That’s the plan. Kevessa put out her hand, and Nina sent the Mother’s power flowing through her. A window bloomed over her palm and opened onto the Hall the afternoon before. Nirel walked from the courtroom and out the doors with quiet composure. Nina followed her as she paused on a bench by the fountain for a while, then continued down to the market. She made inquiries at several shops, which eventually led her to a tiny, dingy inn far down a side street. She haggled with the innkeeper, finally paying him for a single night with sagging shoulders.
At Kevessa’s urging Nina sped through the night to the moment she’d left the inn, early that morning. She’d spent the last few hours working her way methodically through the marketplace, asking for work at each shop. When the window caught up to the present, she still hadn’t found any.
Vigorre asked, “Do you want me to go with you?” His voice was steady, but Kevessa picked up an undertone of trepidation. He had an even more complicated history with Nirel than Kevessa did.
“You’d better stay here and get back to work. It looks like the masters are going to be busy for a good while longer, and we don’t want to keep patients waiting more than we have to.”
“As long as you don’t think you’ll need my help.”
“Frankly, I think I’ve got a better chance on my own.”
Vigorre gave a twist of his head and a wry smile. “Good luck.”
Kevessa nodded to the rest of the apprentices and headed for the door. She traced Nirel’s path through the plaza and toward the market, thinking about what to say when she found her.
Nirel was directly responsible for the Ramunnan attack on Tevenar. But that was over now. Master Elkan seemed willing to forgive her, at least enough to seek her help. Kevessa couldn’t very well hold a grudge when those with far more reason to be angry were willing to set their condemnation aside.
Nirel had lied to her so convincingly that Kevessa had temporarily doubted everything she knew about wizards and familiars. She’d caused a rift between Kevessa and Nina that had come far too close to severing their bond. But that was over now, too. Nirel’s lies had been exposed, the truth revealed to everyone.
Will it bother you to be around Nirel, after everything she’s done to us? Kevessa asked.
Nina pondered for a moment. When they came, her words were tentative. She won’t try to make you think I’m a demon again?
I doubt it. And it won’t do any good if she does.
Nikena will die without insulin. They’d met the bubbly, energetic little girl several times when she’d come to the Hall. Nina’s voice strengthened. Nirel is the only one who can make it. It won’t bother me.
Kevessa acknowledged her familiar’s words, hiding her emotions. Even Nina wasn’t angry at Nirel anymore. Was Kevessa the only one who thought she shouldn’t be absolved of her crimes so easily?
Blast it, Nirel had been Kevessa’s friend. Kevessa had trusted her, and she’d betrayed that trust. She couldn’t pretend it had never happened.
When they got close to the market, Kevessa had Nina open another window to find Nirel’s current location. She waited across the street from the shop until Nirel emerged. When the door closed behind Nirel, her shoulders drooped and she rubbed her face with both hands. Then she drew a deep breath, straightened with a visible effort, and marched toward the next shop in line.
Kevessa crossed the street, angling to intercept her. “Nirel?”
Nirel jerked around. “Kevessa?” She took a wary step backward. “I’d heard you were here.”
“Josiah told us what happened yesterday.”
Fury seethed in Nirel’s eyes. “I expect he was terribly proud of himself.”
Kevessa snorted. “Actually, yes.” She sobered. “I doubt he’d have been so smug if he’d known the same thing was going to happen to him the very next day.”
Nirel frowned. “What?”
“He was accused of breaking the Law. Evidence was presented, he confessed, and Sar broke their bond. Not even an hour ago.”
Nirel blinked. Her brow furrowed. “Josiah’s not a wizard anymore?”
“No. He’s going to have to find some other guild. After he wakes up. He’s unconscious, and he’s going to stay that way for three days.”
Consternation played over Nirel’s features. Then her expression hardened and she turned away. “I don’t see how that’s any of my concern.”
“Josiah was in the middle of making a batch of insulin, and nobody else at the Mother’s Hall knows how to finish it. We’ve got a diabetic patient who’s going to run out before he wakes up.”
Nirel rolled her eyes with an explosive sound of exasperation. “Of course. Trust Josiah to be that careless.”
