"It's about time," the healer replied with a wry smile. Ghia waved and stumbled into the room, finding an empty bed with the preternatural sense the truly exhausted had for a place to sleep.
She fell onto the cot gratefully, and drifted into a deep, lovely slumber.
~
She woke to darkness. For a while, she let herself drift on pleasant nothingness, feeling nothing, thinking nothing, just a waiting, loving darkness where thought should be. She sighed happily and turned onto her stomach, nestling her face into her pillow and letting herself drift back into peaceful, dreamless sleep.
A second later her eyes shot open. Dreamless. No. Not dreamless. Full of nightmares, except this time Ghia remembered them. She sat up in bed, heart racing.
Anala. Anala was in trouble. That was the source of Ghia's dizzy spells, she knew now -- she couldn't explain it, but her dreams did.
"Dammit," she whispered, realising she had to forego sleep again. She got out of bed and shuffled her feet into her soft leather shoes, groggily moving out to the sick room. It was night time. Giselle and a skeleton crew were on duty.
Ghia moved to the hooks by the door and grabbed her jacket; moving her arms into the sleeves she addressed the confused Giselle. "You're in charge here, indefinitely. I have an emergency to attend to and I know not when I'll return." She turned out into the cold and went to saddle up Suki.
Suki looked down her long nose at the healer and snorted, clearly saying "Jules said you were crazy." She ignored the horse and worked on getting the saddle and bridle on the beast.
After a few minutes, Ghia admitted she knew nothing about saddling horses. She threw her arms up and made a noise of frustration. Suki gave her a "hah hah" look and the healer returned it with a murderous glare.
"I don't suppose you can saddle yourself, Wonder Horse?" she asked the animal, and Suki tossed her head as if to shrug and looked away. "Didn't think so," Ghia muttered and folded her arms across her chest. Her fingers were numb and it had started snowing outside. Reluctantly she went to wake the stable boy. She didn't want to disturb his sleep, but she needed to get back to the castle. A fierce sense of urgency gripped her.
She shook the boy awake and he groggily got to work saddling Suki up. His tiredness made him go slow, and by the time he finished Ghia was frozen stiff. She thanked him and mounted with difficulty; then, settled, she drove her heels into Suki's sides and clicked her tongue. Needing no other urging the horse sped off towards the castle, no doubt excited about seeing Jules again.
Jules
Jules sighed as he made the final round of his shift. He was incredibly tired. Things had been fine when Ghia had left; then patients she sent had started arriving. Then he'd really had to work.
Which was not to say he didn't like work. Quite the opposite. But Head Healer was a larger job than Chief Medical Officer, and the responsibility had been thrust upon him quite unexpectedly. He'd stumbled a bit in his duties, but with the help of the other healers under Ghia's command he'd recovered admirably.
Ah, well. The crisis was over. Again. After this shift, he had a full day off; so he had only to survive another....
The midnight bell tolled. I guess I've survived the shift. He waited long enough for his replacement to arrive before leaving to enjoy his day off. Mainly with sleep.
Halfway to the barracks, he changed course, heading to Aro's room instead. He'd heard a rumour about the major--several, actually--and was worried about his friend. It wasn't like Aro to be in a drunken stupor. He must be really upset over Anala.
Anala wasn't dead yet as far as anyone knew, and besides, she wouldn't want Aro acting so in her absence.
Jules resolved to give Aro some company. The man certainly needed a friend, and maybe Jules could convince him to snap out of it.
Rounding the last corner, he saw he was not alone in the hallway. Just ahead was a short female figure, clinging to the wall for support. Wait a minute....
"Ghia!" The figured turned at the sound of his voice, and Ghia's tired eyes met his. She smiled weakly, reached a hand to him, and fainted.
Jules muttered an invective and sprang the remaining distance to her side. He gathered her limp form up in his arms and shook her gently, checking her pulse.
"Ghia," he said softly, "Wake up, girl." He smoothed her hair back and ran his hand over her forehead. No fever, but there was no doubt in his mind that she wasn't well. That was Ghia. Of course, she was working herself to death.
Her eyelids fluttered then, and opened slowly. He quirked his mouth in a half-smile and looked down at her. "Your eyes are gold again, Healer," he said softly.
She made a face. "Damn," she said, closing her eyes. When she opened them they were their regular hazel again. "Better?" she whispered. He nodded, then moved to help her up. She got to her feet shakily, thanked him, and then turned to go again.
"Not so fast, wench," he stopped her. "Why aren't you resting? Actually, why are you here at all? I thought you were still at the clinic."
She shook her head, unable to form coherent sentences. "No. Nightmares. Need...warn Aro. Anala...danger." She looked up at him, pleading, but her eyes couldn't focus and she swayed on her feet. Hastily he looped his arm around her waist and she leaned into the embrace.
He sighed and shook his head ruefully. "I don't want to argue this with you, but you're too tired to be doing this. Look at you!" he added as she stumbled into him. His other arm went around to steady her and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Ghia, you're killing yourself. You need to rest." His arms tightened around her protectively and he turned to press his lips against her forehead.
This roused her and she made a "mmm" sound against him. She shook her head and pushed her hands against his chest, and his arms loosened enough to let her stand on her own two feet. She frowned, concentrating, and then began to speak with obvious effort.
"Not...it's not me. Anala. Poison. No...drugged." She nodded decisively, as if coming to that conclusion just then.
Jules interrupted, unable to stop himself. "How does Anala being drugged affect you like this? She's on Voco, for Bellona's sake!" And you're here, and you are who matters to me.
"Mmmmh," she said again, frustrated, and her hands gripped his shoulders hard in her struggle to get the words out. "Some...connection. Don't...understand...either. Made...link when I..." Her brows knit together and sweat broke out on her forehead. "When I...." She tried again, but the words didn't come. "When I....mmmh!" She moaned in frustration and flailed her arms.
Gently Jules caught her hands in his own and made soothing noises. "Shhh, Ghia, I get it. When you healed her, before she left, right? You made a connection then?" he asked for clarification, letting her give him the answer he already had, and she thought hard for a moment, then nodded, smiling at his understanding.
Oh, great. He had a drug-addled Ghia on his hands who was extremely angry over the loss of her usual verbosity. What fun!
This is no good. He had disconnect her from Anala so that she could function but he wasn't Magi, nor did he know how to reach the other Magi in the castle. He had to snap Ghia out of it, or get her to contact Rosa.
Her eyes rolled back in her head and she started to fall backwards again. He caught her and gave her a shake. "Ghia! Stay with me, girl," and his arms moved up her back to support her better. Her eyes opened again and she looked around fuzzily; he brushed her hair from her eyes--it was so pretty, unbound--and cupped her cheeks in his hands, making her meet his gaze.
She looked up at him and blinked slowly, readjusting her focus. She looked almost confused, which amused him. He had been sure Ghia was never confused about anything.
Unlike himself. These days the one thing I'm not confused about is how much I like my friend the healer -- and fat lot of good that clarity does me, when she doesn't feel the same say.
He couldn't help but think how gorgeous she was, and how much he wanted to kiss her.
It would probably shock her out of her drugged stupor. It
would also be a breach of consent, and probably anger her enough to castrate him. As Jules was rather fond of both Desirelle's sacred laws and his bits and pieces, he didn't think kissing her now would be the best idea.
Sighing, he relegated his friend the healer to his fantasy life and returned to the reality of trying to wake her up. Without kissing her.
Ghia
Jourd'Umbra, 39th Decima
In a castle hallway, Ghia came to. She was being held up by Jules, who was in closer physical proximity than usual. They were about twenty feet from Aro's room.
What the...?
Rosa quickly explained.
Oh. Right. Thank you, Magea, she sent almost distractedly. The Magi gave a mental wave, as if to say, It was nothing.
Probably quite a bit more than nothing but the magea would doubtless do her own investigation. Presently, Ghia had something else on which to focus her attention.
Speaking of focused attention.... Jules was staring at her intently, concern in his eyes, thumbs stroking her cheeks tenderly. "Ghia? You awake?" he asked, hesitant.
She disengaged herself from his grasp and gave a quick bow and what she hoped was a game smile.
"Right as rain. Are my eyes normal?" They both understood she meant normal for Atherians, not normal for her. He nodded. "Good. Ah...Jules?"
His eyebrows were raised; he was waiting patiently for her to go on. Why am I nervous? It's a thank you, not a proposal, for Amora's sake. "Thank you for getting through to me. I wouldn't have been able to contact Rosa without your prompting." She blushed then and looked away. The drug must still be in her system. She was not her usual self.
Jules merely inclined his head. "Not a problem. I'm just glad it was I who found you. Now," he added, all medic-stern--and how glad she was that he moved on from the thought he'd just presented!--"want to tell me what you're doing going to Aro's room after midnight when you should be resting?"
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him, though there was little force behind it. "I could ask you the same, CMO. But I'm tired of this fight. It's simple: I had a dream and Anala will be coming back to Harbourtown soon, if she escapes Voco at all, and she'll need support waiting for her. Aro needs to snap out of it and get moving, or he'll lose her." There was real anger in her voice now. If Aro was still drunk....
Jules shrugged and sighed. "I'm tired of this fight, too. Let's go grab the major. Then we'll all go to Harbourtown."
That came as a surprise. She should question the idea, but how, without arguing again? She hadn't lied when she'd said she was tired of fighting everything out with him. She gestured down the hall. "Let's go, then."
She sensed his surprise and worry over the ease with which she'd given in. She gritted her teeth. Did he never stop worrying about her?
No, said a voice in her head. Funny things happen when a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of....
She gave the voice a mental glare. He's not in love with me, she insisted, and Jules is closer to middle-aged than young.
Right. Sure. She should trade in for a new conscience. This belligerent voice was getting on her nerves.
At Aro's room, Jules knocked on the wooden door strongly but politely. The latch clicked after only a brief pause this time and the door opened. The interior was just as dark as before but this time there was no Fanchone to be wary of; so Ghia waved her hand experimentally at where the wall sconce should be, concentrating on calling fire power to the spot. There was a flicker; then a stubby candle sputtered to life.
Hm. Learn something new every day.
The candle cast an uncertain light over the sty the room had become. Aro sat on the bed, squinting at the two figures in his doorway. He still reeked of brandy, but didn't seem quite so drunk as before. Still drunk, however, which enraged Ghia.
"Juno's tits, Aro!" she said savagely, pushing her way into the room. "You cowardly lush! Did you hear nothing I told you last time I was here?" She kicked aside some clothing on the floor and grabbed his chin, forcing his bloodshot eyes to meet her clearly livid ones.
"Ghia," came Jules' voice from behind her, with a scolding coming on in the warning of his tone. Oh, no. I'll be damned if I let Jules scold me for saying what he's too afraid to say.
She levelled her angry gaze on him instead. "Don't you dare take sides against me, Jules," she said crossly; then turned back to the major.
Aro was crying. Thick tears ran down his face to land on his lap, and he sniffled piteously. If she weren't so mad, Ghia supposed she might be moved but, as it was, the man just looked pathetic.
"I just..." he began, then hiccupped. "I just..." hiccup "miss Anala..." hiccup "so mush!" One more resounding hiccup, for emphasis.
Oh, Goddess! "For Muerta's sake, Aro, grow up!" She yelled at him, but he couldn't hear her. He'd dissolved into a pile of tears at that point.
Frustrated beyond measure, Ghia grabbed him by his hair and dragged him to the bathroom. Normally she wouldn't have the strength but the assistance of her Magi-powers and Jules' hasty and guilty help got the job done. She tossed the major into the tub and turned on the showerhead, spraying him with ice-cold water. He spluttered and flailed, mewling helplessly. Ghia rolled her eyes and slapped him across the face, hard.
Suddenly sober, he blinked and looked at her and Jules as if for the first time. "Healer? Medic?" He looked at his surroundings and his sodden clothes and with a sigh let his head fall back against the wall, closing his eyes painfully. "I'm a mess."
"Damn right you are," Ghia growled, unwilling to let him off so easily. How she hated weak men! "What the feck did you think Anala would say, could she see you now?" She waited for an answer, but none came. Aro stared at her miserably. "That's what I thought." She sighed, a gusty exhalation that expelled the rest of her anger. She waved her hand and rose to go. "Get showered and dressed -- we need to leave for Harbourtown by dawn."
Aro protested with questions she hadn't the energy to answer. Jules leapt to her assistance, giving her the healer's signal Go on, I've got this. She smiled at him gratefully and left Aro's fetid room to stand in the fresher, if colder, hallway air.
Yarrow
Life had grown worse, if possible, since leave had ended. What with the wretched weather and the lack of any campaigns or missions, the regiments of the East Campaign were getting restless. Anita and Leala had done the right thing with their regiment by organising scavenger hunts throughout town, renting out taverns for huge parties, and putting on impromptu plays for the commoners, mums depicting great military victories and defeats, all the history of Athering's martial past.
Yarrow would have loved to organise something like that for her regiment, but her soldiers would have stared at her as if she'd sprouted an extra head. They would have engaged in such activities grudgingly at best. Such crazy things were expected of the third regiment and its almost childlike bellica-majora team, for they all seemed to take great pleasure in the joys most people left behind in adolescence.
She could think of nothing to organise that would please her more serious soldiers nor did she want to ask Caelum for his ideas.
Oh, she'd forgiven him. She thought.
Mayhap.
Mayhap not.
She didn't know. During leave, she'd thought she had, when there'd been time to think on it, but now, back in close proximity to him (their rooms bordered each other, for Bellona's sake!), all her certainties had crumbled.
She still loved him...she guessed.
Sort of.
No, she did.
She wasn't angry anymore.
Not terribly, at least. Caelum must have had a reason for what he did. He was dumb, sure, but he usually had a reason for the big stuff. Hadn't he thought through proposing to Isidora?
Did he, Yarrow?
She didn't know. He'd asked her for advice, sure, and had planned out the whole event perfectly...but as to whether he'd thought through actually marrying the woman, in truth Yarrow did not know. She'd always assumed he had, because,
well, it was marriage! Even if marriages could be dissolved peacefully, it was usually a lifetime decision. Even if he'd have been a fool not to marry Isidora, Harbourtown's Sweetheart.
But he is a fool, she reminded herself. This you've always known. It was a fact of Caelum's character: loyal to a fault, loving, fun, and dumb as a rock.
So. Had he thought it through? The terrabane?
Yarrow couldn't answer that question nor could she divine how she felt -- angry, sad, forgiving, or begrudging. She just felt..numb.
She avoided speaking to him. He'd want an answer, something she didn't have for him, and he wouldn't understand that.
Besides, he'd really, truly fecked up. Let him simmer in the juices of his own guilt a little longer.
Yarrow sat back from payroll paperwork with a sigh. There was no use thinking about it, anyway, not when she had this to deal with -- a discrepancy in roll-call reports. The lieutenant with the burned eyes, James, hadn't checked in upon his return from Mudflat -- or hadn't returned at all. Sure, his leave had been cut short, but regardless. His return shouldn't have been more than a day or two late.
Feck it all! She'd have to speak to the Attendance Clerk and see if James had checked in and if he hadn't, she would question her soldiers.
She really hoped she didn't have a mutiny on her hands -- not with James, nor her restless troops. That's just all I need.
~
The Attendance Clerk had been downright offended that Yarrow dared question him at his job. She'd tried to apologise, saying maybe one of his underlings had forgotten to mark it down but that had only made him angrier.
"You question not only my ability at my work but my ability to train others? I've never been so insulted in my life!" He sniffed imperiously before shouting: "Go away! We're closed!" and slamming the shutters to his office in Yarrow's face.
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