by Devon Vesper
Over the last two days, since they broke camp, Roba had been adamant about Valis’s Gessian lessons. He insisted Valis needed to focus on something other than Tavros’s illness, or Valis would drive them both insane. And honestly, Valis knew Roba was right. He was already half-insane from worry, and the Gessian lessons did help. Somewhat. Sometimes.
Valis…
Sorry. Can we go over it again?
They kept their conversation in Gessian to help Valis start thinking in that language instead of trying to translate as he spoke. It kept Valis more alert, but he was growing tired of the constant drills and not being able to communicate in a language he was comfortable with.
Still, Valis went through the language drills without complaint as Roba started them back up. It really was the best distraction when one was surrounded by nothing but barren trees, leagues of neck-deep snow, exhausted horses, and a worried army.
By the time evening rolled around, Valis was about to give up and call for his army to stop and make camp. The wind had grown colder, and Tavros shivered so hard that Valis could hardly keep hold of him.
Valis took a deep breath, about to call for camp when they crested a hill and he saw lights casting a bright glow that shrouded large, sprawling buildings in shadow. His heart leaped at the sight and he called back, “Venoz City ahead! We’re here!”
Cheers arose from the army. Everyone started chatting happily with their partners—murmurs about how excited they were to sleep in a warm bed, in a warm room, and bathe in hot water instead of taking frigid spot-baths with melted snow when their stench started making them nauseous, or their filth made their skin burn and itch. One thing about long journeys that Valis could live without was the stench that permeated the ranks from unwashed armor padding, unwashed bodies, horses in desperate need of grooming, and horse blankets that needed to be burned or cleaned, whichever got rid of the gross odor fastest.
The cheers continued for long minutes as they picked up their pace. The snow eventually turned into salted roads. Now that he didn’t have to keep melting snow, Valis led his army at a full gallop toward the city gates. The sooner they could get their horses taken care of, the sooner Valis could get Tavros looked after.
“I’ll send for the healer,” Seza said. She rode off at a fast clip and disappeared past the gates and around a corner. Zhasina guided her horse up next to Valis and gave him a small smile. “Follow me. Your room has been specified.”
Nodding, Valis motioned behind him. “We’ll have to pay—”
“If you give me permission, I’ll take care of all that. You focus on Tavros.”
Valis smiled his thanks and let Zhasina lead. “Yes, ma’am.”
People milled around the city streets, but they parted like a sea as Valis’s army advanced toward the city’s center. Shouts arose of, “It’s Aesriphos! Aesriphos are here!”
Why are they so excited? Valis asked.
It took Roba a moment to answer with a mental shrug. I am unsure. Just be glad it is joyous excitement instead of the violent variety.
True.
Several boys ran alongside the army as they made their way through the crowds. Zhasina led them at a trot, so the children could easily keep up.
“What brings you to Venoz?” one of them asked as he jogged beside Valis.
Valis squeezed Tavros a little tighter. “My husband is ill and unresponsive. We need a healer. One of our Aesriphos has gone to fetch them.”
The boy nodded his blond head and patted Rasera’s shoulder, causing the horse to snort and shake his mane. “My friends and I will take care of your horses once you get down. Their blankets smell like dead things.”
He wrinkled his nose. “No. Maybe it’s you who smells like that. Either way, you all need baths and laundry. I’ll see about getting the city mobilized to help with whatever you need.”
Then he glanced back down the line of the army. “You’ll be filling up most of the inns in the city. I’d better let the council know.”
“Do what you need,” Valis said. “Thank you, and my thanks go out to your friends for any assistance you may offer.”
“All are in the city, Grand Master,” Brogan said as he came approached Valis’s other side. “Venoz is closing its gates for the night at our request.”
“Excellent.” Valis’s shoulders lost some of their tension at that and he squeezed Tavros just a little tighter knowing they’d be safer with the gates barred. “Thank you for thinking of that.”
“Of course.”
“We are here,” Zhasina said. “Brogan, help Valis get Tavros down so we can get inside.”