“Master Elkan asked me to make you an offer. Finish the insulin, and the Wizards’ Guild will pay you generously.” Kevessa was sure Elkan wouldn’t mind her misrepresenting his words. Nirel would be more willing to accept an offer of honest work than to respond to a plea for help from those she felt had wronged her. Especially when she hadn’t been able to find anyone else willing to hire her.
Nirel looked at her, debate raging behind her blank expression. She didn’t reach to touch her purse, but Kevessa could see it dangling limp from her belt.
Now an appeal to her generosity and pride. “Please? I’ve met the patient, her name is Nikena. She’s only four. Your skill is the only thing that can save her life.”
Nirel snorted. “Cut her insulin to half the dose you’ve been giving her. Feed her nothing but meat and greens—no bread, no fruit, no milk, especially no sweets. She’ll survive until Josiah recovers.”
Despite herself, Kevessa’s interest quickened. “Really? How do you know?”
“That’s what my—the Faithful—used to do. It could keep a child alive for months, sometimes.”
“Hmm. I wonder how that works.” Josiah would want to investigate. Maybe he could experiment with feeding Nikena different things and watching what happened to her blood—oh. Kevessa swallowed. “How will she feel?”
Nirel looked away. “Not very good, probably.”
“Better with insulin?”
Nirel shrugged and nodded.
Kevessa was silent. After a moment, Nirel turned and walked toward the next shop. Kevessa fell in beside her without saying anything. She waited while Nirel went inside. After only a few minutes she came out again. “Any luck?”
Nirel grimaced. “Most guilds have rules against hiring anyone outside the guild. Even those that don’t will only hire an apprentice through their master. No one will talk to me once they find out I’m not a member of a guild and don’t have a master.” She gave a humorless laugh. “Most of them look at me like I’m a kid with two heads.”
“Will you join a guild? Your father was a farmer, right? Would you want to do that?”
“Maybe.” Nirel sighed. “I suppose I should talk to the people at the Knitters’ Guild headquarters. They’re my kinguild, so I guess technically I’m still their responsibility.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
She sighed again. “Except I don’t want to be a knitter. Or a farmer. Or anything else, really, except maybe a healer like Nalini. And there’s no guild for that.”
“There might be someday. Master Elkan’s excited about the possibilities of wizards and non-wizard healers working together. Or at least he was before the war.”
Nirel shrugged. They walked in silence to the next shop. Nirel stopped, looked at the door for a long moment, then sighed. “What will Elkan pay me?”
Kevessa named the largest sum she could cover from her own money, if necessary. Nirel nodded slowly. “All right. One batch.”
“Thank you.” Kevessa turned toward the Hall, her steps light. Nirel trudged beside her.
Nina, who’d stayed tucked inside Kevessa’s tunic the whole time, peeked out, then clambered onto Kevessa’s shoulder, her claws pricking her skin. “Ouch. Be careful.” She raised her hand and caressed the squirrel.
Nirel watched
them bleakly. “Still corrupting people with the Lady’s power, I see.”
Kevessa would have responded in anger except for the aching loss in Nirel’s voice. Instead she kept her voice flat. “No thanks to you.”
“Hmmph.”
“Vigorre’s a wizard now, too. He bonded with Tharanirre.”
Nirel looked away. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”
“He apologized for trying to convince me Nina was a demon. Profusely. And he actually believed what he was saying at the time.”
Nirel turned back with a fierce scowl. “I’m not sorry. I’d do it again.”
“Why?” Kevessa fought to keep her voice from breaking. “Why do you hate the Mother’s power so much? Do you realize how much it hurt Nina to know I doubted her, even for a moment? How much it hurt me to upset her? You and I used to be friends. Good friends, I thought. Why did you turn against me?”
“I didn’t have a choice!”
“Yes, you did. You didn’t have to become a Dualist.”
Nirel clenched her fists. “Don’t use that word. And I didn’t become one of the Faithful. I always was. I just didn’t know it.”
“But you didn’t have to join them and pledge obedience to Elder Davon. Not when you found out what he was trying to do.”
