Bek looked at him. "Stay here in Parkasia?"
The Dwarf shrugged. "I like the Rindge. They're a good people and they're not so different from me. Their language is similar to mine. I kind of like this country, too, except for things like the Graak and Antrax But the rest of it looks interesting. I want to explore it.
There's a lot of it none of us have seen, all of the interior beyond the mountains, where Obat and his people are going."
"You would be trapped here, if you changed your mind. You wouldn't have a way to get back." Bek tried the words out on the Dwarf, then grimaced at the way they sounded.
Panax chuckled softly. "I don't see it that way, Bek. When you make a choice, you accept the consequences going in. Like coming on this journey. Only maybe this time things will turn out a little better for me. I'm not that young. I don't have all that much life left in me. I don't think I would mind finishing it out in Parkasia, rather than in the Four Lands."
How different the Dwarf was from himself, Bek thought in astonishment.
Not to want to go home again, but to stay in a strange land on the chance that it might prove interesting. He couldn't do that. But he understood the Dwarf's reasoning. If you had spent most of your life as an explorer and a guide, living outside cities and towns, living on your own, staying here wouldn't seem so strange. How much different were the mountains of the Aleuthra Ark, after all, from those of the Wolfsktaag?
"Do you think you can manage without me?" Panax asked, his face strangely serious.
Bek knew what Panax wanted to hear. "I think you'd just get in the way," he answered. "Anyway, I think you've earned the right to do what you want. If you want to stay, you should."
They were nothing without their freedom, nothing without their right to choose. They had given themselves to a common cause in coming with Walker in search of the Old World books of magic, but that was finished. What they needed to do now was to help each other find a way home again, whether home was to be found in the Four Lands or elsewhere.
"Why don't you get some sleep," he said to the Dwarf. "I'll sit with Quentin now. I want to, really. I need to be with him."
Panax rose and put his hand on Bek's shoulder a second time, an act that was meant to convey both his support and his gratitude. Then he walked through the shadows and from the room. Bek stared after him a moment, wondering how Panax would find his new life, if it would bring him the peace and contentment that the old apparently had not. He wondered what it would feel like to be so disassociated from everyone and everything that the thought of leaving it all behind wasn't disturbing. He couldn't know that, and in truth he hoped he would never find out.
He turned back to Quentin, looking at him as he lay white-faced and dying. Shades, shades, he felt so helpless. He took a deep, steadying breath and exhaled slowly. He couldn't stand this anymore.
He couldn't stand watching him slip away. He had to do something, even if it was the wrong thing, so that he could know that at least he had tried. All of the usual possibilities for healing were out of the question. He had to try something else.
He remembered from the stories of the Druids that the wish-song had the ability to heal. It hadn't been used that way often because it required great skill. He didn't have that skill or the experience that might lend it to him, but he couldn't worry about that here. Brin Ohmsford had used the magic once upon a time to heal Rone Leah. If an Ohmsford had used the magic to save the life of a Leah once, there was no reason an Ohmsford couldn't do so again.
It was a risky undertaking. Foolish, maybe. But Quentin was not going lo live if something wasn't done to help him, and there wasn't anything else left to try.
Bek walked over to the bed and sat next to his cousin. He watched him for a moment, then took his hand in his own and held it. He wished he had something more to work with than experimentation.
He wished he had directions of some kind, a place to begin, an idea of how the magic worked, anything. But there was nothing of the sort at hand, and no help for it.
"I'll do my best, Quentin," he said softly. "I'll do everything I can.
Please come back to me."
Then he called up the magic in a slow unfurling of words and music and began to sing.
XXIV
Because he had never done this before and had no real idea of how to do it now, Bek Ohmsford did not rush himself. He proceeded carefully, taking one small step at a time, watching Quentin closely to make certain that the magic of the wishsong was not having an adverse affect. He called up the magic in a slow humming that rose in his chest where it warmed and throbbed softly. He kept hold of Quentin's hands, wanting to maintain physical contact in order to give himself a chance to further judge if things were going as intended.
