Poisoned: The Book of Maladies

by D. K. Holmberg

  “You don’t need to be sad that she didn’t find you last night,” Beckah said over his shoulder.

  Alec looked up to see her smiling. She was dressed more casually today, wearing a practically shimmering blue dress that revealed a hint of her cleavage. A gold necklace hung low, a ring hanging from it that likely cost more than Alec’s father’s entire shop would have been worth.

  “I’m not sad.”

  “Well, you’re reading about heartache. It seems to me that would be more of a personal issue, don’t you think?”

  “Why would you think I suffered from heartache?”

  “You’re here already. You returned early last night. And you didn’t make it nearly as far as you intended into the city.”

  Alec studied her. “Were you following me?”

  She shrugged. “Call it curiosity. I wanted to see who you’ve been meeting up with.”

  “You could have asked.”

  Beckah shrugged again. “Would you have told me?”

  Alec doubted that he would have. That opened himself to more questions. Not only about why he was with Sam, but about her position in the city. Now that she spent time in the palace—training with her mother—she could no longer make the claim that she was lowborn. Not that Alec ever minded. She might view him as a highborn, but it wasn’t the way he viewed himself.

  “Who is she?”

  “Like I told you. She’s a friend.”

  Beckah snorted. “A friend? You’re the son of an apothecary, and you’re visiting someone on the palace grounds?”

  Alec considered her for a long moment before answering. “If you followed me, then you would know that I didn’t reach the palace grounds.”

  “Why do you think that’s the only time I followed you?” She stared at him serenely.

  If she’d followed him before, then she likely knew he had been on the palace grounds in the past. Most of the time, the guards allowed him to cross. That usually happened during the daytime. Last night was the first time since she’d gone to the palace that he had attempted to connect with Sam at night.

  How much did Beckah already know?

  Marin’s betrayal had raised suspicion within Alec that had never been there before. It was hard not to question when people all around him were deceitful. Marin’s deception had cost Sam dearly.

  “Are we going to study, or are you going to harass me about my friends?”

  Beckah grinned. “You’re getting better. Pretty soon, you’ll fling it back at me.”

  “Fling what back at you?”

  “All the crap I’ve been giving you. Listen, what do I care if someone in the palace is trying to make a connection to you already? You wouldn’t be the first person to use your time in the university to make political connections. You might be one of the first to make a connection quite so high so early, but then again, I doubt there’ve been too many students who come to the university with your particular set of skills.”

  It might be better if she believed that he had simply gone to the palace to meet someone for political gain. As she said, he wouldn’t be the first person to do so.

  “I’m only trying to make sure I have a future.”

  She snorted. “Your future could be here if you wanted. You’re clearly on track to be raised to master level. You might be the only other person in our class who can.”

  “Myself and Darnell?” Alec asked.

  Beckah glared at him, and for a moment, he thought she might try to punch him. At that moment, she reminded him of Sam, in the way that she quickly was riled. He enjoyed tormenting her in much the same way. For some reason, being at the university had quieted him, especially after his rapid promotion. He was reluctant to say too much, not wanting to draw more attention to himself.

  “Well?” Beckah asked.

  “Well what?”

  “What have you discovered?” She pointed to the section on the page that he was reading where it spoke about heartache. “I’ve been around you long enough to know that you must’ve found something. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten that scrunched up look on your face that looks like you’re constipated.”

  Alec blinked before he laughed. “Constipated?”

  “Don’t worry, it’s not that I’ve been watching you there as well. I don’t need to watch to know what a constipated face would look like on you.”

  “I’m not sure that I want to continue to study with you if you’re going to insult me constantly.”

  Beckah ignored him. “It’s almost like these authors have never met a woman before.” She looked up at him, a playful expression on her face, and Alec could already begin to see where she was going to go. “Not like you. You seem to know all about women.”

  He cleared his throat. “That’s not why I chose this volume.”

  “No? You didn’t want to read all about heartache and the art of providing soothing elixirs to help ease a woman through such suffering?”

  “Well, far be it from me to not offer something to someone who might be suffering.”

  “Such as yourself?”

  Alec couldn’t help himself. He laughed, the noise disrupting the silence of the library. The librarian appeared from between the stacks of books and shot him a hard look, silencing him.

  “You’re going to get us kicked out of the library. You're quite loud. Maybe you should take your studies someplace else.”

  Alec stared at her, debating what he could say that wouldn’t be taken the wrong way. With Beckah, it was never easy for him to know. “If you’d rather I study elsewhere, I’d be happy to do so.” He gathered his books and prepared to stand up.

  “You need to stop being quite so literal. I know you can have fun. I see it in you. You just have to relax.”

  It was surprising that she would tell him he needed to relax, especially as Sam had suggested the same thing. He found it difficult to relax here. Even entering the university had been a matter of passing tests that seemed determined to prevent him from joining. His connection to his father—an apothecary—placed him in an equally precarious situation. The university masters didn’t care for the apothecaries attempting to push their way in to healing and had long questioned their abilities.

