"We don't need to run down my list of weaknesses," Naatos remarked with dry annoyance. He crouched beside Amelia, resisting the urge to touch her hand as she lay prone. It wouldn't do any good. She was resting. No comfort or terror could reach her now. And all he would risk was losing his focus, which would lead to his being unable to heal her.
"Look at how many leeches they put in her. Whoever did this wanted to ensure she died when the time was right. The cost would have been astronomical. So why would Salanca go to such trouble? What benefit could she gain? But the Neyeb elders… what choice did they have?"
"It was their council." He scowled at his brother. "Their traditions. I did not force them to give her to me."
AaQar chuckled darkly. "Did they really have a choice, brother? WroOth nearly wrecked that nursing ward trying to get her out. He threatened to destroy the entire city if they harmed her in any way, let alone killed Amelia because of who she was. What choice did they have but to acquiesce?"
"What did I do?" WroOth staggered toward them blearily. He grimaced and picked up the stone vessel. "Shrieking moons, what's happening here? Is she all right?"
"If we can get these out, she will be. Put that back down." AaQar gestured with the tweezers, pinching another black leech between the tips. "After you kidnapped Amelia as an infant, did you ever go back to visit Sinara, WroOth?"
"First, it was a rescue. Second, of course I did." WroOth returned the stone vessel to its resting place, staring at it with disgust. "She wanted to execute Amelia. I made it abundantly clear what would happen to her and her entire community if she so much as ripped out a strand of her hair."
Naatos glared at his younger brother. "I had the situation in hand, WroOth."
"You were being a diplomat. Rare for you. But still… you always were soft with the Neyeb. No. I didn't trust that woman. She and the entire council were willing to execute Amelia. What crime could a baby of six months do?" He scoffed. "At least wait until they're adults to execute them."
"So you told Sinara that you would kill her if she harmed Amelia in any way?" AaQar gave Naatos a pointed look.
Naatos pinched the bridge of his nose. Why hadn't Sinara told him about this? What else had she been hiding from him?
"Absolutely." WroOth's scowl deepened. "What does this have to do with anything? Are these long leeches? Who cursed my sister! Who thought she needed another curse? Was it Sinara? That cespalt!"
"I handled the situation with Sinara," Naatos said.
"Apparently not if she put long leeches in Amelia. Can we kill these? Or do you need them for something?"
Naatos waved him toward the fire. "Dump them in. And…" He glanced once more at the severed calf and foot AaQar had placed on the leaves. "See if the bavril will drain that."
AaQar and WroOth both stared at him incredulously. He glared at them. "Well if neither of you will, I'll do it. But as I am the one who is supposed to heal her and we aren't certain how the contact will affect me, I thought it wise not to risk it."
WroOth folded his arms. "I must have sleep in my ears because I do not believe you just asked me to feed her severed leg to a bavril." He paused. "Not that feeding it to some other creature would make this better."
"Bavrils won't drink contaminated blood. If these long leeches are poisoning her, it will refuse her leg. It hasn't been detached long enough to spoil for its tastes. And long leeches only poison once they have reached satiation for whatever it is that they are absorbing. If the bavril refuses it, it means that whatever the long leeches are feeding off of is strong enough. If it doesn't, then it means that, while it will get worse, we have more time and it's still building. So do it, WroOth."
WroOth wrinkled his nose. "This feels bizarrely despicable." He picked up the severed leg and carried it over to Proteus. The bavril backed away as he set it in front of his trunk. "Here. Enjoy."
The bavril shook its head and moved farther back.
AaQar continued removing the long leeches. "My point is that Sinara likely felt she had no other choice. People in flammable communities tend to feel uneasy about defying unstable fire dragons."
"Which is an excellent reason to master such a form." WroOth pushed the foot closer.
Proteus backed away, lowing loud as he shook his long narrow head.
"I don't think he's interested," WroOth announced.
