Comatose: The Book of Maladies

by D. K. Holmberg

  “If she really is his mother, why would she hurt him? Why would she do anything that would bring harm to him?”

  “You don’t understand the Anders,” Marin said. “You don’t understand the reason they are here, holed up in the city, hidden within the palace. If you did, maybe, but no. You can’t understand.”

  She came around the table and grabbed him, jerking him to his feet with the strength he’d learned to expect from her. “Come. If Samara has the eel venom, that is where we are going.”

  “Why? What does it matter who has the eel venom?”

  “It matters because few have managed to extract it. It matters because the venom is the key to many things.”

  “The easar paper?”

  “Easar paper? Is that what you think is the only reason to care about it?” She shook her head. “No. Now, you are going to come with me.”

  She dragged him out of the tavern and into the darkened street. It was late enough that there wasn’t anyone out, and Alec didn’t have any hope of finding anyone here. Bastan’s men had abandoned this section in their attempt to rescue him.

  “Why do you want to hurt her so much?” Alec asked.

  “Hurt her? If I wanted to hurt Sam, I would have done so long ago.”

  “Then why are you doing this?”

  “She has to know. She has to be exposed to the truths. She has to see it. Because she is in a better position to change it than I ever was.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “No. Because you’re a Scribe.”

  She said it was such derision that Alec paused. Wasn’t Master Jessup her Scribe? Didn’t she have someone who she worked with?

  They crossed the canal, and Alec wasn’t surprised to see that there were no guards. At this time, this late hour, there wouldn’t be, not any that cared whether people got out of Caster. She dragged him through the streets, taking a straight line toward the Hosd section.

  “You were working with Ryn?” he asked.

  “Ryn. Others like him. It’s time the safety of the palace is squeezed.”

  “The people in these sections won’t attack the palace.”

  “No, not at first, but with enough pressure, the palace will no longer be the safe haven that the Anders have found it to be over the years. With enough pressure, they will be forced to step outside of their walls, and then—”

  “Do you really think that you’ll be around long enough to take vengeance on them?”

  “This isn’t about vengeance. This is about doing what is right. I’ve waited long enough, sitting on the side, watching. I thought it wouldn’t matter, and that I could help guide Samara and Tray, but events prompted me to take action.”

  “You were responsible for many of those events.”

  “I wasn’t responsible for bringing the Thelns into the city. They came after Lyasanna on their own after the Kavers made the mistake of reengaging with the Thelns.”

  He fell silent as she dragged him along the street. Alec couldn’t think of anything to ask or say, but felt a burgeoning sense of unease rolling through him at their steady pace. Eventually, she would get him into the Hosd section, and when she did, he feared he would be forced into something he wanted no part of.

  Every so often, he would attempt to jerk his arm free, but to no avail.

  When they reached the crossing that would take them over to Hosd, Alec decided he had to take one last chance. He yanked on his sleeve and managed to pry himself free of Marin’s grip.

  Surprise filled him, but he turned and ran, heading into the city and away from her. He cast a glance over his shoulder, fearing she would chase him, but she did not. Instead, she headed across the canal, away from him.

  And over to Sam.

  Without augmentations, there wasn’t anything he could do to help her. He needed easar paper, and there was only one place where he could go to get it.

  Could he reach the university fast enough?

  Alec ran through the streets, moving as quickly as he ever had. Everything blurred past, and his mind raced nearly as fast. He needed to get there before Marin reached Sam. He needed to get to Master Helen and a supply of easar paper. That would be his only way of helping Sam.

  He lost track of how long it took him to reach the university. When he crossed into that section, he briefly nodded at the guards, fearing they might stop him at this time of night. He no longer had the sigil that Sam had given him, the sigil that would grant him access to the palace grounds.

  Once inside the university, he raced into the hospital ward. Hopefully, Master Helen had gone there, using the knowledge that he had gained about the eel venom to help those who were injured, but he saw only a few junior physickers, no one else. He hurried over to one of them, a fat man by the name of Fenwick.

  “Have you seen Master Helen?”

  Fenwick frowned at him. “It’s late, Physicker Stross.”

  “I understand that it’s late. But have you seen Master Helen?”

  His brow furrowed. “No. Master Helen has not been here, Physicker Stross.”

  Alec scanned the room. He saw his father lying motionless, and his gaze darted to Beckah near him, and even to Kara. He could help all of them, but first, he needed easar paper. Now that he knew—really knew—that they were injured by eel venom, he could help them.

  “If you see Master Helen, tell her I’m looking for her.”

  Alec raced up to his room. The door was slightly ajar, and he entered carefully. He had always been careful about closing it, but maybe Master Helen and Sam had come here when they were looking for him.

  He had a scrap—nothing more than that—and he dug through his supplies, coming to a journal near the bottom of the stack that was older than many of the rest.

  Stuffed between the pages was a partial page of easar paper.

  Alec threw it on to his desk and rummaged through drawers until he came upon a vial of his and Sam’s blood. It was old—possibly weeks old—and he didn’t know how effective it would be. Did its age matter?