When the level of magic was sufficient, he sent a small probe into Quentin's ravaged body to measure the damage. Red shards of pain ricocheted back through him, and he withdrew the probe quickly. Fair enough. Investigating a damaged body without adequate self-protection was not a good idea. Shielding himself, he tried again and ran into a wall of resistance. Still humming, he tried coming in through Quentin's mind, taking a reading on what his cousin was thinking. He ran into another blank wall. Quentin's mind seemed to have shut down, or at least it was not giving off anything
Bek could decipher.
For a moment, he was stumped. Both attempts at getting to where he could do some good had failed, and he wasn't sure what he should try next. What he wanted to do was to get close enough to one specific injury to see what the magic could do to heal it. But if he couldn't break down the barriers that Quentin had thrown up to protect himself, he wasn't going to be able to do anything.
He tried a more general approach then, a wrapping of Quentin in the magic's veil, a covering over of his mind and body both. It had the desired effect, Quentin immediately calmed and his breathing became steadier and smoother. Bek worked his way over his cousin's still form in search of entry, thinking that as his body relaxed,
Quentin might lower his protective barriers. Slowly, slowly he touched and stroked with the magic, his singing smoothing away wrinkles of pain and discomfort, working toward the deeper, more serious injuries.
It didn't work. He could not get past the surface of Quentin's body, even when he brushed up against the open wounds beneath the bandages, which should have offered him easy access.
He was so frustrated that he broke off his attempts completely. Sitting silently, motionlessly beside Quentin, he continued to hold his cousin's hand, not willing to break that contact, as well. He tried to think of what else he could do. Something about the way in which he was approaching the problem was throwing up barriers. He knew he could force his way into Quentin's body, could break down the protective walls that barred his way. But he thought, as well, that the consequence of such a harsh intrusion might be fatal to a system already close to collapse. What was needed was tact and care, a gentle offering to heal that would be embraced and not resisted.
What would it take to make that happen?
He tried again, this time returning to what was familiar to him about the magic. He sang to Quentin as he had sung to Grianne— of their lives together as boys, of the Highlands of Leah, of family and friends, and of adventures shared. He sang stories to his cousin, thinking to use them as a means of lessening resistance to his ministrations. Now and then, he would attempt a foray into his cousin's body and mind, taking a story in a direction that might lend itself to a welcoming, the two of them friends still and always.
Nothing.
He changed the nature of his song to one of revelation and warning. This is the situation, Quentin, he sang. You are very sick and in need of healing. But you are fighting me. I need you to help me instead. I need you to open to me and let me use the wishsong to mend you Please, Quentin, listen to me. Listen.
If his cousin heard, he didn't do anything to indicate it and did nothing to give Bek any further access. He simply lay on his bed beneath a light covering and fought to stay alive
on his own terms. He remained unconscious and unresponsive and, like Grianne, locked away where Bek could not reach him.
Bek kept at it. He fought to use the magic for the better part of the next hour, maintaining contact through the touching of their hands while trying to heal with his song. He came at the problem from every direction he could imagine, even when he suspected that what he was trying was futile. He attacked with such determination that he completely lost track of everything but what he was doing.
All to no avail.
Finally, exhausted and frustrated, he gave up. He rocked back, put his face in his hands, and began to sob. All this crying felt foolish and weak, but he was so weary from his efforts that it was an impulsive, unavoidable response. It happened in spite of his efforts to stop it, boiling over in a rush that left him convulsed and shaking. He had failed. There was nothing left for him to try, nowhere else for him to go.
"Poor little baby boy," a voice soothed in his ear, and slender arms came around his neck and pulled him close.
At first he thought it was Rue Meridian, come down to the cabin when he wasn't looking. But he realized almost before he had completed the thought that it wasn't her voice. Gray robes fell across his face as he twisted his head for a quick look.
