Exsanguinated

by D. K. Holmberg

  Mags turned back to him. She stared at him for a long moment, almost as if trying to decide how she would answer. After a while, she breathed out. “There may be nothing that I can do, but Mags will try. For the physicker who saved Nashon, Mags will try.”

  27

  The Sangr Artist

  Alec hadn’t expected Mags to come with him and be willing to assist, and he still didn’t know exactly what it meant that she was willing to help. She led him out of the building, and as soon as they appeared on the street, doors began to open, and Alec had the unsettled feeling that the people inside might attack him much as they had before. Mags looked along the street, and those doors closed once more.

  “How many people do you have watching you?”

  She glanced over at him. “Everyone.”

  “Why?”

  “The city is unsafe.”

  “The city is mostly safe.”

  “Perhaps your section, physicker, but the rest of us don’t find the same safety in the city as you do. Anything outside of the central canal is dangerous and is guarded by those who live there.” She turned and stared down the street. “And now, we will wait.”

  “For what?”

  “For Bastan to return.”

  “Bastan’s not going to return. Not after what happened. Your people—”

  Mags glanced over at him, smiling. “My people? As I’ve said, my people will only slow Bastan.”

  “There were more than Bastan could handle.”

  “Physicker, I realize you don’t know the city quite as well as you thought you did, but even you must realize Bastan can manage far more than what it appears.”

  Alec was going to argue, but he saw movement far down the street, and it took him a moment to realize that it was Bastan.

  Alec hurried over to him. The man was injured. He had several cuts on his arm, and where the crossbow had pierced his shoulder were remnants of the bolt, but he was alive.

  “You need help.”

  “Later.” Bastan glanced over at Mags. “You convinced her.”

  “She thinks Helen intends to use the canals to attack Asalar.”

  Bastan glanced over at him. “She said that?”

  Alec nodded. “What is it? Where is Asalar?”

  “The people you know as Thelns come from there. It took me a long time and not an insignificant amount of funds to discover that, but it is true.”

  “I’m not sure that it matters then.”

  “It matters. If she attacks Asalar, not only will Tray be injured but if by any chance Sam still lives, she will be lost as well.” Bastan reached Mags and looked over at her. “You can interrupt what they planned?”

  “I am curious, Bastan, how it is that you have found not only a physicker but a child of Asalar.”

  “They found me, not the other way around.”

  “The djohn do not typically associate with those of Asalar.”

  Bastan clenched his jaw. “Perhaps not, but this one does.”

  “Interesting. You realize what this means?”

  “It only means something if word gets out,” Bastan said.

  “And I imagine you would pay dearly to ensure that word does not get out,” Mags said.

  Bastan glared at her. “Do not push this, Mags.”

  “Oh, I think we will have much to discuss when all is said and done.”

  “Fine. When this is over, you and I can discuss anything you want, but for now, you will help.”

  “For now.”

  “She’s using the canals,” Alec said. “I hadn’t seen it before, but when she drew a map of the city, I realized what it was Helen was doing.”

  “A map?” Bastan looked back toward Mags’ building, before turning his attention over to Alec. “You saw a map?”

  “Mags drew a map.”

  Bastan glanced over at Mags. “Perhaps I’m not the only one who has done more than they should,” he said.

  Mags glanced at Alec, frowning. “Perhaps not,” she said.

  “I need to gather support,” Bastan said. “Allow me to pass through your section unimpeded.”

  “You have my blessing.”

  Bastan arched a brow. “You’re blessing? Are you sure you want to go quite that far?”

  “Only for now. When this is over…”

  Bastan smiled. “When this is over, I think there will be quite a bit you and I need to discuss.”

  “When this is over,” Mags agreed.

  Bastan glanced at Alec, and then he headed off on his own, at first limping, but gradually, the limp began to fade, and he moved with more strength, almost as if his injuries were healing.

  “What sorts of powers do the djohn possess?” Alec asked Mags.

  “They are powerful. They do not have any overt magic, not as some do, but they draw strength from chaos.”

  “How?”

  “Ah, that is not something that is well known. All I have been able to determine is that the djohn have power. They feed on violence.”

  “Bastan doesn’t seem to feed on violence.”

  “No, Bastan is an anomaly. He has never been nearly as violent as some djohn, though I imagine he can be more violent than you realize.”

  “Why is that?” Having seen the way Bastan was able to fight, Alec believed it, but it didn’t fit with what he knew of Bastan. He always seemed so calm and in control. He always seemed to manage to keep everything together.

  “There are times when Bastan searches for violence. I imagine you saw him as he came toward this section?” Mags watched him for a moment, and then she nodded. “I can see from your face that you did. Bastan has had many episodes similar to that. Most go unseen. Most of the time, Bastan will operate at night, because he is a part of the night, and a part of the violence in these sections, but there are times when he allows himself to be seen. Then it is truly a sight to behold.”

  Alec shivered. If Bastan did feed on violence and chaos, how was he able to hide it as well as he did? Unless, as Mags suggested, Bastan didn’t hide it. Maybe he allowed it to come out, but only at certain times.