  He had to try. He sat down at the desk and started writing.

  31

  Brothers and a Battle

  Sam reached a door at the back of the building and ripped it open. She had augmentations that allowed her to do so with much more force than she normally would, and it practically came off the frame, much as the door had when she had been captured by Jessup. This time, it wasn’t anything about Alec’s augmentations, it was more about what she had managed to do on her own.

  Marin had been right about that.

  Sam could hardly believe she had told her the truth. But there was no denying it, not anymore.

  It had first worked when she was attempting to rescue Alec, and now that she had tried it again while working for Bastan, it had been even more apparent.

  If Marin had been telling the truth about that, could she have been telling the truth about Tray?

  If so, it meant Lyasanna was guilty.

  It meant the people Sam had been working for—and on behalf of—weren’t the people she should have been working for.

  There was another room on the side, and several men were startled by her sudden appearance.

  Sam glared at them.

  She knew that her short stature was not intimidating—not in the slightest—but she swung her staff and leapt forward, spinning toward the men and dropping them as quickly as she could. They didn’t have a chance to even react.

  There was another door behind the first, and Sam pulled that one open. Surprisingly, her augmentation didn’t seem to be fading, not as it did when Alec used the easar paper. Maybe when she applied her own augmentation, there was no failure to it.

  Sam hurried through that room and into another. This one was as large as the first, nearly as large as Ryn’s tavern, but was not decorated nearly as well. It was sparse, very few things here at all, nothing other than a chair with shackles.

  This was where they had kept Bastan.

  Sam hurried forward.<
br />
  There were two doors on the other side of the room. Sam hesitated. If she chose the wrong door, she risked delaying her response for Bastan. He needed her to choose correctly. If she didn’t, then… Would Ryn escape? Was he taking Bastan with him?

  She wasn’t going to let that happen.

  Sam hurried to the first door and kicked it open. There was nothing there but a storeroom.

  She made her way to the other and kicked it open.

  With her augmentations, the door splintered, and when it opened, it smacked a man who had been on the other side. She darted forward, slamming her staff into his chest and throwing him to the ground. She raced past him, meeting a line of people, and unscrewed the ends of her staff as she hurried through the hall.

  She moved as she never had before, knocking the men down, enhanced in a way that felt surprisingly natural.

  She reached the end of the hallway, and there was another door.

  She tested the handle and found it locked, so she kicked it open, screwing the ends of her canal staff back together. It was a better weapon that way.

  Ryn waited. Two men stood behind him on either side of Bastan, holding him in place.

  Ryn had a knife to Bastan’s throat.

  “Now that you’re here, let’s see what choice you might make.”

  “Why are you doing this?” she asked.

  “Why? When he decided to press his influence, I decided it was time for me to press mine.”

  “He only did it for—”

  Bastan shook his head slightly, barely any movement.

  “I know why he did it,” Ryn said.

  “You don’t know anything, not nearly what you think you do,” Bastan said. He remained incredibly calm despite the fact that he was held in place and there was a knife up to his throat.

  “Really? I seem to know that I have captured you without very much difficulty.”

  “Very much difficulty? How long have you been at it? How long have you been trying to chase me down?” Bastan laughed bitterly. “You wouldn’t even have managed what you have had it not been for me. Were it not for my connections, you would know nothing about the venom.”

  “Just because I wouldn’t have discovered it as quickly doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have learned anything,” Ryn said.

  Sam took a step forward, and Ryn shook his head, warning her back.

  “I think that would be a bad idea, Samara.”

  He said her name in a knowing way. Had Bastan revealed her name? Or had it been the “she” Ryn had referred to earlier? Someone who was supposedly “concerned” about her.

  “What?” Sam asked. “Do you want me to believe that you would actually kill your brother?”

  “My brother? He hasn’t been my brother for decades. Ever since he decided that he didn’t need me. He discarded me, the same way he will discard everyone else he cares for—or, he pretends to care for.”

  “I didn’t discard you. Your violence separated us.”

  “Violence? I find that amusing coming from you, Bastan.”

  Sam’s mind raced. Did she have enough augmentation to hurry forward and strike before Ryn managed to cut Bastan’s throat? If she did, she would have to hit him in such a way that threw him away from Bastan.

  Maybe Bastan could help.

  It wasn’t that he was weak. The gods knew he was strong and had always seemed strong for someone his age. Sam had always felt that way about Bastan.

  That left her trusting her augmentations.

  It meant trusting that she could reach him in time and before Ryn had a chance to slaughter him.

  “Why do you even care?” she asked, trying to distract Ryn. “What does it matter what Bastan did all those years ago? All that matters is that the two of you—”

  “All that matters is that the two of us are competing for our place in the city. And with Bastan gone, and with my special connection, the rest of the city will fall into line.”

  “You have no special connection,” Bastan said.

  “I don’t? I find that interesting, especially considering how well she seemed to know you.”

  “Marin?” Sam asked. Her gaze drifted to Bastan and his brow furrowed. “Is that who you’re talking about?”

