Comatose: The Book of Maladies

by D. K. Holmberg

  “I am surprised to see you still in the city, Samara.”

  “Why, because you thought I would go after Tray?”

  “I thought that had always been your intent.”

  She shrugged, but she couldn’t shake the irritation. “That has been my intent, but—”

  “But something is keeping you from going after him. If it’s access, I may be of some assistance.”

  Sam shook her head. If she asked that of Bastan, she knew that she would be tied to him much more than she wanted to be. She had been tied to him enough and was tired of it. It was time for her to manage on her own, though every time she tried, it seemed she always ended up needing help.

  “I’m not sure how much help you could be,” she said.

  “Perhaps not as much as I would like,” Bastan said. He stopped at an intersection. In one direction, Sam could see the front of the tavern. Down another was a narrow alley that would lead to a back entrance to the tavern and Bastan’s office. “You are always welcome here. And you know that I will do anything I can to offer my protection,” Bastan said.

  She watched him. There was something almost endearing about the way that he said it. Why, then, did it annoy her? “Anything? Even if it means that you have to give up part of your reach?”

  Bastan watched her for a moment. “It was good to see you, Samara. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a few tasks that will need my attention.”

  Bastan strode along the alleyway and back toward his tavern.

  “You could have said thanks,” she muttered again.

  She started off and decided to return to the location where Bastan had been attacked. When she got there, she wasn’t surprised to see that the bodies of the men were gone. What did surprise her was that the glass fragments were also gone.

  Whatever had happened here was important enough to Bastan to ensure that it was all cleaned up. What was he trying to hide? And who was he trying to hide it from?

  As much as she wanted to stay to figure out what Bastan was hiding from her, she didn’t think that she could—or that she should. It was late, and she’d been gone for most of the day. She needed to get back before there were too many questions, the kind that she already would face. When Elaine discovered that she’d been gone, she would question her, and how would Sam answer? Would there be anything she could say that would convince Elaine that she wasn’t plotting out a way to cross the swamp?

  Each jump across the canals brought her closer to the palace. It was late enough that she didn’t think she could stop to visit Alec at the university, though there were questions she thought only he would be able to answer. And she needed to get to him, to find some way of getting those answers, but now wasn’t the right time. Especially now that he had been promoted to full physicker. He needed to be left to his studies, so regardless of what she wanted to know, there were things that Alec needed from her. And right now, one of those things was space.

  She approached the palace, glancing over to the bridge and the pair of guards that were there. Without staring too long, she jumped the canal.

  When she splashed into the water, Sam swore to herself, flipping herself back out and to the shore. She had broken her concentration. She knew better, but she was tired from everything that she’d been through today, and that had been without any augmentations. How tired would she have been had she bothered to attempt an augmentation? Though it gave her the strength she needed, it always left her weakened.

  Regardless, her supply of easar paper was dwindling, and though she had a few vials of blood ink, she didn’t dare to use it without having Alec in her presence. If she did, and needed it later, she worried that she would waste the supplies.

  Dripping wet, she made her way back into the palace, already preparing for what Elaine might say to her.

  7

  The Princess Explains

  Sam stormed through the palace hallway. She made no effort to muffle her passing, not caring whether she drew anyone’s notice. She was annoyed. Then again, she was often annoyed, especially since having come here. Training wasn’t quite what she had been promised, and for the third day in a row, no one had been there for her, so what was the purpose of her even staying here? She had practiced on her own, spending time in the courtyard working on her balancing, watching the university in the distance, thinking of what Alec might be doing. And with each passing day, she was no closer to getting to her brother.

  Worse, she was no closer to understanding what Marin had intended for her.

  The woman was still missing. Maybe that was what she should have set Bastan on. If nothing else, he could go looking for Marin. As far as Sam knew, she had headed south, leaving the city by boat, but there were only so many places that she would have been able to go. How extensive was the Kavers’ reach? How much would Elaine be able to determine about where Marin had gone?

  She reached the princess’s room and knocked.

  Sam knew she should be more cautious. This was the princess, but she also was Elaine’s Scribe, so Sam had something of a different relationship with her than what she once would have believed likely with the princess.

  The door opened, and Lyasanna glanced out. “Samara? To what do I owe this honor?”

  “Honor? I’m trying to find Elaine, but she’s been gone.”

  “You’ve seen that Elaine is gone many days. Why is today any different?”

  It wasn’t—not really. Elaine was often gone many days, and Sam had seen that she would disappear for long stretches, likely on assignment for whatever Lyasanna asked of her. And maybe on assignment for things that the rest of the Anders family required, but Sam had reached a point where she wished that she knew what Elaine was doing and where she was going. Couldn’t she help? With everything that she had learned, wasn’t she able to assist? She was a Kaver, after all.

  “She was to be training me,” Sam said.

  “There are other Kavers who can participate in your training.”

