“If you are sure you can maintain the integrity of the stone, Kezari,” Lial said, “Then yes.”
Kezari gave a sharp nod. “I can.”
Aris shoved away from the wall. “Perhaps I should—”
“No, skizik,” Kezari interrupted softly. “I can do this. Rest.”
As soon as the dragon disappeared up the stairs, Aris slumped. But he didn’t follow. Lial spared a moment’s regret for the strain between the two, but there was nothing he could do for it. Not now. There was far too much to deal with, and he had far too little energy. Gods help them if there was another emergency before he could rest.
“I don’t suppose you want to tell me about Elerie’s condition,” Lial said to Alerielle.
The other healer sucked in an audible breath, her eyes darkening with sadness. “I’ve attempted to repair her spine multiple times through the years, but I am not strong in that technique. I’ve tried some of your methods. Unfortunately, I believe it might require multiple healers working together after so long.”
Lial scowled, though he wasn’t surprised. Everything was slower during a dreaming state, including healing, but after five and a half centuries, the bones would have fused. Alerielle had to have known that before seeking his help. Too bad she hadn’t come to him for advice sooner. He’d been at Braelyn for over four hundred years, so there’d certainly been ample time. And what about the previous healer? An adept enough man, as far as Lial knew.
“Why didn’t you carry her to Braelyn’s healer?”
“He wasn’t trustworthy.” Alerielle’s lips pursed. “Which is no doubt why Myern Telien replaced him. I suspected the former healer was sympathetic to Allafon, and that I could not risk.”
“I see.” And he supposed he did. He, too, would go to such extremes to save a patient. “I would like to examine her after we are certain we are free of illness and there is no more risk of plague.”
Alerielle nodded. “Perhaps while we wait for your dragon friend to finish, you can check me.”
Lial couldn’t withhold the deep sigh. His energy might be low, but this couldn’t wait. He couldn’t return to Braelyn without knowing for sure. “Very well.”
Dizziness spun through him like the flames no doubt roaring upstairs, but he held his power steady. A quick examination, and then hopefully he could rest. As if there was any chance of that happening.
If it wouldn’t have confused the others, he might have laughed.
Fen shoved the book away with a frustrated curse. He was decently educated despite his years on the streets, and he’d spent many quiet hours taking online courses to ensure it was so. Apparently, he should have added a few classes on medical terminology because not even acing biology helped him with this. Had Delbin picked the densest text possible?
“Probably ordered the cheapest one he could find on the internet,” Fen grumbled, giving the book another push for good measure.
He was so annoyed that he almost missed the soft ping of metal hitting stone. Frowning, Fen peered beneath the table. Light from the nearby mage globe glinted against the delicate ring he’d admired earlier. Damn. He must have knocked it off while shifting the book. He stretched his hand out until he could grasp it and then straightened.
It truly was a fine piece. Fen had just started working with Maddy’s father, a renowned Sidhe jeweler who’d set up shop on Earth with Maddy’s human mother, so he had greater appreciation for the ring than he would have a month ago. Lial really should have enchantments placed on it if he decided to gift this to Lynia. Shayan had created rings for Fen, Maddy, and Anna that had proved more than useful.
I would love to be able to ask him if he’s returning soon.
The memory of Lynia’s muttered wish clicked against the thought of the spells in his own ring, and Fen smiled. He might not be able to pull anything useful from that textbook, but he could play around with a telepathy mod. Of course, he would need Lial’s presence to activate the magic fully, but he could get started. If the healer objected, Fen could always remove what he’d added.
Besides, he wasn’t exactly an ask-for-permission kind of guy.
Ralan stood on the border between Braelyn and Oria and waited.
Later, when the crisis was over and peace resumed—if it did—he would have a long talk with Delbin about the value of keeping his damned mouth shut. How had the whelp survived for a century amongst humans? A true mystery if he couldn’t guard a secret longer than a few minutes. If it would have helped, Ralan would have ordered Delbin’s ass out here to the middle of the wilderness in the icy cold. Morenial, the Dorn of Oria, wasn’t likely to stop his approach for anyone short of the crown prince, though.