  “The mistress has not provided me her name. She hasn’t needed to, especially given that everything she has promised has come to fruition. She promised she would provide me with a way to expand my influence. She promised she would help eliminate those who might interfere. And she promised to bring my brother to me.”

  Bastan tensed. Sam could see it from where she stood and knew that if he were to lunge, if he were to make the mistake of trying to attack, all it would take would be a short slip of Ryn’s knife.

  She needed to act before he made a mistake.

  At least she understood why everything seemed to be connected. It was because it was. Marin had used her influence to reveal the true nature of the eel venom. Had she been the one to use it against Alec’s father?

  Could she be the reason Sam hadn’t been given augmentations from Alec?

  Kyza!

  She had to end this and get back to Caster, so she could determine what exactly had happened. She wouldn’t put it past Marin to have been involved.

  She nodded. “Bastan?”

  “I am fine, Samara.”

  “I wanted you to know…” She swallowed. She needed to get this out, especially if something happened before she rescued him. She had to tell him how she felt before there was no chance to do so.

  “Samara,” he started, but the two men jerked on his arms.

  Bastan tensed. She had seen that angry, clenched jaw expression from him before.

  Ryn watched her. “You think you might say something that would somehow rescue him? Lower your staff.”

  “All I wanted to tell him was that he’s been a father to me, especially since I didn’t have a father, either. I wanted him to know before…”

  “Before what?” Ryn asked.

  “Before I take you down.”

  Sam jumped.

  Her augmentation flowed through her, and it gave her strength, helping carry her forward. She swung her staff around toward Ryn’s chest, wanting to keep him from jabbing forward with the knife.

  She was too slow.

  The knife slashed.

  Bastan jerked his head backward, and there was a gentle spray of blood. He slammed into the two men behind him, and they went crashing to the ground.

  Sam swung her staff around, anger pulsing through her as she hit Ryn. He collapsed and stopped moving.

  She vaulted and landed next to one of the men, stabbing down with her staff. She flipped again, coming to land near the other man, and kicked him in the head.

  Another man was reaching for Bastan, and using her augmented strength, she jerked Bastan free.

  Blood covered his face.

  She had been too late. Even with augmentations, she had been too late.

  Her hand went to his neck.

  “I’m sorry, Bastan. I wasn’t fast enough.”

  “You were fast enough, Samara.”

  “No. Let me see your neck. Let’s see if we can’t—”

  Bastan shook her away. “He didn’t do anything more than graze me,” Bastan said.

  He moved his hand, and she saw that there was a deep gash, but it didn’t seem to spurt blood, not as she had expected.

  “You… You’re going to be okay?”

  “I don’t know. I would never have expected him to take such steps,” Bastan said, wiping his hands on his pants as he looked over at Ryn, who lay motionless.

  “I thought you said you didn’t know what happened to your brother?”

  “I didn’t. As far as I knew, he left the city.”

  “You hadn’t heard anything of Rynance Vold?”

  “I’ve heard the name, but that’s not my brother. He went by a different name, though at the time, so did I.”

  There was a thunderous crash and the sound of shoutin
g, and Bastan looked over Sam’s shoulder. She released her grip on him and stood, preparing to fight, but a line of men appeared, led by Tanis.

  “You did this?” he asked Sam.

  “You taught me well,” she said. “You taught me to look out for those I care about. I couldn’t just leave you here, not when there was something I could do about it.”

  Bastan smiled. Sam had never seen him smile—not a real smile. This was a flash of true emotion, and it reached his eyes in a way that other emotions from Bastan did not. “Thank you,” Bastan said.

  “It’s not over,” Sam said.

  “No. It never is.”

  “It’s about Marin.”

  “That is what I understand.”

  “But… I can’t kill her. I can’t even turn her over to someone who might.”

  “And why is that?” Bastan asked softly.

  “Because she knows something that matters. She might have acted wrongly, but I’m not entirely convinced that her motivations were terrible.”

  “She allowed Ryn to pursue me. If it were up to Marin, she would have killed me,” Bastan said.

  “But she didn’t,” Sam said.

  “Samara—”

  Sam shook her head. “Please, Bastan. I don’t want to fight with you over this. I need to have a chance to find Marin, and then…” And then she would use her. Sam understood why Marin had stayed in the city, now. She had believed that Tray was still here.

  “What do you need from me?”

  She didn’t know quite how to respond. Bastan hadn’t questioned her. He simply had asked what she needed from him. There was a time when that would never have happened, a time when he would have challenged her, but had so much changed between them?

  “I’m afraid something might happen to Alec. He was in Caster, and remained behind, to help me… To give me strength,” she said, choosing her words carefully. Now that others were in the room, she needed to be more careful. She didn’t want to reveal too much, regardless of whether these others worked with Bastan. They might be his family, but she hadn’t decided whether they were hers. “Bastan, he’s my family.”

  Bastan took a deep breath. “I have a hunch this is how it feels when a father has to let his daughter move on.”