That dagger of awareness twisted in Naatos's stomach again. His veskaro had been cursed, and it was already poisoning her. But Sinara—she had wanted to execute Amelia because of what she was. She couldn't have done this too. Wouldn't have. It violated everything he knew about her.
"Sinara must have seen the mind shade when she peered into Amelia's mind," AaQar continued.
"Agreed." WroOth nudged the foot closer once more. "How could she have missed it?"
Naatos had considered this as well. "She would have had some other plan. Perhaps one she was working on. She said that there were matters we would need to discuss later."
WroOth chuckled wryly as AaQar shook his head. "Sinara was a pragmatic woman, Naatos. And you know this. Putting Amelia down quietly was no longer an option. Controlling her was unlikely at best. So"—AaQar removed another leech—"What else was there to do but to get creative? Put a curse on her that would remain dormant until she started stepping into more dangerous abilities? Perhaps even one that will do hardly any damage at all until the Ki Valo Nakar begins to wake. Mask it with yet another spell to make it hard to recall what it is. Thank whatever goodness exists that the words themselves weren't bound."
Amelia didn't deserve this. She was infuriating at times. Stubborn to a fault. But nothing she had ever done, even at her worst, warranted this. Sinara had known that. What she and the council had proposed for Amelia was a swift and painless death. The death that these long leeches brought about was cruel. Vicious. Nothing that the bracelet he'd fashioned her would protect against.
AaQar hadn't finished. "And Sinara had to suspect you were incapable of fulfilling that vow. This solves it nicely from their perspective, I'm certain. So long as her abilities did not awaken, it would lie dormant."
Naatos opened his mouth to speak but stopped. Her fingers curled against her palms. "She's waking up."
AaQar frowned. "She should be under for another hour—"
Amelia's hands splayed out and struck the ground hard as if she had fallen. Her eyes sprang open. "I—I have to—"
"Amelia, just stay still. You're fine. But we're not quite finished yet." AaQar placed his hand against her back, avoiding the raw flesh.
"I have to remember," she said. Her fingers dug into the dirt. "I have to—but it's not there. It isn't there!"
"Just remain still. This is only going to take a moment," AaQar continued calmly. "Naatos, this is the last one. You can heal her as soon as I remove this."
"Remove what?" Amelia lifted her head, trying to peer back over her shoulder.
"Just stay still," Naatos said, sharper than he intended.
"You don't want to look. Trust me." WroOth flopped down in front of her. "It never goes well."
"Now I do want to see." She twisted again.
"Well you can't." WroOth grabbed her face between his hands.
Her eyes widened into a rageful glare. "Get your hands off my face."
Startled, Naatos stared. He had never heard that much venom in her voice. Especially not toward WroOth.
WroOth pulled back, his eyebrow arching. Even AaQar looked up.
She didn't break the glare.
WroOth removed his hands. "No peeking then." He smiled, but the confusion remained apparent.
AaQar pulled the last leech free. "You can heal her."
Leaning over her, Naatos placed his hand between her shoulder blades. The energy flowed easier than before but slower than when he'd healed the amputation.
She ducked her head and then squirmed away as she pulled her shirt down. "Thank you." Her shoulders drawn in as if to shield herself, she at once cradled her neck.
She shook her head without looking up. "I can't remember it. There were things I needed to remember." She murmured something else, her voice soft, the words fast. Her fingers dug into her skin.
"Amelia, you're probably going to have a headache, maybe some paranoia, and certainly dehydration. Come back and drink your water." AaQar tossed the remaining long leeches into the fire. "Amelia? Naatos, get her back here. I don't think she can hear me."
Something was off with her. Naatos waved his brothers away. Every muscle in her body had gone rigid. He gave her a broad circle of space as he moved in front of her. Her gaze remained fastened to the ground, her steps uneven.
"It was—it was—" She broke off, then shook her head. Her fingers brushed against the sides of her face; she snatched them back as if she had been burned.