Too bad Ralan hadn’t Seen Elerie’s return sooner. Before tonight, he’d only caught a few brief glimpses of her a decade or two from now, but he hadn’t known her identity. After tonight’s visions, especially the potential futures stemming from Morenial speaking with Kai, he’d grown all-too-familiar with the lady’s name.
Why had Delbin taken the least probable future and opened his mouth?
There were so many possible disasters that could land on them from this night when it should have been under control. At the beginning of the evening, Lynia and Lial had been nearing their needed discoveries, Koranel’s deception had been uncovered before he fell under the control of the Sidhe lord Meren, and Korel was about to be captured. Crises nearly averted.
Then Aris’s control slipped, and Kezari made a foolish, hasty choice. The lack of futures Ralan could See for Korel—except those involving being burned or buried—meant he’d likely succumbed to the virus he’d carried in his blood, which also meant said virus had been activated. And in carrying Korel to the healer, the secret of Elerie had been revealed too soon.
Thanks for the help, Delbin.
Ralan had to clear the scowl from his face as Morenial appeared on the path. Ralan was angry, but not at the Dorn of Oria. Who wouldn’t be in turmoil after a revelation like this about one’s own mother? But although he could sympathize, Ralan stepped from the shadows without hesitation and cast a mage globe above his head, leaving no doubts as to his identity.
Morenial drew to an abrupt halt, surprise filling his expression. “Prince Ralan?”
“You will not speak to Kai tonight. Nor tomorrow.”
The other man’s lips turned down. “He should be there when I… Never mind. It is too much to explain.”
“I’ve Seen more than enough futures about it, believe me,” Ralan replied wryly. “How do you think I knew to stop you?”
“My mother—” Morenial’s words choked off.
“Kai cannot know this yet,” Ralan insisted. “And your presence could expose him to more than distress. There’s a chance you are or will be infected. I cannot tell the origin point. I suggest you seal yourself away from others.”
The color leached from the man’s face. “Miaran.”
“Exactly.” Ralan didn’t bother mentioning that he’d put himself at risk to stop this. If Morenial couldn’t infer that for himself, telling him wouldn’t do any good. “I trust this doesn’t need to be an order?”
“It does not.” Morenial tapped his chest twice and bowed. “I will return home and isolate myself at once.”
“See to it.”
Even after the man disappeared, Ralan stood in the cold, huddling beneath his cloak. Well. Nothing to do now but head back to the healer’s tower and wait outside in the ice until Lial returned and examined him, perhaps hours from now. If his brief contact with Morenial had led to infection, Ralan needed to know before returning to his family even if it took all night.
And if it did, Cora was going to be pissed.
Chapter 32
By the time Lial stepped through the gate from Oria to Braelyn, his shoulders were as tense as the boulder currently inhabiting his gut. They’d found no sign of the virus after Kezari had immolated everything, but they had encountered Morenial on their way to the portal. Ralan had warned the Dorn of poss
ible contagion—unfortunately, Ralan had been right.
Everything within Lial told him to heal Moren immediately, but he had to ignore instinct. There was minimal virus in the elf’s blood, and from what Lial had observed before jerking his energy free, it hadn’t been activated. How much had Korel borne inside of himself for it to have been so pervasive in his body? It hardly seemed accidental that a traitor had wandered the area like a biological entrapment spell, just waiting for a healer to release that mess into the wild.
“You’re sure we’re okay?” Delbin asked as they paused in the entryway. “I was in the same room as Moren.”
Lial’s gaze skimmed along the group that had accompanied him, but he didn’t have the energy to examine them a second time. Not with magic. He’d barely managed at Oria, but he hadn’t been willing to allow anyone to return to Braelyn without doing so, even if he couldn’t bring himself to rely upon the results. Thankfully, Delbin, Inona, Koranel, Kezari, and Aris all appeared to be free of disease.