  “And they have,” Sam said. Reyelle had taught her the most about balancing on her staff, though even that was more a demonstration of what was possible than any actual teaching. What she needed now was someone to spend time with her, to actually teach her what it meant for her to be a Kaver, and to help her learn everything she needed to know about her responsibilities. So far, there seemed to be a shortage of such education. “I need to go after Tray.”

  If anyone should sympathize with Sam and her desire to go after Tray, it would be the princess, wouldn’t it?

  “I’m not sure there’s anything we can do for Tray,” she said. Her voice caught, and Sam understood the reason.

  The princess struggled with the loss of Tray, almost as much as Sam did. She had needed to hide her connection to him—that he was her son, and Sam understood, given that a Theln was his father and the family had never known of the pregnancy at all. But what she didn’t understand was why the princess continued to conceal her connection to Tray. And Sam continued to wonder why Marin had established and maintained a contrived connection to Tray for as long as she had. There was more to everything that was taking place than what Sam knew—and what she was allowed to know. It grated on her.

  “I’m going to go after him. He needs my help whether he knows it or not.”

  “We know so little about the Theln lands,” Lyasanna said.

  “Can you help me?”

  Lyasanna stared at her. After a while, she let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure there’s anything I can do to help with this, Samara. Elaine intends to find out what she can about Tray, but even she doesn’t have much hope of discovering what the Thelns plan for him.”

  Sam swallowed the lump in her throat. As she often did when talking about Tray, she thought about everything they had been through when they were younger, and when Tray had served as her look out. They had been all that the other had for so long.

  She looked past the princess into the room and found it empty. “Can I come in?”

  Lyasanna nodded a
nd Sam stepped all the way into the massive sitting room, closing the door behind her. The princess’s rooms were much more ornate than Sam’s, but she’d gotten used to that aspect of the palace overall since coming here. The chairs were covered in lovely fabrics and rugs were clearly of high quality. Probably imported. She had two large wardrobes and Sam imagined the formal clothing hanging inside them. As likely as not, they were filled with gowns. Several shelves had stacks of books placed haphazardly on them. Another doorway led back to the princess’s sleeping quarters, where Sam imagined an enormous bed occupying much of the space. It was probably much more comfortable than the one Sam was given.

  Lyasanna signaled for Sam to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace. Sam did so, and stared straight ahead, trying to organize her thoughts.

  “Why didn’t you ever go after him?” Sam asked.

  “Tray?” Lyasanna said.

  Sam breathed out heavily. “You knew about him, and it seems as if you care about him, so I can’t figure out why you wouldn’t have gone for him.”

  “Because I thought he was gone.”

  “Gone?”

  “When Ralun is involved in anything, there is no middle ground. I was led to believe that Tray was gone.”

  “Gone where? Did someone take him?” When the princess simply stared, Sam nodded. “Marin. I see. Why would she hide from you the fact that Tray still lived?”

  Lyasanna sighed deeply. “I… I struggled to escape from Voldin.” When Sam arched a brow, Lyasanna said, “That is the outer city in Theln where we met. It took many lives to get me free, and that was just me. Others were tasked with bringing Tray, but in hindsight, I should have known better.”

  Sam shook her head. “Marin pretended that he was lost getting him out of the Theln lands?”

  “Marin has deceived us for a long time,” Lyasanna said.

  “I still don’t understand. I don’t understand why you allowed yourself to be seduced by Ralun.”

  “You’re still young, Samara, so it’s unlikely that you can understand. There is simply something about a man like Ralun. In Voldin, he was not the violent and dangerous Theln he has shown himself to be here. There, he was simply Prince Ralun.”

  Sam’s eyes widened. “Prince?”

  “It’s not quite like it seems. There are many princes in their lands. But Ralun was the most impressive. He had a certain confidence to him.”

  “Confidence? You mean arrogance.”

  “At the time, I thought it was nothing more than confidence. In hindsight, now I see it as arrogance, which is probably what I should have seen at the time. And then, there is the power of their Book.”

  “You’ve experienced the Book before.”

  “I have. And because I’m a Scribe, they thought they could seduce me, that they could offer me promises of power and access to knowledge that I wouldn’t have otherwise. It was compelling, but only for a moment.”

  Sam struggled to understand what would have compelled Lyasanna to act in the way she had. Ralun’s actions made much more sense, which troubled her to admit.

  “And now Tray is off with Ralun, and we have no way of knowing what they might do.”

  “We don’t.” Lyasanna sat in silence for a long moment.

  “Will we ever understand Marin’s motivation?”

  “It’s possible that we won’t,” Lyasanna said.

  “But why did she use the Book to steal my memories? Why would she use it to forge a connection between Tray and me? Why would she—”

  “Because she is Marin.”

  “Everybody says that, but I don’t really understand what that means.”

  “Marin was one of the most skilled Kavers in the city. She was the one who was in charge of my protection when we went to the Theln lands.”