"Did you hurt your face?" he asked.
"I thought I was going to lose my mind. He was—it was bad. And I needed to remember. Worthless. I'm worthless. Only half. And it was important. So important."
She stepped to the side, leaving the circle of firelight. Her breaths raced in and out, far too fast for what she had been doing. The words came faster, repetitions of what she had said previously. The distress in her voice wounded him. Could she recognize the unformed ones calling her in this state? Best not to risk it. In this state if even one—let alone two—touched her, she'd probably slip into a coma for who knew how long.
He tugged at her elbow to guide her back. "Amelia."
She bolted back, alarm flashing through her face as if she hadn't noticed him there. "I can't remember the dreams."
"Not all dreams are meant to be remembered, veskaro. Now come back." He held out his hand.
For a long moment, she studied his hand, her own still curled against her neck as if to push something away.
Just take it.
Please.
He willed himself to remain still, measuring his own breaths. He wasn't going to grab her. Wasn't going to startle her.
Her gaze shifted from his hand to his face before she at last forced her hand to his. Her palm was clammy, her fingers like ice. "You're awake," he said. "And you're safe."
She shook her head, her dark eyes wide. "It was so important, and I forgot it."
"It's all right." He drew her closer and moved toward the fire. "It's all right."
She moved now as if half asleep, her right hand still on her neck.
She remained guarded even when they reached the fire. QueQoa was just waking up for his turn at watch. "Everything all right?" he asked.
"It will be." AaQar finished rinsing out the stone vessel. "Amelia, are you feeling all right?"
"I'm angry," she said. No anger tinged her voice. Only exhaustion and fear. "With myself."
She was speaking much slower than usual. He frowned as he studied her.
WroOth sat on the log beside them. "Could the long leeches be responsible for this? They were poisoning her obviously."
"Long leeches?" Her head bobbed up, her eyebrow high. "What leeches? In my foot?"
"AaQar removed them all. At least all that we could find," Naatos said. "They're used in curses."
"The blood curse?"
"No."
"I have another curse?" She pulled away. "How many do I have?"
At least she sounded more like herself now.
"More than enough, I'd say," WroOth interjected. "So if you could try to avoid getting any more, that would be ideal." He passed her a canteen of water.
"Agreed," QueQoa said. "Most people manage to avoid getting even one in their lifetime."
"I'm lucky I guess," she murmured. "Gotta balance it out somehow. What was this curse for?"
AaQar cleared his throat. "We don't know precisely who did it, but we're relatively certain it was intended to keep you from using either the powers of the Ki Valo Nakar or perhaps more advanced mindreading. This curse is a combination of Neyeb and possibly Bealorn Forbidden Arts. Perhaps even Tiablo."
She nodded slowly, but she did not appear as disturbed as he had expected. "So it's a safety measure. They did this to make sure I couldn't destroy whole cities. Does that mean—should we have removed them then?"
"Yes," Naatos said sharply. What was she thinking! Was she thinking? "They were poisoning you."
"What happens if I give in to the Ki Valo Nakar and become a soul eater? Is there some other way to stop me?" she demanded.
"Well at the moment, there are no other people here, so while that would be bad for us, you're not likely to eat a whole city or town," WroOth said. "And I don't really think you'd be able to do it to any of us anyway."
"If I lost myself somehow. I don't think it's impossible. What someone wants is rarely important in matters like this." She ran her fingers over her cheek once more, digging them into her skin.
He pulled her hands away. "You won't."
Closing her eyes, she took in a deep trembling breath and released it. "Are all of the leeches gone? Will I start to remember my dreams?"
He wanted to comfort her. To give her some resolution. But these lies would only harm. "I doubt it, veskaro. The Ki Valo Nakar was entrapped in a particular incantation and within your mind. This is a curse that is only taking effect now because something has triggered it. It could be the Ki Valo Nakar's attempts to awaken were all that triggered this."
