supply that would be enough to help all but the most heavily poisoned.”

  “You did have enough,” Alec said.

  His father turned to them, looking at Alec with a curious expression.

  “There was a man, seemingly dead, that Master Carl brought into class to demonstrate foxglove toxicity. I was told the university didn’t have a supply of thistle root to heal him.”

  “And you thought to help him.”

  Alec nodded.

  “Oh, Alec. What have you done?”

  “What have I done? I was trying to help.”

  “I am sure you were. The problem is that there are many uses for foxglove. The university often uses it to sedate dangerous people.”

  Alec’s breath caught. What had he done? If they used it to sedate dangerous individuals, had he somehow inadvertently helped someone who might be dangerous to the university—and the city?

  And then he’d helped Sam break into Master Carl’s room, and had helped her break this person out—the same person Marin now had.

  “Why would they sedate dangerous individuals?” Beckah asked.

  His father looked over to her, almost as if seeing her for the first time. His gaze drifted over her, scanning her for a moment. “There are many individuals who seek power and would use that to work against the city. There are many who have no qualms about using what they know and targeting others who might seek to protect the city.”

  “How is it that you know this?” Beckah asked.

  His father met her gaze. “Because I also work to protect the city.”

  Beckah started to smile. “You’re an apothecary.”

  His father nodded. “I am. One who trained at the university. One who understands the use of medicines for healing… As well as for other purposes.”

  Alec turned sharply and looked at his father. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that I have worked for a long time to facilitate safety within the city.”

  “Did you know about Marin?”

  “I didn’t. Not before…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you must try to save your friend. She is important.”

  “Because she can help the city?” Alec asked.

  “Because she is important to you,” his father said.

  He grabbed a few jars from the shelves, each either a stimulant, or some sort of healing medicine, and placed them in Alec’s hands. “Try these. If you give her a boost, if you can help by stimulating her heart a little bit, you might be able to counter the effects of the toxin enough that you can use your abilities to save her.”

  “Father—”

  His father shook his head. “Go. We’ll talk later.”

  Alec turned, grabbing Beckah by the hand and pulling her from the shop, and hurried out into the street.

  31

  The Tavern Destroyed

  The streets of Caster were dark by the time Alec and Beckah arrived. He felt uncomfortable here this late at night, though he knew he shouldn’t. No real harm would come to them, not so long as they remained on the main streets.

  Beckah looked around, her head constantly swiveling as they made their way along the street. She kept close to him, holding tightly to his hand. “I’m not sure this is safe.”

  “I had the same feeling the first time I was here. The people here aren’t any different from those elsewhere in the city.”

  A cry echoed through the night, coming from deeper within Caster.

  “Not so different? The guard patrols the other sections. They don’t even bother in these outer sections at all. It was bad enough the first time, but…”

  “You were fine the first time. And the guard doesn’t bother because most of the sections like this have a different kind of policing,” Alec said.

  “What kind is that?”

  “The kind they do themselves. These people don’t want the guard patrolling here. I can’t blame them, either, as the guard has never served them.”

  “You sound like you’re making excuses for them.”

  “It’s not excuses. It’s simply the truth of this part of the city.”

  When they reached Bastan’s tavern, none of the usual music filtered out the door. When Ale
c pulled the door open, he wasn’t entirely sure what he would find.

  The tavern was empty.

  “Alec? I don’t like this.”

  He didn’t, either, but didn’t want to scare her by admitting that. The tavern should be busy, if only with Bastan’s men.

  Alec hurriedly guided Beckah toward the kitchen. That had been the way he’d gotten down to Bastan’s hidden area before. If he were anywhere, it would be there. They’d taken long enough at the apothecary for Tray to have made it to the tavern with Sam.

  There was no one to stop them, and Alec didn’t know whether to be thankful for that or worried. Like the main part of the tavern, the kitchen was empty, not the usual bustle of activity. Alec hurried through it and found the door to the lower level open. He took the stairs two at a time, his pounding heart racing in time with his mind. He hoped Tray had gotten Sam to the tavern without any interference.