“He was trying to lead our people to a new home where we could live free from persecution. I would have done anything to help him achieve that.” Her shoulders slumped. “Now he has.”
“But you’re not part of it, through no fault of your own. If you were, you’d be marrying a man who could beat you any time he felt like it. Sounds like persecution to me.”
Nirel drew an angry breath, but cut off whatever she was going to say. After a moment, she huffed. “All right. Maybe the Ordinances aren’t perfect. But they’re better than nothing, which is what followers of the Lady have.”
Kevessa stroked Nina. “It doesn’t feel like nothing to me.”
Nirel shook her head, exasperated. “It’s useless to argue about religion. Neither of us is going to convince the other we’re right.”
“Probably not.”
They walked in silence until they reached the plaza. Kevessa stopped to scoop up a handful of water at the fountain. Nirel drank, too. As they both wiped their hands on their breeches, Nirel said, “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
Surprised, Kevessa turned to her. “Thanks.”
“And I’m sorry I upset Nina. I suppose it’s not her fault the Lady made her the way she is.”
To Kevessa that sounded more like an insult than an apology, but Nina chittered happily. Tell her I forgive her.
“She forgives you.”
Nirel snorted. “Show me where Josiah’s got his equipment.”
Kevessa led her inside and across the main Hall. She thought about stopping to speak to Vigorre, but he was nowhere to be seen. Probably in a cubicle with a patient. So she crossed to the left-hand stairs and led Nirel up to the storeroom near the bath that Josiah had claimed. “He set up here so he’d have easy access to water. I made the mistake of volunteering to help him move all the stuff that used to be stored here down to the basement. I swear it hadn’t been touched in fifty years, the dust was so thick.”
Nirel surveyed the cramped space critically. “He didn’t do a very good job cleaning. And that’s the most random collection of pots and jars I’ve ever seen.”
“He talked about having some custom made, but he had to put these together quickly from what was in the kitchen or could be bought from the market. He’s made a few batches using them, so I guess they work.”
Nirel pulled a big jar from a shelf. It was full of a disgusting-looking mixture that reminded Kevessa unpleasantly of half-digested stomach contents. “Perfect. At least he got the proportions right. Want me to show you how it’s done?”
Despite her misgivings, and the stench when Nirel opened the jar, Kevessa said, “Sure.”
Nirel relaxed as she settled into the task. She kept up a running commentary on what she was doing, peppered with frequent criticisms of Josiah’s set-up and technique. Kevessa listened, fascinated, and asked a lot of questions. They worked for an hour until noise from downstairs reached them faintly through the floor and Kevessa realized it was time for the midday meal.
“Let’s go eat. You must be hungry.” She hadn’t seen Nirel buy any food, either in the window or since.
Nirel swallowed and cast a yearning but nervous look at the door. “I suppose I can leave things at this stage for an hour without harm.”
“If you don’t want to go down I can bring something up.”
Nirel took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “That’s too much trouble. Josiah won’t be there, right? Or anyone else I know, except Vigorre?”
“Not unless you’ve met any of the wizard apprentices.” As Nirel shook her head, Kevessa remembered something. “Oh, and Tesi’s here. You met her, didn’t you? The Mother chose her as a wizard, too.”
Nirel looked surprised. “She was very kind to me when Ozor kicked me out. But she said she didn’t worship the Mother.”
“I know.” Kevessa shrugged. “Apparently they came to an agreement.” She opened the door and waited for Nirel to go through. “Um. One more thing. She and Vigorre… they’re a couple now.”
“Oh.” Nirel paled a little, but she nodded. “Thanks for warning me.”
“I think it’s serious. They seem very happy together.”
“I’m glad.” Nirel slowed as they reached the bottom of the stairs. “I treated him very badly. He deserves better.”
Kevessa took her hand and led her to join the tail end of the crowd trickling into the dining hall. “He knows Master Elkan asked me to find you, so he won’t be surprised to see you.”
“Good.”
All the round master’s tables at the front were empty. Kevessa joined the line beside Braon. “The council is still in session?”