  “And you need to recognize when I’m only kidding.” He sat back, pulling the book back in front of him, and made a point of staring at the page. “Maybe you need some dorsalberry.”

  “And why would I need that?”

  He shrugged. “Clearly, you’re disappointed that I’m not spending as much time with you as you would like me to. Though I think that other treatments for your heartache might be more effective. In fact, if we were at my father’s shop, I might suggest talun leaf, perhaps crushed and placed in a mixture of chaparral and weasel root.”

  She watched him, shaking her head. “Is that what you read in that book? I’m not even familiar with weasel root or chaparral.”

  “You’re not? I thought you considered yourself the only other person on the pathway to becoming a master.”

  She grinned at him. “Not Darnell?”

  “Darnell would be lucky to pass this first year. He struggles remembering anything more than the basics of diagnosis.”

  This time, it was Beckah who barked out a laugh. As she did, she cupped her hands over her mouth, and the librarian poked his head out once more, sending his glare at both of them. Beckah made a playful expression, managing to somehow look both chagrined while pointing in Alec’s direction.

  When the librarian disappeared, Alec said, “Thanks for that.”

  “See? You have more fun in you than you realized.” She grabbed the book from in front of him and pulled it over, quickly scanning the page. “This doesn’t say anything about weasel root or chaparral. Where did you read about that?”

  “Nowhere.”

  “So, it’s something you learned from your father? Does it work?”

  Alec shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “What you mean you don’t know? I thought you had answers
to everything.”

  “I don’t know because I don’t know anything about weasel root or chaparral. I made them up.”

  She started to laugh again, but caught herself, cutting off before she made too much noise. “Good. I’m glad that you think to make up your treatments for me. That seems like a good way to test ourselves, doesn’t it?”

  “How is that a good way to test ourselves?”

  She grinned at him. “If you can tell that something was made up, then you must know the real treatment. Next time when we study, we’ll pick topics, and if I convince you of a made-up treatment, I win. If you do, then you win.”

  “What’s the prize?”

  Her grin widened. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Keep it up, and you’ll need dorsalberry again.”

  She shook her head, smiling widely, and pushed the book back over to him.

  6

  The Master Physicker

  Alec waited in the classroom, wondering why he was the only student there. The rows of desks were empty, his the only one stacked with books. There was no instructor here, and he frowned to himself, wondering if he had made a mistake.

  There were plenty of traditions at the university with which he was not completely familiar. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d made a mistake and ended up where he wasn’t supposed to be.

  His notebook—the running journal he kept with his notes, and then the notes of his notes—lay open in front of him. He studied it whenever he had free moments, hoping to uncover some nugget of information, some truth that might provide him a better understanding of his healing abilities.

  When he flipped the page, he came across one that referenced something he and Sam had been working on before Alec’s studies had become too consuming, and before Sam had been too caught up in what she learned from her mother.

  How long had it been since they had studied together? Alec started ticking off the days and stopped when he reached double digits. Too many. He missed her. It was a strange thing to admit to himself, but he had grown accustomed to seeing her daily, and he had become accustomed to spending time with her, testing the various ratios of blood required to make particular augmentations more effective. Now he studied alone.

  He told himself that his studies were important and that he did them so that he could one day help Sam even more, but when would that day come? How long would he be tasked with staying at the university, with learning various healing techniques, so few of which had anything to do with a real-world setting.

  Most of the techniques the instructors taught were theoretical, which chafed Alec. It shouldn’t; he knew he should simply accept what he was taught, and not question the knowledge the masters provided, but Alec had witnessed healing firsthand for nearly his entire life.

  The door creaked open, and he looked up. Beckah poked her head in and grinned when she saw him. “Are you coming?”

  He frowned. “Coming where?”

  She giggled. “You really should learn to double-check our class assignments.”

  “What do you mean…” He pulled out another notebook, the one in which he kept his record of classes and where he was expected to be from day to day. It often changed, much as the speakers changed. They worked their schedules around the availability of the master physickers, and Alec had simply trusted that his notes were accurate.

  As he flipped through the pages and settled on today, he ran his finger down the entries and realized that the ink was slightly off. He looked up at Beckah and saw her trying to suppress laughter again.

  “You did this? You changed my journal?”

  She shrugged. “I thought it would be funny to see what you would do. I didn’t expect to see you sitting here quite so long.”

  Alec stared at the notes he had made, and there was only the subtlest evidence that she had done anything to them. It was actually quite impressive work. He hated admitting that, and he would never tell her that, but she had succeeded in modifying his writing in such a way that it actually looked somewhat like it had been done in his hand.

  “Where are we really supposed to be?”

  “The hospital. And it’s Eckerd today. You’re going to want to be there.”