  Where were Bastan’s men?

  “Something doesn’t feel right,” Beckah said.

  “Because it’s not,” he whispered.

  He checked the first door and found the room empty. That was where he had been summoned to help Elaine, but there was no sign of Bastan or Sam.

  The next door opened onto another storeroom, and it was as empty as the last. There was one door remaining, and though Alec didn’t know what was inside, he suspected he would find much the same. There had to be a reason that Bastan—and his men—weren’t here.

  When he opened the door, the room was as empty as he expected.

  “Where are they?” Beckah asked.

  Alec shook his head. What had happened? Tray should have easily gotten here—unless something happened along the way and he had stopped somewhere else. But even if that happened, where was Bastan? Why was the tavern empty?

  “I don’t know.”

  He returned to the kitchen, and back into the tavern, where he paused. There was one other place to check, but normally, he wouldn’t be allowed access. Then again, normally, he wouldn’t be allowed unaccompanied access anywhere beyond the main tavern area.

  Alec reached the door to Bastan’s private office and found it unlocked. That alone was unusual, but everything about this visit felt unusual.

  The office was in complete disarray.

  Sculptures were tipped, and paintings that Alec suspected were important to Bastan were tossed on the ground in a heap. He motioned for Beckah to wait outside the door, then stepped in slowly, carefully, and looked around, before spotting a small figure lying near a corner of the room.

  Alec raced over to it.

  “Sam?”

  She was still warm, and as he pressed his head to her chest to listen for her heartbeat, he found that it still thudded, and she still had regular breaths. There was that much at least.

  How much longer would she have?

  Would he be able to heal her?

  Alec reached into his pocket and took out one of the vials that contained a stimulant. It would speed the heart but did little else other than give a boost of energy.

  Alec took one of the leaves out and rolled it between his fingers. Then he gently opened Sam’s mouth and stuck the leaf inside her cheek.

  “What are you giving her?” Beckah asked, stepping closer.

  Alec held up the jar. “Anfar leaves. They’re a mild stimulant and will give a small boost of energy. Maybe it’ll be enough to wake her up.”

  “And if it’s not?”

  If it’s not, he would have to try what his father had suggested, though he didn’t like the idea. She was weakened, and if he drew blood from her while she was in such a state, he ran the risk of taking too much. They hadn’t practiced that before, but Alec had heard what could happen if too much energy was drawn. It left both the Scribe and the Kaver severely disabled.

  But wouldn’t he attempt that if it meant saving Sam’s life?

  After a moment or two, her heart sped up a little, but other than that, there was no change. He took the other vials his father had given him from his pocket, and made a quick mixture using his palm as a bowl, and stuffed the concoction of healing herbs into her mouth. It would likely do nothing, but it was worth trying.

  “And that?” Beckah asked.

  “These are all different types of healing herbs. I don’t even know if any of them will work, but…” He shrugged. “I have to try.”

  He sat back on his heels and waited. He didn’t expect that anything he was trying would make a difference. If it was foxglove toxicity, the only thing that would help her would be thistle root—or to use easar paper.

  Alec searched through Sam’s pockets for her easar paper but couldn’t find it. All he had left to try was his slip of paper.

  “I thought you said it was dangerous to do weakened,” Beckah said.

  Alec took one of the vials that his father had given him and removed the various leaves within it. “I thought you didn’t believe in magic,” he said.

  He pulled his knife out of its sheath and made a small puncture in the palm of his hand, just enough to create a small droplet of blood. He did the same with Sam, debating for a moment, but taking a slightly greater amount from her. He hated that it was necessary, but for healing, the Kaver’s blood was more important than that of the Scribe. At least, in their experience, that was the case.

  “Can you help me remove her cloak?” Alec asked. He wanted to see the nature of the injury to know whether it was healing as they used their blood.

  As he and Beckah shifted Sam, slipping her arms out of the sleeves and settling her back on the ground, he took stock of the injury. The puncture in her shoulder was not only deep but wide, and it continued to ooze.