After a few moments of fumbling and nearly dropping Tavros’s dead weight twice, Brogan cradled Tavros like a child while Valis slid off his horse and onto shaking legs that were still trying to wake up.
Valis hobbled over to Brogan and, after removing his gloves, touched Tavros’s forehead. He hissed. Tavros’s skin was so hot it burned his fingers and he snatched his hand away. “Let’s get him inside.” Valis carefully took his husband from Brogan and nodded toward the inn’s doors. “Open the doors for me.”
“Of course, Grand Master.”
By the time they made it to Valis’s room, the inn’s staff had a fire roaring in the hearth, the bed linens turned down, and the innkeeper assured Valis that dinner would be brought to him momentarily and that a bath would be waiting for him and his husband after Valis ate.
Brogan stayed, though he remained silent as he helped Valis remove layers of clothes from Tavros. When they finished and Tavros lay nude on the bed. It was only then that Valis could see the angry flush of fever in his husband’s skin. The only other color to his skin was the blue around his lips. His red, crusty nose looked painful, as did his chapped and bleeding lips. Valis’s heart lurched when Tavros coughed. It sounded like a dying dog’s hoarse, weak bark.
Every shallow breath he took came out in a wheeze that broke Valis’s heart.
Someone knocked on the door, breaking Valis out of his cycle of worry. Brogan answered and brought in a tray with two steaming bowls of what smelled like vegetable soup, two fat meat-filled pastries, and two mugs of something steaming, presumably tea. It smelled good, but Valis didn’t think he could eat.
Once Brogan bullied him into eating, Valis practically inhaled his food. He knew he was hungry, but he didn’t know he was that hungry. When he finished, Brogan raised a brow at him. “Want the rest of mine, you pig?”
Valis chuckled and shook his head. “No. Thank you.” He glanced back at Tavros and let out a long, quiet sigh before stacking his dishes back on the tray and picking Tavros up. “I’m taking him for the bath.”
“I’ll see to it that your things are brought up once they’ve been cleaned.” Brogan bowed and held the door open for Valis. He stayed just long enough to open the door to the bathing room and close it behind him.
Valis let out a soft sigh as the steam from the twin tubs wrapped around him. He rested Tavros’s weight on his knee as he checked the water, then carefully eased him down. He thought it would probably be best if he let Tavros soak for a bit while Valis got clean, and with that decision made, Valis stood and started shedding layers.
Just as he got nude, the door opened and an old woman stooped with age and with gnarled joints, shuffled in. Valis covered his privates, but she ignored him and went straight to Tavros’s side. “You children…” She shook her head and fumbled with a jar of some sort. When she finally got the thing open, the strong smell of menthol filled the room. “Don’t let this get in his water. I’m putting it under his nose to help him breathe so the steam can do its job.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Valis said. He waited, his hand clutching his discarded pants to his groin.
Nodding, she capped the jar and pressed it into his hand when she hobbled over. “When you get out of the bath, get him swaddled in bed immediately. Keep him warm. Rub this on his chest and put some under his nostrils. Then rub some on the bottoms of his feet and get socks on hi
m.”
Valis took the jar and nodded. “You’re the apothecary, then?”
The woman gave him a toothless grin. “No, child. But I’ve had ten children, and I know what to do. Obey the apothecary’s orders, of course. But this will help.”
Valis frowned as Tavros started coughing. The bark of it sounded deeper and tore at Valis’s heart. He rushed to go to his husband’s side, but the old woman stopped him with her cane against his chest. “There is nothing you can do right now other than get the both of you clean. His body needs to cough to rid itself of the infection.”
“But it’s deeper than it was,” Valis said, not caring if he whined.
The old woman took a seat in a chair near Tavros and touched his hair with her gnarled, shaking fingers. “Bathe, boy. Six of my children were male. You haven’t anything I haven’t seen between children, grands, and great-grands. You stink.” She set her cane aside, plucked up a washcloth, and started working on Tavros’s body as if he were one of her many children.