“We just finished taking their meals in.”
“How did Master Elkan look?”
“Tired, but hopeful.”
Thank the Mother. Hanion’s revelation hadn’t swung the masters to his side. “This is Nirel. She’s already gotten a good start on the insulin Josiah left.”
“Pleased to meet you, Nirel,” Braon said. He didn’t give any indication that Nirel had been the subject of gossip both last night and that morning.
Kevessa introduced her to the others one by one. Everyone was equally polite, except Kalti, who raised her eyebrows and greeted Nirel with a subtly snide tone. But Nirel either didn’t notice or ignored it.
They took their plates to the table. Vigorre was seated next to Tesi, as usual. The space Josiah usually occupied was empty. Kevessa swallowed and forced her voice to be bright. “Vigorre, look who I found. Tesi, you remember Nirel, don’t you?”
Vigorre rose in the Ramunnan manner and bowed to Nirel. “Greetings.”
Tesi folded her hands and inclined her head. “Well met.”
“Hello.” Nirel bobbed her head at each of them and slid into the seat across from Tesi.
Vigorre waited until Kevessa sank into the spot opposite him, then seated himself. For a while they all focused on their food. Eventually Kevessa and Tesi started responding to things the other apprentices said, but Vigorre and Nirel remained quiet, neither of them looking at the other.
When Vigorre’s plate was empty, he set down his fork and looked at Nirel with a crooked smile. “A few months ago I never would have guessed that one day soon we’d be eating a friendly meal together in the Mother’s Hall in Elathir.”
Nirel choked out a laugh. “Never.”
He glanced up, and Tharanirre swooped to land on his shoulder. “I think it’s best we both set aside what’s past. There are things I could blame you for, and there are certainly things you could hold against me, but I don’t see much point. Do you agree?”
Nirel shrugged. “I suppose.”
Vigorre looked at Kevessa. She raised her eyebrows. He was handling th
ings well enough. And it wasn’t like he’d stop or change course if she signaled him to.
He turned back to Nirel. “It seems to me we both ended up with what we truly wanted. I’m a wizard, serving the Mother in the way I always dreamed. And you…” He hesitated.
Nirel lifted her head and looked past Vigorre’s shoulder toward the western wall, her eyes unfocused, gazing at something far away and forever out of reach. “My people finally have the land the Lord of Justice promised us. Building Faithhome will be harder than taking over Tevenar would have been, but better in the long run, I think. We have it all to ourselves, with no resentful population to subdue. With hard work and the Lord’s blessing, we’ll thrive.”
Quietly Tesi said, “What about you, Nirel? Will you thrive?”
Nirel’s eyes focused on the Girodan, so bleak and empty Kevessa shivered. “How can I, cut off from my people? But I’ll survive. And continue to serve the Lord of Justice as best I can.”
Mimi leapt into Tesi’s lap, and she cradled the cat in her arms. “The honorable lady who offered me her power did not ask me to abandon my beliefs. Only to use it within the rules she has set. I suspect she would reach the same agreement with you, if you wished. Vigorre and Kevessa tell me you have a healer’s heart.”
Nirel stiffened. Her voice went very flat and cold. “The Lady’s power is the reason I lost what mattered to me most. I wouldn’t take it if she fell on her knees and begged me. It is an abomination.”
Kevessa’s stomach lurched, and Vigorre looked furious, but Tesi merely inclined her head. “Then I suppose you must find other ways to heal. Insulin, and the other techniques Nalini developed.”
“What use are they here, where the Lady’s power corrupts everyone?” Nirel put her elbows on the table and dropped her forehead into her hands. Her voice was muffled, but Kevessa could still make out the words. “I wanted to use them to serve my people, but now I never can.”
“Are you sure?” Kevessa leaned close. She wanted to put her arm around Nirel’s shoulders, but feared she’d react badly. “Maybe they’d let you live there and use your healing skills. Especially if you went back to Ramunna with us and studied with Nalini more.” Struck by an idea, she looked up. “And Tesi, you could teach her your Art. The Faithful who came to Little Tevenar didn’t have a problem with it, did they?”
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