“I’m as certain as I can be, though you should remain in your rooms as much as possible.” Lial sighed. “I’m uneasy with the fact that neither I nor Alerielle showed sign of infection despite working so closely beside Korel.”
Inona nudged Koranel. “At least this one shouldn’t be exposing anyone after returning to his cell.”
The former captain stared at the ground, his expression bleak, and guilt added more weight to the stone in Lial’s abdomen. Koranel had messed up, but he’d been willing to rectify that mistake. Now there was no way for him to obtain the information Lyr had demanded he acquire from Korel. What Lyr would do with him now was anyone’s guess.
Yet another cost of Lial’s failure.
“Go ahead and take him there,” Lial said.
Inona raised a brow, a slight smile tipping one side of her mouth. “Are you the Myern now? We are supposed to report back to Lord Lyr.”
“No, but I am in charge of keeping the Myern healthy.” Lial pinned her with his gaze. “I will not allow any of us near him until I am certain we haven’t missed some trace of this illness. Isolate yourselves, or I’ll find you each rooms of your own in the holding tower. I’ll chain you up myself if I have to.”
Beside Inona, Aris sucked in a harsh breath as the color leached from his skin. “That’s…”
“Miaran,” Lial cursed, frustrated at himself for his careless mistake. The last thing the life mage needed was a reminder of his captivity. “Not you, Aris. Isolating yourself from Selia and Iren will be sufficient, just in case.”
Aris gave a jerky nod. “Have you heard from Tynan?”
“According to Lyr, Tynan should be arriving soon. He may be here already,” Lial replied. “I’ll ask when I report in.”
Inona scowled, though Delbin shot her a warning glance. “I thought you said not to report.”
Lial speared his hand through his hair and tugged. “I said not to go physically near him. Use telepathy. Send a note. I don’t care, so long as you do as I command. I cannot tell you how little I care about rank in this regard.”
The scout’s lips tightened, but she inclined her head in assent. In truth, he understood her hesitation—she was trained to report back without fail, but he hadn’t been joking about hauling her to the prison himself if he had to. The way that virus had torn through Korel’s body… Lial barely kept from shuddering.
“Go,” Lial said. “I need to talk to Lynia. Hopefully, she has found some answers in her research.”
Not that he would be able to get physically close to her any more than he could Lyr. A cruel twist of fate, that. After all this time, they’d finally come together, and now he would have to stay away. If he were like Fen, Lial might have said the gods were assholes. But no. A healer dared not court irreverence.
Not with a profession that so often required the benevolence of Bera.
There. That was all she could do.
Lynia’s eyes slid closed, but she couldn’t decide if it was in relief or exhaustion. Maybe it was both. With every herb she’d measured, tension had wound tighter inside her until her shoulders ached and her fingers stung from pinching the measuring spoons. Even so, she was fairly confident she’d done it. The potion bubbled away merrily under the influence of the heating spell.
“Thank you,” Lynia said to Maddy and Anna, who stared over her shoulders at the potion. “Your help was invaluable.”
“I can’t believe I might have contributed to the cure for the elven plague,” Anna said. “I hope I purified the water right. Is there some kind of safety test for these things?”
Smiling, Lynia turned to face them. “We’ll have to ask Lial.”
“I hope he gets back soon.” Maddy cast an uneasy glance toward Caeleth. “I scanned our patient without finding anything wrong, and Elan said Caeleth was fine when he checked. But…I still worry. He hasn’t been fighting the sleeping spell like he did at first.”
“It is the middle of the night,” Lynia countered, although she had to admit that the mage’s quiet bothered her, too.
“Speaking of which…” Maddy tipped her head toward Anna, who slumped on the stool next to the workbench. “We should probably get some sleep. We’re supposed to go home tomorrow if we’re cleared to leave. I guess that’s another reason to hope the potion works.”