  “If you intend to prevent this canvas from being completed and used, then perhaps we should see what we can do,” Mags said.

  Mags allowed Alec to lead, and they headed toward the central canal, the vast body of water that separated the outer sections from the merchants and the rest of the highborns. It was troubling to him that Helen had chosen there to attack.

  If she mixed blood into the canal, what would it do?

  When they reached the bridge leading over the central canal, Mags grabbed his arm and prevented him from crossing. “Let me focus here for a bit.”

  “Focus on what?”

  “Focus on what they intend.”

  Mags smelled the air. She began to walk along the edge of the canal, breathing deeply. Alec noticed that the canal barges typically situated in front of this section were missing. Had Helen moved them? Or was there something else responsible for that?

  “It is more than simply a canvas,” Mags whispered.

  “What do you mean?”

  Mags glanced over. “This will be more than a canvas. Whatever is taking place here involves power I do not fully understand.”

  “And that surprises you?”

  “I am a sangr artist. There is not much that is beyond me when it comes to understanding the powers burned within blood, but this, I do not recognize.”

  She continued to make her way along the street, and she paused every so often, typically to take a deep breath and smell the air. The first few times she did it, Alec just watched, but he began to sniff with her, at first unintentionally, and then he did so because he was curious whether he could smell whatever she was smelling.

  There didn’t seem to be anything.

  But the more he continued to do it, the more he was convinced that maybe he could pick up on something.

  Mags glanced over at him. She watched for a moment, and she nodded. “You should have the ability to detect th
e occurrence here. Breathe it in. Taste it. Know that what you think you smell is real.”

  Alec stared at her for a moment, and then turned his attention back to the canal, breathing deeply again. Each time he did, with each breath he took, he became increasingly convinced he was picking up on something, but what was it? Was it only his imagination, or was there something real?

  It was the sense that something was not quite right.

  He didn’t know why he felt that way, but the more he breathed it in, the more he was certain of it.

  It was like an illness. Alec had been raised around illness, and he knew sickness as well as he knew anything. If there was sickness in the canals, what did it mean that he was able to detect it?

  Maybe nothing. Maybe all it meant was that he could smell the strangeness to it. The canals always had a strange odor to them, and it shouldn’t be all that surprising he would be able to pick up on it somewhat.

  Then again, there had never been any attempt to poison the canals, had there? Other than what Marin had done, and he wasn’t even sure whether that would have made a difference.

  “It is happening,” Mags said.

  “What is happening?”

  “The canvas. Breathe it in, physicker. Notice what you can detect. It is there.”

  Alec took a deep breath, and he could smell sickness, but why? “Does it mean she is nearby? Would she have to be here to do… whatever it is she’s doing?” he said.

  Mags took a deep breath once more. She began to walk in a circle, and her eyes fluttered. “Whatever she is doing is coming out from some central place. It is coming out evenly, as if she is pushing it from a source.”

  A source? Where would there be a source that would push out to all of the canals?

  But he thought he knew.

  “Gods! They’re beneath the palace.”

  Mags glanced over at him. “Beneath the palace? Yes, I suppose that would work. There are rumors that the source of the canals pools there. Such a place would be difficult to reach.”

  “Not if there’s already a tunnel there.”

  And Alec knew there was. That was how Lyasanna had escaped. That had to be what Helen was doing.

  “I need to find Bastan.”

  “I don’t know that you have time to find Bastan. Whatever is taking place is happening soon.”

  “Can you do anything to stop it?”

  Mags looked at the canal, her eyes wide. “On a canvas this size? I had thought that perhaps I might be able to influence it, but there is tremendous power here. I had not anticipated anything quite like this. You can smell it, can’t you?”

  Alec nodded. “I can smell something. It’s like a sickness within the canals.”

  “And if you can smell it, then you should be able to tell that it is powerful. Maintaining such power for any significant amount of time is difficult. Whatever she intends is happening soon.”

  “Go find Bastan. Have him send as many men as he can to the palace.”

  “And what of you, physicker? What is it that you intend?”

  Alec looked at Mags. What choice did he have? There was only one thing he could do; he had to find a way to stop Helen.

  And he didn’t think he could do it alone.

  “I’m going to see if there’s anything I can do to intervene.”

  “Be careful, physicker. This power is tremendous, and you may be powerful”—she took a deep breath, leaning toward him as she inhaled—“I can smell it on you, but anyone willing to dabble in power like this is incredibly powerful and dangerous. I will see if I can delay it, but I doubt I will be able to buy you much time, if any.”

  Alec nodded. “Thank you.”

  “There is no thanks needed, as I have done nothing.”

  Alec hesitated, thinking that he needed to say something else, something more, but what was there for him to say to Mags? He hurried off, racing across the central canal and through the sections, heading straight toward Arrend.

  He needed his father. He needed the poisoner.

  If he were able to figure out what was happening, his father would need to be the one to help him.