It was Grianne
He was so shocked that for a moment he just sat there and let her hold him. "Little boy, little boy, don't be sad." She was speaking not in her adult voice, but with the voice of a child. "It's all right, baby Bek. Your big sister is here. I won't leave you again, I promise. I won't go away again. I'm so sorry, so sorry."
Her hands stroked his lace, gentle and soothing. She kissed his forehead as she cooed to him, touching him as if he were a baby.
He glanced up again, looking into her eyes. She was looking back at him, seeing him for the first time since he had found her in Castledown. Gone were the vacant stare and the empty expression. She had come back from wherever she had been hiding. She was awake.
"Grianne!" he gasped in relief.
"No, no, baby, don't cry," she replied at once, touching his lips with her fingers. "There, there, your Grianne can make it all better, Tell me what's wrong, little one."
Bek caught his breath. She was seeing him, but not as he really was, only as she remembered him.
Her gaze shifted suddenly. "Oh, what's this? Is your puppy sick, Bek?
Did he eat something bad? Did he hurt himself? Poor little puppy."
She was looking right at Quentin. Bek was so taken aback by this that he just stared at her. He vaguely remembered a puppy from when he was very little, a black mixed breed that trotted around the house and slept in the sun. He remembered nothing else about it, not even its name.
"No wonder you're crying." She smoothed Bek's hair back gently. "Your puppy is sick, and you can't make him better. It's all right, Bek. Grianne can help. We'll use my special medicine to take away the pain."
She released him and moved to the head of the bed to stand looking down at Quentin. "So much pain," she whispered. "I don't know if I can make you well again. Sometimes even the special medicine can't help. Sometimes nothing can."
A chill settled through Bek as he realized that he might be mistaken about her. Maybe she wasn't his sister at all, hut the Ilse Witch. If she was thinking like the witch and not Grianne, if she had not come all the way back to being his sister, she might cure Quentin the way she had cured so many of her problems. She might kill him.
"No, Grianne!" he cried out, reaching for her. "Uh-uh-uh, baby," she cautioned, taking hold of his wrists. She was much stronger than he would have thought, and he could not shake free. "Let Grianne do what she has to do to help."
Already she was using the magic. Bek felt it wash over him, felt it bind him in velvet chains and hold him fast, In seconds, he was paralyzed. She cased him back in place, humming softly as she moved once more to the head of the bed and Quentin Leah.
"Poor puppy," she repeated, reaching down to stroke the Highlander's face. "You are so sick, in such pain. What happened to you? You are all broken up inside. Did something hurt you?"
Bek was beside himself. He could neither move nor speak. He watched helplessly, unable to intervene and terrified of what was going to happen if he didn't.
She was speaking to him again, her voice suddenly older, more mature. "Oh, Bek, I've let you down so badly. I left you, and I didn't come back. I should have, and I didn't. It was so wrong of me, Bek."
She was crying. His sister was crying. It was astonishing, and Bek would have felt a sense of joy if he hadn't been so frightened that it wasn't his sister speaking. He fought to say something, to stop her, but no words would come out.
"Little puppy," she whispered sadly, and her hands reached down to cup Quentin's face. "1 .et me make you all better."
Then she leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips, drawing his breath into her body.
Rue Meridian was sleeping in a makeshift canvas hammock she had strung between the foremast and the bow railing, lost in a dream about cormorants and puffins, when she felt Bek's hand on her shoulder and awoke. She saw the look on his lace and immediately asked, "What's wrong?"
It was a difficult look to decipher. His face was troubled and amazed, both at once? it reflected uncertainty mixed with wonder. He appeared oddly adrift, as if he was there almost by accident. Her first thought was that his coming was a delayed reaction to what she had told him hours earlier. She sat up quickly, swung her legs over the side of the hammock, and stood. "Bek, what's happened?"