Anna sighed. “Yeah. I don’t exactly love my job at the restaurant, but I don’t want to lose it, either.”
Fen chose that moment to bounce down the stairs, books tucked under his arm and a sly grin curving his lips. Lynia’s eyebrow rose at the latter. If there was reason to be amused, she didn’t know it. Naturally, he didn’t bother to explain. He set the books on the workbench and curled his arm around Anna, who softened against him.
“Did I hear someone say sleep?” Fen asked.
Maddy rolled her eyes. “You know you heard every word. But yes. I did.”
“Did you find anything useful in the books?” Lynia asked.
Oddly, there was more satisfaction than remorse in his expression as he answered. “I’m sorry, but no. I didn’t. I’m not very good at that kind of stuff.”
Lynia didn’t believe that for a moment. Oh, the text was challenging enough, that she knew. It was his excuse she didn’t accept. He’d delivered the words with all the authenticity of a low-level omree claiming he’d sung for the king. It might have happened, but not the way one was led to think.
No need to question him on the matter, though. They were all too tired for that. “Thank you for trying.”
After the three bid their goodbyes and departed, Lynia returned to Caeleth’s side. Maybe it was normal for a patient to remain under Lial’s sleep spell for so long? She frowned down at the man. He appeared a little flushed, but his breathing was steady. Perhaps she had tucked the blanket around him too tightly.
Lynia eased the blanket beneath his arms but was careful not to expose the bandage. There. Surely, Lial would return soon, and he could verify that all was well. If nothing else, Elan intended to return every mark, so if Caeleth needed the ambient temperature adjusted, the other healer could do it. She might find it pleasantly cool, but she wasn’t covered in blankets.
Her son’s energy brushed against hers, and Lynia opened the connection immediately, the mage forgotten. “Yes?”
“Lial just returned.” Lyr hesitated, though a hint of his somber mood filtered through. “The healing did not go well, and reporting to me didn’t help. If he’s in a foul mood when he returns to the tower, well… I thought you should know so you won’t take it personally. Go easy on him.”
She nearly rolled her eyes like Maddy. “I would hardly be cruel.”
“Of course you wouldn’t,” Lyr hurried to say. “But with all the tension between you of late…”
“I care for Lial.” She loved him, in truth, but she wasn’t going to tell her son that before the man in question. “I appreciate the warning, though I can’t imagine offering harsh words. I would always comfort him if he’d let me.”
/> “I’ll leave you to discover that for yourself,” Lyr replied, a touch of disquiet in his tone.
No doubt he didn’t want to think about the forms comfort could take.
As they ended the link, Lynia settled into one of the chairs they’d gathered while examining the Seelie queen’s blood. That had only been five or six marks ago, but it felt like a century. A never-ending night. Another six or so marks until sunrise with so much left that could fill it.
She could only pray for no more disasters.
Despite the cold, Lial had paced around the clearing in front of the estate as he’d given his report telepathically to Lyr. A painful accounting, that, especially after Lyr’s surprised “You failed to save him?” His friend had apologized profusely for the insensitive comment, but the wound those words had carved remained. Lial had failed in his first challenge against the plague when so many relied upon his success. That was undeniable.
He might falter yet again if he didn’t rest, and there was no help forthcoming. Lyr had also told him that Tynan was delayed until the next morning. A strange turn of events when Lial wished for the mind healer’s presence instead of the opposite, but having more aid would have relieved a little worry. If Aris’s control deteriorated further…
Better not to contemplate that—like so many other things of late.
Finally, his feet carried him toward the healing tower, but he couldn’t bear to go in. Lyr had told him Lynia was there, working on some kind of potion she’d discovered. She would want to know what had happened, but Lial had no clue if he could tell her. She respected him as a healer, not a killer. And like the horrible memories he’d accidentally gleaned from Aris, this darkness was more terrible than she deserved to encounter.
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