  When he reached his section, the wave of nostalgia that washed over him nearly slowed him too much. Alec ignored it and headed toward his father’s shop, glancing over at Mrs. Rubbles’ shop for a moment before reaching the apothecary. Would his father be here? If he weren’t, Alec would have no choice but to continue on to the palace alone.

  When he opened the door, he found someone he wasn’t expecting.

  “Master Eckerd?” Alec said.

  Eckerd glanced over at Alec. “Physicker Stross. I mean, Master Stross. Where have you been? I came here looking for you, thinking that perhaps your father might know…”

  Alec looked around. Where was his father? “There’s no time. Helen is attacking the canals. She’s beneath the palace in the tunnels that they dug to break the princess out.”

  “You found her?” Eckerd asked.

  “I didn’t find her, but I think I know where to find her.”

  “Why do you think she’s attacking the canals?” Eckerd asked.

  “She intends to destroy the Thelns.”

  Eckerd’s eyes widened. “Could she succeed?”

  “I don’t think she should be allowed to succeed.”

  “Alec, you haven’t been a Scribe for long. You don’t understand the Thelns.”

  “I understand the people I care about. I understand that Helen has attacked Kavers. I understand what is right and what is not.”

  “What if she is doing this on behalf of the city?”

  “I can’t say I understand the Thelns, but I’ve seen what she’s done,” Alec said. “She has attacked someone I care about. The Kavers—”

  “The Kavers are a means to an end, Alec. The power is within the Scribe. It has always been that way. If you could only see that, if you could only come to understand that the Council of Scribes is designed to protect the city. That is all we have ever done.”

  “I thought you didn’t know anything about the council.”

  Eckerd watched Alec for a moment. “I found documentation.”

  “What do you mean you found it?”

  “It appeared in my room. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but the more I read, the more it became clear to me that the purpose of the Council of Scribes, those of us who understand the power in the city and those of us who understand the dynamics between the Kavers and Scribes, is to protect the city.” Eckerd turned to Alec, and he saw something in his mentor’s hand, but he couldn’t tell what it was. “The Kavers are a tool, and nothing more than that. They have never been anything more than that. And if Helen has discovered some way of destroying the Thelns so that we no longer need to fear them, and so we can find the information that remains hidden from us… The Thelns stole it, preventing us from knowing what we rightfully should.”

  “Eckerd, you can’t believe that the Kavers are nothing more than a tool.”

  “Can’t I? They are soldiers, nothing more.”

  Alec could only stare. How could Eckerd actually believe that?

  “Where is my father?”

  “Aelus? I’m not certain. I came here looking for him, thinking that perhaps he might know where you had gone off to, but the fact that you have returned is fortuitous.”

  “I need to go. I’m going to find Helen, and I’m going to stop her.”

  “I’m sorry, Master Stross,” Eckerd said.

  Alec turned back to Eckerd, and too late, he noticed that something flashed toward him. He twisted, trying to get out of the way, but a needle pierced his hand.

  He saw a flash of color, and he could feel the sedative taking hold. With that, he passed out.

  28

  Beneath the City

  Alec awoke to a horrible stink. It burned in his nose and reminded him of charred flesh, a stench he had experienced while working with Master Eckerd while training in surgery, learning to cauterize wounds. This was si
milar, but at the same time, it wasn’t entirely the same.

  He looked around him. Where was he? The last he remembered was that Master Eckerd had attacked him, piercing him with a needle, and Alec had felt the sedative as it had taken hold, recognizing his father’s work, and knowing there would be nothing he could do to avoid it. Had it worn off?

  Alec knew the various components that his father had been using, and if it had worn off, then it meant he’d been out for quite a while already.

  He looked around. He was in a massive underground chamber. Nearby, there was the sound of movement, but he couldn’t see where it came from or what it meant. He rolled off to the side and nearly fell into a pool of water.

  He rolled back, jerking away from the pool. Surprisingly, the water was warm, and it took him a moment to realize it must be heated by steam vents, much the way the steam burbled outside the city. The canals weren’t warm, but maybe they cooled as they flowed from here.

  Was this what he smelled? It was an awful odor, but it didn’t have the same sulfuric stench that the steam vents had.

  Eckerd had brought him here.

  It crushed him that Eckerd could have decided to side with Helen. How many of the master physickers had they lost? How many more would they lose before it was all said and done? Would any physickers remain?

  That was a concern for another time. Right now, he had to focus on what he could do. He had to concentrate on trying to prevent Helen from poisoning the canals, and from there, poisoning the Thelns.

  And yet he paused, hesitating as he thought about what Helen planned. He couldn’t deny the fact there might be some good that would come out of her attacking the Thelns. If they were destroyed, if the threat of the Thelns were no more, they wouldn’t have to fear them, and perhaps the Scribes could learn from those who remained in the Theln lands.

  How many Kavers would suffer?

  He wasn’t certain, but if what Mags said was true, then the Thelns and the Kavers were related. If she did this—if Helen succeeded—it was possible Sam and any remaining Kavers would die along with the Thelns.