“I’ll have a pot brought into your room to keep water boiling through the night. You’ll need to create a shield to siphon the woodsmoke up the chimney. Keep it out of the room. It will irritate his lungs. The steam from the pot, you need to funnel into the room. It will help.”
“Thank you.” Valis wrinkled his nose but quickly got into the bath. The last thing he wanted was to waste hot water. He tackled his greasy, matted hair first. “But… who are you?”
She smirked as she scrubbed Tavros’s back. “The innkeeper’s great-great-grandmother, Hettis Maniva.”
“You are mageborn?”
Hettis nodded. “Wasn’t one for war or women, so I stayed and raised a family, instead. Got some great-great-great-grandchildren in school at Avristin. They are ages seven and nine. I have a feeling the youngest will join your order. The eldest is more likely to become a priest for the quiet solitude and service to the monastery.”
“I would be glad to have them,” Valis said honestly.
Silence descended as they went about washing. The woman was stronger than she looked. As Valis washed and rinsed himself, he watched as she carefully manipulated Tavros’s body this way and that to get him clean. When she was finished, golden magic lit her hands and a moment later, the dirty water from Tavros’s tub lifted into the air and Hettis siphoned it down into a drain in the corner of the floor that Valis only now noticed.
“Finish your bath. I’ve got your husband, Grand Master.”
Valis frowned. “I can—You don’t have to—”
She grabbed up her cane and made her way to the towel rack. “I’m not carrying him for you, child. My magic isn’t as strong as it once was. But I can get him dry and get the gunk on his chest and nose. You’ll do his feet once he’s in bed and warm.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He finished up, and once he was dry, he wrapped a clean towel about his waist and carried his husband back to their room. That had been the strangest fucking bath he had ever taken.
Hettis followed him and when she found out that their clothes were all filthy, she disappeared down the hall. A few moments later, one of her grandchildren, or were they great-grandchildren? Great-great-grandchildren? He held out a pair of socks and smirked as he backed out the door. “Hettis gets what she wants. Don’t fight it.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Valis murmured. “Thanks.”
“Anytime, Grand Master.”
Not long later, Valis had the menthol-smelling grease on the bottom of Tavros’s feet, socks on over top. The large cast iron pot boiling over the hearth fire with two shields keeping the smoke out while funneling a small stream of menthol-scented vapor into the room. Tavros was almost lost amid the piles of covers. And through it all, Valis was starting to get impatient.
Where was the apothecary? The healer should have been here already.
Valis sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed. He brushed his fingers over Tavros’s burning forehead, then trailed them through his damp hair, over his blood-red ear, and along his strong jaw.
He leaned in and pressed their temples together so that Valis’s lips brushed Tavros’s ear as he whispered, “You’re not allowed to die on me, Tav. You’re not.” He kissed over his husband’s ear and closed his eyes. “Just like the Qos Priests are anchors for Qos, you’re my anchor. You are who and what I fight for, why I strive so hard to be and do better each day. Stay with me, Tav. Keep making me a better man.”
Tavros wheezed in a deep breath and coughed it out. Valis shuddered at how painful it sounded. His whole body convulsed. But it didn’t stop. Tavros’s body rhythmically seized in Valis’s arms. Valis gathered him up and held him close so he wouldn’t hurt himself and so Valis could heal his head of the damage the fever kept causing.
Valis rocked his husband in time with the seizure until he heard someone pound on his door. “Grand Masters?”
“Enter!”
The door swung open, bounced off the wall, and a woman entered. Tall and willowy, the brunette smelled of herbs and incense, making the room smell almost like a garden within the first few breaths. She glanced at the hearth as she took in a deep breath. “I see Gran has been in.”
“Tiny with a cane?” Valis joked.
The woman snorted. “Tiny, toothless, and terrifying. But yes.”
“Yes.” Valis eased Tavros down now that he’d stopped seizing and covered him back up. “Hettis had me put a strong-smelling grease on him.”
“Nose, chest, feet.” She didn’t seem to pay any more attention to him as she crawled up on the bed and pressed a hand to Tavros’s forehead.
