Lyr stood. “Thank you. Though if you decide it is too much…”
She made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go plan your questioning or something. You’ll have what you need in less than a mark.”
“Yes, Laiala,” Lyr answered with a laugh, his tone about as contrite as it had ever been when she’d chided him.
Ah, well. At least he generally listened, even if it seemed like he didn’t.
By the time Lial descended the stairs to the workroom, Maddy had finished examining Caeleth. Lial gritted his teeth and did his best to listen patiently as she repeated her observations. Not that she was doing anything wrong. No, Lial was more interested in checking on the potion he had distilling than advising Maddy, but he wouldn’t neglect her teaching for his own desires.
“It’s interesting to see his healing rate slow instead of speed up,” Maddy said. “Your augmentation only lasts for so long, I guess.”
Lial nodded. “Yes. I will do another session once I’ve finished this tincture. I do hope I’ll be able to allow Caeleth some time awake this evening. We’ve managed to get water into him in trickles, but I would like to try broth. That will be easier with his cooperation.”
“He’s healed enough for that?”
“Only broth,” Lial said as he walked toward his workbench. “Even with accelerated healing, it will be several days before I test him on something solid.”
Lial ducked down to study the clear flask half-full of a deep violet liquid. One more brief heating, and then the concoction should be ready for the settling stage—and Aris’s contribution. After a quick mental check with Aris confirming the life mage’s availability, Lial activated the heat spell beneath the flask and watched intently as it warmed. The moment before it began to bubble, he’d remove the heat.
“What are you making?” Maddy asked from beside him.
“A gift,” Lial said, perhaps a little sharply. “Page three hundred and fifty-two of the potion book.”
He was so focused on the potion that he wasn’t sure Maddy had bothered to look it up until she spoke again. “Increased fertility? I’m surprised you aren’t handing this out constantly considering how long elves go between children.”
“It only increases the chance of conception by about five percent.” Tiny swirls formed in the liquid, a precursor to boiling. “But some do ask for it regardless. I’m hoping Aris can increase the effectiveness.”
“What…”
Maddy fell silent, but Lial didn’t look up to see why. She could figure out the answer or not. His main concern was—there. He cut off the heat just before the first bubble formed and shifted the flask to the curing spot. Conveniently, Aris chose that moment to enter the room.
The life mage kept his gaze averted from the bed as he strode over to Lial. “What would you have me do?”
“It’s a simple task.” Lial pointed at the flask. “Imbue as much life magic into the liquid as it can hold.”
Aris frowned at the potion. “I’m still uncertain how this will work. Water is useful for life, but it isn’t a living thing, even augmented with a plant’s essence. My magic will surely disperse and fade without something to hold it.”
“You created a sword that holds such power,” Lial pointed out.
Aris shrugged. “In the heart of Earth’s energy field while a seer and a god were building a portal. The sword was forged within. Besides, the sheath that holds it was given by the same god. It might leak magic otherwise.”
“That’s true.” Lial returned his focus to the flask. “But I have an idea. If you’ll indulge me?”
“It’s your boon to waste,” Aris said, wrapping his hand around the glass despite the doubt in his voice.
Lial was ready for the unique feel of Aris’s magic this time, so he was able to ignore the echoes of verdant life that pulsed from the mage’s hand. Instead, he turned his inner sight to how the power interacted with the potion—and as he’d hoped, the concoction practically vibrated in accord with the life magic. But Aris was also correct. As soon as he withdrew his magic, the resonance began to slip away.
Luckily, Lial had prepared for that.
As Aris dropped his hand, