Sunstone's Secret

by Kate Kennelly

  After getting a sip of water, Onlo allowed her time to sit and meditate. Though it still disturbed her not to find the pulsing energy of Ismereld’s ley lines, she nevertheless found the meditation soothing. When Natalie indicated she was ready, he stood in front of her.

  “The reiqata sequence is a flow, just like your ley line energy back home. Do not force it,” he reminded.

  She nodded and began, mirroring Onlo as he demonstrated the movements. Before she knew it, she’d completed the whole sequence and she’d only made three mistakes.

  A giant grin spread across her face.

  “Well done,” Onlo smiled. “Now, face the princess, and do the first sequence right in front of her. Charlotte, start with the second sequence. Observe what happens.”

  Natalie took a deep breath, reached for that grounded place she felt during meditation and began the sequence again, this time about two steps from the princess. She repeated Onlo’s instruction not to force her body through the poses to herself over and over. Letting go and going with the flow did not come easy. As she’d learned the hard way, her usual approach of making something happen failed her when it came to the reiqata.

  Perhaps she’d never be as skilled as Onlo or Anli in combat. But, even in these slow movements, Natalie could sense the foundation of how they came to be so physically adept.

  Natalie’s movements alternately brought her toward and away from Charlotte as if she were by turns “attacking” and “blocking.” When they finished, Natalie relayed this observation to Onlo.

  “Exactly. These are the basics of attacks and defensive moves you will later use in hand to hand combat. Let’s try it again, faster, shall we?”

  Natalie breathed again and began the sequence even faster, enjoying the stretch and pull of her muscles as they slid in and out of the poses. Now that her own brain was out of her way, the sky was the limit.

  Chapter 6

  S

  quinting against the dawn-streaked waters of the Sionainne Ocean for any sign of an incoming ship, Natalie palmed moisture from the corners of her eyes. The two weeks Anli and her team had been gone seemed like an eternity.

  She’d awoken from another dream about Jules. Instead of making her scream, this dream made her cheeks flush, the ghost of his fingertips still skimming her skin. Restless, she decided to visit the docks. Although one glance at a map told her that fourteen days was just barely enough time to get to the Abbey and back, let alone find a missing person, she simply had to look.

  The whistling sea winds became Jules’s fingers twining in her hair. Memories of his mouth on hers, capturing his sighs with her own kisses, their arms pulling each other closer until no space separated them swirled in her mind. She closed her eyes against the glare of the sun and took a deep, steadying breath, grounding herself in the earth below as she did before practicing the reiqata.

  Blinking back tears, she turned around and trudged back to the Keep. At least life had a bit of a routine now. Each morning, she continued Charlotte’s Healer training. Every afternoon was spent in the training yard, working with Charlotte and Onlo, developing muscles she never knew she had. One by one, Onlo introduced her to the wooden weapons, practicing the basic skills of each with Charlotte or against a training dummy. She still winced every time her weapon hit something; the idea of hurting another human being on purpose still nagged at her conscious. Every time she doubted her choice, her nightmares and the memory of being hunted down by Aldworth’s men through the streets of Roseharbor prodded her onward.

  Evenings she spent tucked away in Mysha and Shepherd’s cozy house, reading and caring for the woman whose pregnancy seemed determined to make her ill every step of the way.

  Reaching the top of the hill, Natalie stood at the gates of Ebenos Keep, the humid dawn air promising yet another a scorching day. Kicking a stone, she wished she hadn’t visited the docks. She felt more depressed and anxious than when she woke up. She had no interest trying to teach Charlotte while her mind tried so hard to convince her Jules was dead. Crossing her arms across her soft leather bodice, she recalled the tall, curly-haired medic she’d met the day of the fire on the docks. Asha. The lead medic had said she’d welcome Natalie’s help; she’d waited at the time, wanting to bring along Charlotte so she could get real-life Healing experience. What the hell, why don’t I find her and accept her offer? Charlotte’s ready. This will be the perfect opportunity. If it works out.

  She approached the guard at the gate and asked where people usually go when they need a medic.

  “Oh, Asha and Morwenna. They have a building in between the baker and the herbalist on the way to the docks.”

  “Perfect, thank you!”

  After breakfast, she, Jake and the princess made their way toward the docks searching for the baker’s and herbalist’s shops. Natalie brought her supply of dried herbs she’d gathered in the hills of Obfuselt, just in case. The princess kept her silver-blonde hair covered to reduce the chance of someone outside the Keep recognizing her. While Onlo felt certain no one within the Keep would betray the princess’s location to her parents, no one could predict who might be lurking amongst the port shops.

  “There’s a fortune teller,” the princess giggled. “Should we have our fortunes told?”

  “Ugh, do you really believe in that stuff?”

  “I don’t know, maybe. Mother and Father sometimes had troupes of entertainers come to the palace, and usually there would be a fortune teller. They were mostly fakes, I think. But, when I was thirteen, I started sneaking out of the palace—”

  “Goddess, Charlotte, was that safe?”

  Charlotte grinned. “Most likely not. But I did it anyway. I wanted to see how the rest of Roseharbor really lived when they didn’t know royalty was there. Anyway, there was one woman whose readings were always accurate. I don’t know how to explain it, but she knew things. Things no one possibly could have told her.”

  Natalie glanced at Charlotte doubtfully. “Well, after all that’s happened this year, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know what my fortune is. I’d probably run screaming from the shop.”

  “Oooo, look at the lovely dresses.”

  Natalie followed Charlotte’s gaze to the window of a modiste’s shop. Exquisite dresses in black, emerald, burgundy, and white clung to mannequins, fabric falling to the display window floor like water from a waterfall. Made of shining fabrics and tastefully adorned with sparkling jewels, the gowns glimmered like dew in the morning sun. Natalie hated wearing dresses, but even she admitted to Charlotte they were stunning and she longed for a closer look. But she had a lot she wanted to get done before lunch. “Focus, Charlotte. Baker, remember?”

  “Well, I do smell something faintly scrumptious.”

  “Mm, so do I.” Natalie closed her eyes and drew in a long breath. “Fresh, homemade bread.” A pang of longing for home shot through Natalie’s heart. The scent of the bread transported her to her family’s kitchen to Mother’s homemade bread, Da planning the year’s harvest at the kitchen table and her little brother, Aaron playing on the floor. The familiar blanket of guilt over her father’s death covered her. She prayed Mother and Aaron were doing alright without him.

  “Almond poppy seed tea cakes. I haven’t had them in ages. The baker at the castle made the best ones.”

  “Eclairs. I would sometimes buy one from this amazing baker in Saltwick on the way back to the Abbey after treating a patient in town.”

  Following their noses and trading wishes for tempting baked goods, Natalie and Charlotte found the baker’s shop. Eyeing the tempting treats in the window, they reluctantly turned to the medic’s building next to it. Saying a silent prayer to the Five Mages, Natalie knocked on the door.

  A stout woman whose delicate face was surrounded by a cloud of fiery red curly locks answered. “Hello, I’m Morwenna,” she beamed at them. “What ails you today? Cramps? Do you need moonbark extract?”

  Natalie grinned. “No, actual
ly, I’m here to offer my services. I’m Natalie Desmond, a Healer from Ismereld.”

  “Desmond as in Desmond’s Fever? Are you the Healer who discovered how to stop it? Ohmigoddess, please come in,” Morwenna clasped her hands in delight.

  Natalie slapped a hand to her forehead. “They’re calling it Desmond’s Fever? You’re kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding.”

  Face burning, Natalie found herself tugged through the doorway by Charlotte, who grinned broadly and bit her lip with the effort to restrain her laughter. Natalie shot her a glare and avoided everyone’s gaze by examining the infirmary. The walls of the front room overflowed with herbs drying; their rich fragrance made Natalie horribly homesick for her greenhouse at the Abbey. Peeking through a large door opposite the entrance, cots made with crisp linen sheets stood in orderly rows awaiting patients.

  “Nope. I take it you are the one who discovered the fever was transmitted by rats?”

  “Um, yes. Desmond’s Fever, really? They can’t call it that.”

  “They did.” Morwenna’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “Asha! We have a celebrity with us.”

  The tall woman with whom Natalie had worked with on the docks during the fire came out from a back room and leaned against the counter, arms crossed.

  “You didn’t tell me you were the one who stopped the epidemic.”

  “I, well, I—it wasn’t just me, there was my partner, he helped, and there was this builder—she should honestly be on this Isle, she’s a talented builder—plus a whole bunch of children got together and—” The princess elbowed her. “Oh, yes. This is my apprentice, Lottie.” Natalie cleared her throat. “We’re staying here for a bit and wanted to know if you need help. Our afternoons are spoken for, but we could be here in the mornings doing rounds or helping with patients.”

  Morwenna beamed. “Absolutely! Any chance to work with a famous Healer such as yourself.”

  Natalie forced a smile. “Where should we start?”

  “When did we last check on the Bennett family, Morwenna?”

  “Yesterday, I believe.”

  “Come, with me, Natalie and Lottie,” Asha shouldered a black leather bag. “The entire Bennett family caught bronchitis last week. We’ve been visiting every other day to be sure they recover properly. Do you have any supplies with you?”

  “Just some herbs we were able to gather in the hills an hour from here.”

  Asha nodded. “Help yourselves to one of our supply bags. You’ll find them well stocked.”

  “Do you remember which tea is good for coughs?” Natalie quizzed Charlotte on the way to the Bennett’s house.

  “Tanyaroot,” Charlotte replied.

  “Excellent. In fact, I have some here in my bag. We’ll make sure they have plenty before we leave.”

  Natalie and Charlotte followed Asha through a maze of narrow, dim alleyways until they arrived at a humble stone row house with a yellow door, the paint peeling off the door in large chips.

  Asha knocked and a woman wrapped in a black shawl with limp brown hair and red cheeks answered the door.

  “Mrs. Bennett, how are you feeling?” Asha inquired.

  The woman coughed in response and Natalie cringed at the sound. She fought off claustrophobia stepping into the dark, stuffy house. Goddess, someone open the curtains and windows, please. It’s ghastly in here.

  “Mrs. Bennett, these are my two helpers, Healer Desmond and her apprentice, Lottie.”

  “Desmond as in Desmond’s Fever?” Mrs. Bennett inquired between coughs.

  The ground couldn’t swallow Natalie fast enough.

  “You’ll have to pardon my house, Healer Desmond. Usually it’s cleaner, but we’ve all been sick.”

  Natalie put a hand on Mrs. Bennett’s arm. “Of course. You should be resting, not cleaning.”

  Asha nodded. “You two check on the children, through that doorway. I’ll tend to mister and missus Bennett.”

  Natalie, Jake and Charlotte went into the next room and discovered three children lying on cots.

  Natalie guided the princess through treating each child. Their wracking coughs broke Natalie’s heart. Though she ached to use her magic, not being able to use it forced her to analyze concepts before explaining them to Charlotte in a way she wouldn’t have done if she was on Ismereld.

  Each member of the household was in different stages of the infection, but thank the Five, no one’s life was in danger. Natalie and Charlotte prepared and administered copious amounts of tanyaroot tea and propped each child in a sitting position to help them drink it.

  “On Ismereld, what would we do now?” Natalie asked Charlotte.

  “Activate the tea.”

  “Correct. They would recover twice as fast, if not faster than they will here if we were able to Activate it.”

  Charlotte’s jaw dropped.

  Natalie sighed, nodding to the sick children who she estimated would have their coughs for another week or more. “I miss home.”

  The tea distributed, Asha made sure the neighbors would bring the family food until they were well enough to prepare meals for themselves. Natalie’s mouth curved into a smile; Isle folk always took care of their own.

  “Well, I can’t thank you enough. Many hands make light work,” Asha said to Natalie on their way back to the infirmary.

  “It’s no problem. In fact, we’d love to come every morning if that’s all right.”