  “Not Elaine?”

  “Elaine was still learning. I was still learning. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what it meant for the two of us to have the connection that we did. It’s not common for my family to carry the Scribe connection.”

  “You normally have the Kaver connection?” That was news to Sam.

  “Most in the Anders family have the Kaver ability,” Lyasanna said. “Which is why the university exists. It was always supposed to be a training facility for Scribes, but it had an added benefit. The physickers were able to help others within the city, and together, we have always done everything that we can to provide protection to those who live here.”

  “How many of your family have been Scribes before?”

  “As far as I know, I am the first.”

  “But you don’t train at the university…” As she said it, understanding finally hit her. “That’s why she’s been here, isn’t it?”

  Sam thought of the master physicker—Master Helen—and realized that must be the reason that she was here. “Have you been getting private education?”

  “I couldn’t very well spend time at the university. Doing so would only raise questions. As much as I want to understand my Scribe abilities, there are images to maintain, and we have been very careful about ensuring that the perception of the Anders family is intact.”

  Sam frowned to herself. “It’s more than that, isn’t it? It’s more than maintaing perceptions about your family. You don’t want the Thelns to know that you’re a Scribe.”

  Lyasanna smiled tightly. “They can’t know.”

  “But they know about Kavers.”

  “They don’t know that many of the Kavers come from my family. As far as the Thelns know, we’re served by the Kavers and they offer us protection, not anything more than that.”

  “But Tray knows about you.”

  “He does?”

  Sam thought about what she had uncovered and tried to think about exactly what Tray might know but struggled. He knew she was his mother. Ralun had obviously told him that, but maybe he didn’t know about Lyasanna being a Scribe. Which hopefully meant Ralun didn’t know either.

  “I don’t know exactly what he knows, but I think he knows something.”

  “That would be a challenge.”

  “Which is why you should let me go after him. I’m the only one who can get through to him. If something happens, and the attack goes wrong, he might only respond to me.”

  “I suspect that you’re right, which is why I’ve asked Elaine to train you with even greater urgency. You will be needed, Samara. Your connection to Tray is critical in what is to come.”

  “And what is to come?”

  “I don’t know, not entirely. All I know is that Tray has opened up an age-old conflict.”

  “It seems as if the conflict was open long before Tray.”

  “It’s not his disappearance that opened the conflict, or his reappearance. It’s who he is—what he is—that has created the conflict.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “The Thelns have a different kind of power than you or your mother have, but they are not unrelated. The Thelns would use the power of the Scribes, and they offered them a different reward as they temped them to create the Book.”

  “Scribes are responsible for the Book of Maladies?”

  “Scribes—what you know as Scribes—are responsible for a great many things. And the war that you have just begun to experience has long been about power, but a different kind of power then you probably expected.”

  “What kind of power, then?”

  “The power of knowledge. And I’m afraid that losing Tray has shifted the tide of power away from us and to the Thelns.”

  8

  An Unusual Case

  The inside of the intake room had a certain odor to it. Alec hadn’t spent too much time here, his transition from student to full physicker had prevented him from having the same amount of time in this place as many of the other physickers did. There was a sense of chaos here, and Alec tried not to let it get to him, but there was also such a need for help here.

  He made his way to the row of chairs. It was here that he’d
had his first experience with the university, and this is where he had come when trying to gain access so that he could help Sam as they fought to find answers about the princess, but it wasn’t a place that students were allowed to spend much time, despite what Alec had thought then. Typically, junior physickers were here, and they were the ones to make the initial assessment, and they were the ones to assess the fees. Once they determined what was needed, treatments were confirmed with a full physicker or a master physicker, whichever was available.

  It wasn’t Alec’s turn to be here, but he felt compelled, especially after seeing the line waiting to get into the university.

  “What ailment brought you here?” he asked a young girl. She was maybe fifteen or so and was accompanied by an older gentleman, who stirred awake at Alec’s approach. How long must they have been waiting?

  “It’s… It’s my eyes,” she said.

  “What happened to your eyes?” Alec asked.

  “They’re blurred.”

  “Blurred vision isn’t something you would need to come to the university for,” Alec said gently. “There are many opticians within the city who could help, and I suspect could do so at a cheaper rate than what you must’ve paid for entry to the university.”

  The girl glanced over at her grandfather—at least, that was what Alec presumed the man to be. “We have tried opticians, physicker,” she said.

  Opticians. That meant they had been to more than one. “And what did they tell you?”

  “That there is nothing their lenses would be able to fix. As much as they wanted to be able to help, they didn’t have anything to offer.”

  That surprised Alec. Opticians were nearly as bad as the university when it came to collecting fees, but the opticians were known for accepting payments for treatments that weren’t always effective. Too often, they would claim money for lenses before they were even made, and from what he had seen, they did nothing to ensure the quality of the lenses. It was frustrating to him, and it was likely frustrating to those who were involved.