"Grianne woke up. I don't know why. The magic, maybe. I was using it to try to help Quentin, to heal him the way Brin Ohmsford did Rone Leah once. Or maybe it was when I cried. I was so frustrated and tired, I just broke down."
He exhaled sharply. "She spoke to me. She called me by name. But she wasn't herself, not grown up, but a child, speaking in a child's voice, calling me 'poor baby boy, little Bek,' and telling me not to cry."
"Wait a minute, slow down,' she said, taking hold of him by his shoulders. 'Come over here."
She led him to the bow and sat him down in the shadow of the starboard ram where the curve of the horn formed a shelter at its joining with the deck. She sat facing him, pulled her knees up to her breast, and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Okay, tell me the rest. She came awake and she spoke to you. What happened next?"
"You won't believe this," he whispered, clearly not believing it himself. "She healed him. She used her magic, and she healed him. I thought she was going to kill him. She called him a puppy—I guess that's what she thought he was. I tried to stop her, but she did something to me with the magic so that I couldn't move or speak. Then she started on him, and I was sure she meant to help him by killing him, to take away his pain and suffering by taking his life. That's what the Ilse Witch would have done, and I was afraid she was still the witch."
Rue leaned forward, hugging herself "How could she heal him, Bek? He was all broken up inside. Half his blood was gone."
"The magic can do that. It can generate healing. I watched it happen to Quentin. He's not completely well yet. He isn't even awake. But I saw his color change right in front of me. I heard his breathing steady and, afterwards, when I could move again, felt that his pulse was stronger, too. Some of his wounds, the ones you bandaged, have closed completely."
''Shades!' she whispered, trying to picture it.
He leaned back into the curve of the horn and looked at the night sky. "When she was done, she came back over to me and stroked my cheek and held me. I could move again, but I didn't want to interrupt what she was doing because I thought it might be helping her. I spoke her name, but she didn't answer. She just rocked me and began to cry."
His eyes shifted to find hers. "She kept saying how sorry she was, over and over. She said it would never happen again. Leaving me, she said. She wouldn't leave me like before, not ever. All this in her little girl's voice, her child's voice."
His eyes closed. "I just wanted to help her, to let her
know I understood. I tried to hold her. When I did, she went right back into herself She quit talking or moving- She quit seeing me. She was just like before. I couldn't do anything to bring her back. I tried, but she wouldn't respond." He shook his head. "So I left her and came to find you. I had to tell someone. I'm sorry I woke you."
She reached out for him, pulled him close, and kissed him on the lips "I'm glad you did " She stood and drew him up with her "Come lie down with me, Bek.''
She took him back to the canvas hammock and bundled him into it beside her. She pressed herself against him and wrapped him in her arms. She was still getting used to the idea that he meant so much to her. Her admission of this to him had surprised her, but she'd had no regrets about it afterwards, Bek Ohmsford made her feel complete; it was as if by finding him, she had found a missing part of herself. He made her feel good, and it had been a while since anyone had made her feel like that.
They lay without moving for a while, without talking, just holding each other and listening to the silence. But she wanted more, wanted to give him more, and she began kissing him. She kissed him for a long time, working her way over his mouth and eyes and nose, down his neck and chest. He tried to kiss her, as well, but she wouldn't let him, wanting everything to come from her. When he seemed at peace, she lay back again, placing his head in the crook of her shoulder. He fell asleep for a time, and she held him while he dreamed
I love you, Bek Ohmsford, She mouthed the words silently. She thought it incredibly odd she should fall in love with someone under such strange circumstances. It seemed inconvenient and vaguely ridiculous. Hawk would have been shocked. He never thought she would fall in love with anyone. Too independent, too tough-minded.
She never needed anyone, never wanted anyone. She was complete by herself. She understood his thinking. It was what she had believed, as well, until now.
She put her hands inside of Bek's clothing and touched his skin. She placed her fingers over his heart. Counting the beats in her head, she closed her eyes and dozed.
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