  Master Eckerd was one of the most renowned physickers at the university. Of all the masters that Alec had met, Eckerd was the one who challenged him the most. He had a grasp of ancient texts and could often reference things from books he’d seen only once or twice before.

  In that way, Eckerd reminded Alec of his father. Alec’s father was not only a skilled physicker, but one of the finest minds he’d ever been around. His father would often read something a single time, and could then recite it back, typically unerringly.

  He gathered his books and stuffed them into his bag, and hurried from the classroom, following Beckah.

  She strode forward with her hands clasped behind her, her back tall and straight like every highborn he’d ever been around. Somehow, Beckah didn’t make it offensive. She was an enigma to him but was fast becoming a friend. Within the university, he wished he had more such friends.

  “You didn’t tell me,” Beckah said.

  “Tell you what?”

  “You didn’t tell me how long you would have remained here before you’d have gone looking for the rest of the class.”

  Alec grunted. “I don’t know. I probably would’ve waited a while longer.”

  “Why?”

  “I trust my notes.”

  “Even when they can be tampered with?” she asked with a smile.

  “No one has ever tampered with my notes before.”

  “Are you certain?”

  Alec glanced down at his bag. Had she done something with his notes? She was determined to test him, to challenge him, but he didn’t think she would go so far as tampering with notes that he made in class. Would she?

  It was possible she might, but would she actually take one of his journals and change it?

  It so, it would be subtle, and… No. Had she done that, he was certain he would’ve known. He looked over those notes often enough that anything unusual—and different from what he remembered—would have stood out. His memory was not quite as good as his father’s, but that didn’t mean it was poor.

  “You haven’t tampered with any of my journals.”

  She shrugged. “I made you think about it, didn’t I?”

  Alec shook his head and chuckled. If it were anyone else, and if he had a suspicion that anyone else might have tried that with him, he might have been more upset, but this was Beckah. She might compete with him, and she might want to test him, but she didn’t want to harm him. At least, he didn’t think she did.

  “What’s Eckerd teaching about today?” he asked.

  “Something near and dear to your heart.”

  Alec frowned. “And what is that?”

  She turned to the side, twisting just a little bit, and patted her chest, thrusting her breasts forward. “Heartache, of course.” She laughed, and it carried down the hall, an airy sound that left Alec unable to do anything but laugh with her.

  “Why would Eckerd be teaching about heartache?”

  “Because I asked.”

  Alec shot her a look. “You asked?”

  “Sure. I had to know if your techniques were accurate, didn’t I? Isn’t that how our game is going to go?”

  “I’m not sure I know how our game is going to go. I think you’ve made it up as you go along.”

  “And I think you enjoy it more than you were letting on,” Beckah said.

  Alec fell silent, but he didn’t deny the fact that he truly did enjoy their interactions. Beckah tested him, she challenged him, and for that, he was thankful.

  They reached the door leading into the hospital, and she pulled it open.

  The smell struck him first. There was always an overwhelming medicinal odor, one that was a mixture of the hundreds of different concoctions that had been mixed and used in the hospital. Beneath it, there was something else,
a hint of something worse, something unpleasant, and it always twisted his nose, forcing him to try not to gag to keep himself composed.

  He’d never had the same problem in the apothecary shop. Then again, in the shop, they only healed one or two people at a time. It was nothing like the hospital. Rows of cots were arranged here. On the cots, people with various ailments rested, some in much worse shape than others, all waiting for the master physickers to make their way to them. When Alec had first broken into the university, he had thought that the physickers cared more about money than they did about actually healing anyone. He still wondered if that wasn’t partially true, but he’d seen the masters—including some like Eckerd, who truly seemed to care—make a supreme effort to use their knowledge to benefit the people of the city.

  Today, like most days that he came to the hospital, almost all of the beds were full.

  Those that weren’t were being prepped, the sheets changed, and somewhere within the university, there were senior-level students coordinating the arrival of more sick and infirm people. If Alec remained at the university long enough, he, too, would take part in the screening process. Would he ever get to the point where he cared more about someone’s ability to pay than he did about their need for actual healing?

  A circle of students stood around one of the cots at the far end of the room. Eckerd, an average height man with a thick head of gray hair and a long, bushy beard, and eyebrows to match, stood near the head of the cot. His voice carried, booming over others here.

  Beckah led Alec toward them, her demeanor changed now that they were in the hospital—and the presence of Eckerd.

  As Alec approached, he heard Eckerd saying in his slightly nasally voice, “Can anyone give me their assessment as to this young man’s ailment?”

  Alec stepped closer and stood up on his toes, trying to peek over the shoulders of two of the students standing in front of him. Stefan and Matthias were slightly taller than Alec, and Matthias in particular was wider, blocking his entire field of view. Alec shifted to get a better view and managed to catch sight of the man on the cot.