Exsanguinated

by D. K. Holmberg

  She stood and casually made her way to the bars, gripping them and looking out. “Ah, Samara’s Scribe. Has she sent you here to see how you might best confine me?”

  “She hasn’t sent me at all. I think Marin has done an adequate job of holding you here.”

  “Marin won’t be able to hold me for long. Even she has begun to realize that,” she said, nodding to the end of the hallway.

  Alec turned his gaze there. A half-built wall cut off the end of the hall, and behind it, he saw the section of wall where Sam said the other Scribes were placing markings, trying to erode the protections within the cells. He wasn’t sure how that was possible, though it was likely a secret that Helen had kept from him. Maybe it had been kept from Eckerd as well, especially as he didn’t seem to have any idea about how it was possible to place such augmentations from a distance.

  “Marin didn’t ask me to come, either,” Alec said. “I’ve come on my own. And I brought someone who is even smarter than Helen.”

  Lyasanna grinned. “You had better hope that’s the case. I believe Helen is far more gifted than you give her credit.”

  “I’ve given Helen plenty of credit. But I still maintain she’s not nearly as impressive as my father.”

  Lyasanna’s smile faded. She turned to his father. “The apothecary,” she spat.

  “You’ve heard of me?” his father asked.

  “Who abandons the university to go and serve as an apothecary for lowborns?”

  “I served as an apothecary for all who needed my services,” his father said. He leaned forward, getting close to Lyasanna. “And I sold my services for other purposes. Perhaps you have heard of the poisoner?”

  Her eyes widened slightly.

  His father smiled. “Yes. From your expression, I can tell that you have. Know this. Helen may have experience as a Scribe, but I have other experience, and I intend to use it to capture her so that my son does not have to fear what she might attempt.”

  Lyasanna stared at him for a long moment before a smile returned to her face. “Interesting. I think you and Helen would’ve gotten along well.”

  “We never did,” he said.

  His father started toward the end of the hall and Alec followed, casting an occasional glance back at Lyasanna. He couldn’t help it. She intrigued him, but equally intriguing was the fact that she had been willing to abandon so much of who she was and what she was for her to do what? How was siding with Helen and the Scribes helping Lyasanna?

  Unless she wasn’t working on her own.

  He hadn’t given that as much thought. Helen had figured out a way to control the Kavers, but they didn’t know if there might be something else, some other way that she was controlling them.

  “Alec?”

  He turned his attention back to his father and noticed the way he was studying the far wall. He had climbed over the half-built section of wall and was now running his hand along the stone of the far wall. Alec joined him, scrambling over the half-wall and toward the back.

  “I’ve wondered why it wouldn’t be easier just to move her,” Alec said.

  “It might be easier, but if there’s any way to draw Helen—and those who work with her—then we need to do it.”

  “So, you agree with Sam?”

  His father glanced over at him. “This was Sam’s idea?”

  “Who did you think it was?”

  “This is the kind of thing Marin would have considered, at least from what I can tell of her.”

  “I’m pretty sure Sam was the one who came up with this.”

  His father grunted. “She’s an impressive woman. I would advise you to be careful with her too.”

  “Why careful?”

  “Any woman who is creative enough to identify a way to capture someone like this will be creative in other ways. Don’t cross her.”

  Alec shook his head. “I have no intention of crossing Sam. She’s my…” He almost said Kaver, but she was more than that. She was more than his friend. Neither of them had been willing or able to express their emotions fully, but she felt the same way he did. Both wanted that time together, but until everything settled down, it didn’t seem they would have it.

  “She’s yours. I understand.” His father turned away from Alec and began to focus on the wall. “And what you would like is for me to help determine what these symbols are, is that right?”

  “We need to understand the symbols, and we need to know how to counter them.”

  “I’m not sure I’ll be able to help with that. These symbols don’t mean anything to me.”

  “They don’t have to mean anything. You just have to look and understand the pattern and see if there’s any way that you can figure out how to counteract them.”

  His father took out a piece of paper from his pocket and withdrew a pen from the other, and then began to copy them. “I’ll see if there’s anything that I can work out. If new markings crop up, I need to know about them.”

  “You’re not going to stay here?”

  “If I stay here and try to work through this, we run the risk of me unintentionally destabilizing things.” He looked over at Alec. “No. I don’t think I can stay here. Let me work on this, and you… you work on that task that I gave you.”

  Alec tapped the jar of liquid his pocket. He would begin to test on his father’s behalf, looking to see if he could eliminate the bitterness from his father’s mixture, and see if the easar tea was effective.

  When his father finished copying down the symbols, he turned back to Lyasanna. “It would go easier for you if you shared what you knew,” he said.

  Lyasanna smiled. “Easier for me? I think what you are asking is for it to be easier for you. I have no intention of making it any easier for you. I doubt Helen does, either.”

  “Helen doesn’t know what she has gotten herself into,” his father said. “If she did, she wouldn’t have attempted this with my son involved.”