  “You don’t even have to ask. Welcome aboard.”

  Chapter 7

  T

  wo weeks after joining their ranks, Natalie and Charlotte hurried with the rest of the medics to the site of a construction collapse, heavy packs of bandages, herbs and salves slung over their shoulders. It was close enough to the infirmary that Asha deemed horses unnecessary. Natalie and Charlotte had sprinted out the infirmary door, leaving Jake behind with a morose look on his face. Morwenna swung up onto the infirmary’s horse, galloping off to fetch more medics from their homes and bring them to the scene directly.

  Natalie ran through the streets with the team, barely out of breath. I never thought I’d be as grateful for Onlo’s training as I am now. Four weeks ago, she’d have likely fallen face first in the road by now.

  Coughing in the dust as she approached the debris, Natalie reached into her bag, removed a kerchief and tied it around her nose. She noted with approval that Princess Charlotte had done the same. Charlotte’s silver eyes were round over her kerchief as she took in the crumpled pile of wooden beams, dust billowing like smoke through the air, and the cries of women and men coming from within; Natalie grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

  The rescue crews brought over one patient after another. Initially, Natalie tried to teach Charlotte as she went, but there were too many casualties. Natalie lost count of the cuts she stitched, bones she set, bandages she wrapped and joints she reset. Blood stains liberally darkened her shirt and leathers. Most of her hair fell out of its customary braid and became plastered to her head as the sun beat mercilessly upon them.

  Taking a pull of water from a nearby water skin, Natalie washed her hands once again in one of the barrels of water Asha had delivered on site. She walked over to a patient with a particularly nasty slash across her forehead and cheek. The woman lay on a makeshift table, her black leathers completely beige with dust. Natalie bent backward, pressing her hand to her lower back, inwardly blessing and cursing the sunlight. Stitching a wound outdoors, Natalie had none of the visibility problems she did the nights she worked at the Abbey hospital. However, the sunlight threatened to melt her on the spot; she was ready to sell her soul for a bit of shade.

  Standing next to the woman’s head, she held the gash together with one hand and pushed the suture needle through the skin with the other. Mindfully, she pulled the stitch tight, imagining time slowing as she did so. This cut went close to the eye; she could not afford a single mistake. Dip the needle in through the skin. Pull upwards. Loop
around. Natalie breathed with the rhythm of her sewing until all she was aware of was the cut and her needle and the thread.

  “NATALIE.”

  Approaching the eye, Natalie adjusted the angle of her shoulders and maintained the connection with her breath. “Go away, I’m busy.”

  Onlo came into her vision on her left-hand side. “Did you hear what I just said?”

  Natalie’s eyes did not leave her work. “I’m trying to make sure this woman isn’t disfigured for life, it can wait.”

  “Natalie, they’ve found Jules. He’s hurt badly. He needs a Healer as soon as possible.

  Natalie’s needle landed on the table with a soft ping.

  Natalie’s hand hovered over her patient as she stared at Onlo, only now noticing he had a crew of men and women with him, much like the one that left with Anli in search of Jules.

  She blinked. “What?”

  Asha materialized at her side. “If you’re going to talk with him, then do it and get out of the way so I can finish stitching this patient.”

  Natalie was thankful when Onlo spoke for her. “I’m sorry, Asha, I know it’s a bad time. We need Natalie to come with us to Ismereld right away.”

  His deep voice seemed to echo in her head and the chaos around her faded to an odd buzz. “Ismereld. Jules is on Ismereld?”

  Onlo took Natalie by the arm, snatched up her bag, and headed, along with Charlotte, back to the Keep. Along the way, Natalie found her voice again. “Where did they find him? What are the extent of his injuries? When can we leave? Wh—”

  Onlo put his other hand on her arm and murmured. “A coded message arrived from Anli about thirty minutes ago. They have Jules in a safe place in the woods outside a small fishing village to the east of Skippingwallow. But they cannot move him anymore without fear of making him worse. And before you ask, no, I don’t know what’s wrong with him. But I can tell she’s worried about him.”