“How long has he been like this?”
Valis shook his head. “Five days? But it started over a month or so before that when he broke his leg. We got caught in a blizzard, and his horse slipped on an ice sheet. He fell, trapping Tavros’s leg under him, breaking it in three places. Tavros was in frozen slush for a long time. It took too long to get his leg healed and warm him up.”
She gave him a brief smirk. “It’s always something, isn’t it?” The woman felt around Tavros’s face and neck with firm pressure, chatting as she checked him over. “I’m one of Hettis’s great-grands. Name is Dawning Maniva-Kort. You can call me Dawn for short.”
After a few minutes of checking Tavros’s ears with summoned light, feeling different points in his body, and listening to him breathe from his back, Dawn nodded to herself and produced a bottle of cloudy, dark green liquid that looked like poison.
“The girls did well in telling me what was wrong with him. They missed a few things, but the brew I made after they left will work well for him. Sit him up and get his head on your shoulder, facing me.”
As Valis manhandled his husband, Dawn opened the bottle and produced a small glass cup from her other pocket and poured the foul green liquid approximately halfway up. “Half a cup, Grand Master. And I want you to take a dose when you give it to him. You are susceptible because this is contagious. You two are to take this three times a day. I’ll bring you another bottle in a few days.”
“And he’ll be fine?” Valis asked.
Dawn patted him on the shoulder. “Gods, you sound as hopeful as you sound broken.” She sighed through her nose and stared at him with green eyes full of understanding. “If he improves within the next day, he should be better in a week or so.”
She tapped Valis’s cheek. “After that week, if he recovers as I expect him to, he’ll still have a barky cough for a month or so. It’s just his body getting rid of the infection. I’ll make enough of this concoction for you to take with you. Once he’s been on it for ten days, you can move from three times a day to just morning and night with meals. Take it until its gone. Understood?”
Nodding, Valis hugged Tavros to him tighter. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Now, the one thing you both need after we get this in him is rest and plenty of fluids… hot broth, water, watered-down juices for the nutrition, hot teas. I want you both to push fluids—tilt his hea
d back.”
Valis obeyed, and she expertly drizzled the medicine into Tavros’s mouth. Then she refilled the glass and handed it to Valis. He wrinkled his nose at the smell. Never in his life did he think anything would be worse than the fever wafers Firil had given him, but he was horribly wrong. As he downed the green stuff, he had to fight his stomach’s instant reaction to try and heave it back up. “Gods, that’s nasty.”
Dawn laughed long and hard. When she finished, she pulled a pair of long, bent tweezers from her pocket, and Valis wondered just how many pockets her skirt had, and how big they were.
“When you’re done, you take the glass and boil it for a few moments. These tongs will keep you from burning yourself.” She showed him, and once it was clean and set aside on one of the two nightstands, she helped Valis get Tavros settled.
“Remember, Valis. He’s going to cough. Often. That cough is going to get worse, and that’s a good sign. The best thing you can do is keep a basin for him to spit the mucous he’ll bring up in once he’s lucid. And above all, I want you both to rest, which will be easy, since you are both under quarantine for the next ten to twelve days.
Chapter Sixteen
“You are supposed to be resting, young man.”
Valis cringed and just barely resisted the temptation to throw himself at the bed. “I’m not doing anything strenuous, Dawn.”
“Excuse me?” She took one of those long, slow inhales that let Valis know she was counting in her mind, probably in an attempt to keep herself from screeching. “Valis… Child… You’re doing push-ups in a full handstand. If you don’t consider that strenuous activity, I’m afraid for your body.”
Then she actually looked at him and let out a dainty snort as she fidgeted with the collar of her light green tunic. “Never mind. I suppose you couldn’t get a body like that any other way. But my point stands. I ordered you to rest, not exercise when you’re bored.”
“Sorry,” Valis muttered.
Dawn rolled her eyes and sat on the foot of the bed, and gave him a sideways look as she changed the subject. “By the Nine, how did you manage to get Grand Master Aesriphos so young?”