  “Do you think that your threats mean anything to me?”

  “Perhaps not, but they should. And, in time, they will. This is my warning to you, and my warning for her.”

  “I think you are making your warning to the wrong person.”

  “I’m not convinced that you aren’t still in contact with her in some way,” his father said. “So you tell her what I said. You tell her that Aelus will prevent her from harming anyone, especially my son.”

  His father left the room, and Alec hurried after him. When they stepped out of the row of cells, the door closed, guards standing on either side, Alec frowned at his father. “What was that about? What do you mean that she is still in contact with Helen?”

  “I suspect someone here has been providing information to Helen. It’s what I would arrange for if I were trying to get in. I will touch base with your friend and Marin and see what precautions they have taken.”

  “I suspect they have everything observed. Especially with Bastan involved.”

  His father stopped. “Bastan is involved with this?”

  Alec nodded. “Ever since breaking Jalen out of prison, Bastan has been more openly involved in the politics of the city.”

  “That is surprising.”

  “You didn’t know?”

  “I wasn’t certain. Most of the time, Bastan has preferred to move in the shadows, but what you’re saying is that he is more open with his intentions.”

  “He is more than open. Because of him, the outer sections prevent Helen and the others from escaping.”

  “And does Lyasanna know this?”

  Alec frowned, trying to think through what might’ve been said in front of Lyasanna. Could she know that? Could she know that Bastan and those with him were the key?

  “I don’t know. Bastan was seen at the university, so it’s possible she understands exactly what Sam means to him.”

  “Yes. Another reason to be careful with that one.”

  “Bastan?”

  His father shook his head. “Not so much Bastan, but the woman h
e considers a daughter.”

  They headed out of the palace, and Alec had hoped that he might run into Sam, but he didn’t. He’d not seen her since she’d brought the Kaver Camellia to his rooms at the university. She and Bastan were probably out searching for Marin, which meant she was likely in danger once again. Would there ever come a time when she wasn’t in danger? Would there ever come a time when he wasn’t worried about her?

  “Send word if you are convinced that your additive will make a difference,” his father said.

  “And you send word if you come up with anything about the symbols.”

  His father glanced down at the page that he held folded in his hand. “I will. I am… troubled… by this.”

  “By the fact that you don’t understand the symbols?”

  “By the fact that Helen knows something that is completely beyond me.”

  They parted, and Alec made his way over to the university, heading back across the bridge, no longer bothering even to flash any sort of sigil. He wasn’t stopped, and with as often as he went between the university and the palace, the guards even knew him by sight. Alec made his way to the university and hurried up to his room. He was curious to determine whether adding the easar tea would make a difference. Would he be able to find a solution to his father’s problem?

  The door to his room was ajar.

  Alec frowned. That shouldn’t be the case.

  He pushed it open cautiously and entered. His room was a disaster. Items had been tossed, and his table was a mess, leaving papers and books scattered all over.

  Two men lie motionless on the floor. They were Bastan’s men, and they were assigned to keep an eye on the Kaver… who was now missing.

  Someone had not only broken into his room, but they had done so in the masters' quarters. That shouldn’t have happened. His room should have been secure here, and there should have been no reason—and no possible way—for someone to have broken in and done this.

  Was it possible the Kaver had managed to escape?

  If that were the case, there would’ve been no reason for his room to have been tossed as it was.

  Alec checked on the men. One of them had a pulse, and he flipped him over, finding a big gash on his forehead and a knot on the other side of his head. He would recover, but he would need some attention.

  He turned his attention to the other man and found him pulseless.

  He swallowed. Should he have stayed with the Kaver? He was convinced he had been able to sedate her, but maybe his concoction wasn’t as strong as it needed to be.

  There shouldn’t have been any way for the Kaver to have escaped. Not only had he placed a sedation that should have been strong enough, but without augmentations, she wouldn’t have been able to break free. Even with augmentations, the men guarding her would have stood a fighting chance. She didn’t have a weapon, and though he’d seen Marin fighting without weapons, these men wouldn’t have been so easily overwhelmed.

  That meant she had help.

  Could it have been Helen?

  He wouldn’t put it past her to have known about another way to access the university.

  If it was Helen—or someone who worked with Helen—then he was even more concerned. He didn’t need Helen gaining access to the university and to his quarters, because if she did, it would mean it wasn’t safe for him or others here. The university would no longer be a place where he could offer protection.

  Even the palace might already have been compromised.

  What about his back room?

  Alec stepped past the fallen men and continued back into his area where he researched. Could somebody have made it all the way back here? If they made it into his outer room, it was likely they would search the entirety of his quarters.

  He pushed open the door and looked around.

  Surprisingly, it looked untouched.

  Even the easar paper drying on the tray seemed to be untouched.

  That troubled him. If the Kaver had awoken and attacked the guards, it seemed likely she would have at least checked to see what was back here, unless her only thought was on escape.

  Maybe there was another explanation.

  What of his chunk of svethwuud?