"And I can't remember my dreams." She shuddered.
"The sedative may be making you feel worse," AaQar said. "The good thing is that you are no longer being poisoned. Your foot already is much better."
She laughed faintly, her shoulders twitching as she flexed her left foot. "I didn't realize how bad it felt until now. I suppose Vawtrian medicine has advantages when you can share that healing."
Naatos smiled a little. "You probably are having nightmares because of all that has happened. There's no need for you to remember them. Within these past hours, you had three unformed ones grab hold of you and transfer all their memories into your mind. It would be more unusual if you were not unsettled. You feel other people's pain as your own. That comes at a high price. If we can just keep the unformed ones from touching you, you should be fine." He smoothed her hair back. She flinched when his fingers touched the side of her face. "And we won't let them near you. If you hear even the start of one calling, we'll find a defensible location and deal with them."
"That's going to slow us down," she whispered.
"We'll deal with that as we must."
"But the Grey Season and the rels. Time is something we don't have."
"One crisis at a time," WroOth said. "And that water won't do you any good if you don't drink it."
"Earthquakes. Was there an earthquake?" she asked.
"No." Naatos frowned.
"At any point in the past two days?"
He shook his head. His brothers appeared equally confused. "Why do you ask?"
"Why would there be an earthquake?" QueQoa asked. "We're not to that stage of the Grey Season's coming."
"I don't know. It's just—it seems like there should have been an earthquake here. Would we have felt an earthquake if there was one in Darmusky?"
Naatos stiffened. Where had she heard that name? "You mean Darmoste?"
"Darmusky is what the Tiablo called Darmoste." AaQar tilted his head as he studied her. "Where did you hear that name? We don't call it that. And you haven't met a Tiablo."
She frowned, shaking her head. "I don't know. It's just… it's in my head." Taking a long swig from the canteen, she stared into the fire. "Just there."
Odd.
"If there was an earthquake in Darmoste, we would have felt it here." AaQar glanced up into the night sky. "We have six hours before dawn. WroOth and QueQoa have the watch. The rest of us should get what sleep we can. Then we continue."
"I don't know if I can sleep anymore," she said softly, starting to pull her hand free.
He tightened his grip and pulled her back. "You can rest. Yo
u need to rest."
She shook her head. "I don't know what I'm dreaming about, but knowing that I can't remember it when I wake, no matter how important it feels, it's going to drive me insane."
"You may sleep better now that the leeches are gone," AaQar suggested. "I doubt they did much for your rest."
"You think they caused nightmares?" She glanced between them, her expression slightly more hopeful.
"I can't imagine they helped," Naatos said. He squeezed her hand. "But you should at least rest. You will need your strength for the rest of this journey. Unless you want to be carried."
"Always with the threats." She cast a smile in his direction, then stood. "I am going to get changed though. I'll be back."
He watched her leave, noting that her stride was steadier and her stance more confident. The horror of the dreams had faded, perhaps the effects of the sedative as well. That was good.
One of these days she was going to let him see her naked. But tonight was not the time to broach the subject. Nor was it a good time to surprise her behind that tree.
It took only a few moments to make his own preparations for rest. Whether she would join him, he couldn't say for certain. He chose to rest on his side just in case, leaving the blanket loose rather than wrapping it tightly over himself.
When she emerged from behind the tree, she wore the red gown. Of the four, that had been his favorite on her—though now the yellow had precedence if only for sentimental reasons. She combed her fingers through her hair as she walked toward him. Then, almost miraculously, she curled up on her side and pressed back against him.
He breathed with relief as she rested her head on his outstretched arm. Carefully he lifted the blanket and covered them both. She snuggled a little closer, her body delightfully warm and perfect against his. He brushed his lips against the back of her neck as he wrapped his arm around her waist and settled her more firmly against him. "Rest well, veskaro."
"You too," she whispered.
His own nightmare found him soon. One moment she was in his arms, the next she vanished into the night.
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