  What was Marin’s intent? If it was only to injure Sam, she wouldn’t have needed to stab her shoulder like that. As he checked out the wound, Beckah sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Alec?”

  He glanced over to see Beckah with her hands in Sam’s cloak. “What is it?”

  She held up a few vials. Two of them were clearly toxins. There was the jagged and sickly-looking leaf of the orson plant. Then there was the equally deadly-looking chatterflax, its leaf a shade of gray that when powdered would stop both heart and breathing.

  “Why would she have these?” Beckah asked.

  From the way she questioned, it seemed that Beckah recognized them, just as Alec had.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never known Sam to have anything like that with her.”

  Beckah continued to check her cloak and took another sharp breath as she pulled another jar from within it. “And this?”

  She handed it to Alec. It was his turn to gasp.

  “Thistle root. How did she have a supply of it?”

  He quickly opened the jar and removed a piece. He hoped it wasn’t already too late. If it worked, if he somehow managed to reverse the effects of whatever poison Marin had used, he’d be more comfortable using the easar paper to heal the rest of her injuries.

  Alec cut up the thistle root and crushed it, creating something of a paste. He shoved it into Sam’s mouth and tried to force it down her throat. He hated how rough he was with her, but at the same time, prayed that it worked.

  “What now?” Beckah asked.

  “Now?” Alec glanced down at the paper. He had to try it, didn’t he? Even if the thistle root helped, he still needed the easar paper to heal her wounds.

  Dipping his pen into their blood ink, he began to write.

  He chose the words he used to describe her illness carefully. That was an important part of the healing process. It was much the same way that choosing the right words was important in creating an augmentation.

  Alec described the nature of her injuries, at least as much as he knew of them. He described how he would heal them, though he would do nothing of the sort. The easar paper would heal them.

  Then he was done.

  Alec sat back, glancing from the paper to Sam.

  “How will you know if it’s going to work?” Beckah asked.

/>   “I thought… I thought it would have started by now. When we’ve attempted augmentations in the past, it worked right away.”

  “Why wouldn’t it work now?”

  He breathed out a shaky breath. “There are many possibilities.” He started thinking through what those might be. “It could simply be that the ratio is wrong. The ratio of her blood to mine makes a difference, especially with the intent of how we use it. With healing, it tends to require a higher percentage of Kaver blood.”

  “I presume that she is the Kaver,” Beckah said.

  Alec nodded. “I’m what’s called a Scribe. The ink requires blood from both of us to work, but sometimes, the intent needs more of one person’s or the others. In the case of healing, it’s the Kaver’s blood.”

  He continued watching Sam, but nothing changed. There was no knitting of the wound on her shoulder, nothing that would indicate that his attempt with the easar paper was having any effect. And there was no wave of weakness through him that would indicate it worked.

  “It’s also possible that she is too far along for her blood to facilitate the magic,” Alec said. It was hard for him to admit, but that was what he feared. Maybe the magic didn’t burn within her veins when she was as sick as she was.

  “What if there’s something wrong with the paper?” Beckah asked.

  “It worked before, in the courtyard.” He’d seen that the augmentation had been effective. She had launched herself, the augmentation making her light, much as he intended. It had to have worked, didn’t it?

  Unless something had happened to the paper between then and now.

  But what could have happened?

  “It’s possible,” Alec said. He remembered the sheet of easar paper that Sam had held on to and reached into her cloak. He found it folded up and buried near the bottom of a deep pocket. Alec reopened the wound in his palm, adding a few more drops of blood to the blood ink.

  “I thought you said the ratio was important,” Beckah said.

  “It is, but I don’t think I can draw much more from her. It’s going to require more of me, though I don’t know if it will work.”

  He unfolded the sheet of paper and smoothed it out on the floor. Dipping his pen into the blood ink, he started writing. The pen scraped along the page, the coppery scent of blood filling his nose. Beckah was silent next to him, holding her breath much like Alec held his.