  If the Kaver had discovered that, then Helen would have the answer to easar paper, and then she might be able to mix her own, which meant their one advantage over her would be gone.

  He found the piece of svethwuud where he’d left it. It looked untouched and still had the slimy sheen that it had from when it had been extracted from the swamp.

  As he looked around the room, he wondered whether anything here could be trusted. Anything could have been contaminated, which meant he would have to start over, even on the easar paper. He could test it, but did he dare risk relying on it?

  Then he realized he couldn’t even rely on the easar tea.

  That was perhaps the worst part of all of it. It was bad enough that his room had been broken into, and the Kaver was gone, and bad enough that Bastan’s men were injured and dead, but now all of his hours and hours of work, from making the easar paper to repurposing the easar tea were wasted.

  It felt like a sick prank.

  And yet, this wasn’t a prank at all. The man lying in his front room was evidence to that.

  Alec had to do something to help the one man who still had a chance. He could focus on the contents of his room later and could concentrate on trying to settle in and find safety later and could even send word to Sam then.

  His first thought had to be on those he could help.

  But before he left, he grabbed the chunk of svethwuud and stuffed it in his pocket. He should’ve kept it with him, but he had thought his room was safe.

  When would all of this end? When would their world return to what it once was? Would they ever feel the sense of trust and security they once took for granted?

  He shook his head to clear out those thoughts. One task at a time. He had to focus that way. He needed to find someone he trusted who could help him and get word to Sam.

  11

  Search for Bastan

  Her search for Bastan had yielded nothing, so Sam decided to take a different tact and went looking for Alec, finding him in his quarters at the university. Her heart had not slowed since leaving Kevin at the building with the dead Kavers. She wanted nothing more than to race off and go searching for Bastan, but she needed answers. She needed to see if there was anything Camellia could reveal about Helen, or hopefully about where Helen may have taken Bastan. She wasn’t about to lose him, not after losing Elaine and Tray.

  She burst into his room without knocking and stopped short when she saw it in shambles. “What happened?” she asked.

  He motioned to the men lying on the ground. “There was an attack.”

  “You were attacked?”

  “I wasn’t here, but they were attacked. I don’t know if it was your Kaver woman, or if someone else came to find her. One of them will make it, but the other…”

  Sam crouched down and realized Ricken still breathed. She was thankful for that, but she could see that Paulie was already gone.

  “I don’t think she escaped. They must have come for her. But how did they even get into the university? How did they know she was here?”

  “I wondered the same. Now even the university is not safe. For any of us.”

  “We found a place Helen might have been,” Sam said.

  “Might have been?”

  “I’m not sure if she was there or not,” Sam said. “It’s where we found Camellia with her wrists cut, but—”

  Alec frowned. “Wrists cut?”

  “Didn’t Beckah find you?” He shook his head. “Where did she go, then? I asked her to find you to help save Camellia. I think Helen drained Camellia’s blood to steal her Kaver ability. She was still alive when we found her, but I don’t know if I got her back here in time. When I couldn’t find you, I went to the ward and found Jalen, but…”

  “Come with me,” Alec said.r />
  They hurried down the stairs into the hospital ward. Sam was exhausted after everything she had been through and from using all of her augmentations, but she had to keep pushing herself. For Bastan, she needed to keep moving forward, until she found where Helen would have taken him.

  “There’s Jalen,” Sam said.

  He was working on an older man on the far side of the room.

  When he saw her, he shook his head. “Samara, I tried, but there wasn’t anything that could be done. She was too far gone by the time you brought her here. I’m so sorry, but…”

  Sam swallowed. If Camellia was gone, so too was any chance they would learn what Helen planned.

  “Kyza! We needed to find out what she knew. Without her, there might not be any way for us to determine why Helen is killing her own Kavers and taking their blood in this way.”

  “That’s not quite true,” Alec said.

  He started off and headed toward a cot in the middle of the room. When he reached a woman in her mid-thirties, he pulled back the blanket, revealing her arms. Sam gasped.

  She had cuts on her wrists much like what Camellia had. “Who is this?” she asked.

  Alec shook his head. “I don’t know. I wasn’t even sure what had happened to her when you showed me the other woman’s wrists, it reminded me of her.” He looked up at her with a grave expression. “And the king.”

  “Is she… alive?”

  “She was close to death when I first came across her, and I did everything I could to support her, but we needed to know more. I sent the junior physicker to her section to find out more about her.”

  “And where is he now?”

  Alec looked around. “I don’t see him here.”

  “If he was out searching for information about her, and Helen discovered, it’s possible she would harm him, even kill him.”

  Alec gritted his teeth. “How many more people is she going to sacrifice to achieve her plan?”

  “If Helen was doing the same thing with this woman, it’s likely she was a Kaver.”

  “She’s not dead, Sam.”

  “Fine. She is a Kaver.” Sam looked down at the woman. She didn’t recognize her, and it bothered her that there were so many Kavers she had not met. How could there have been so many? How could it have been hidden from her during her training?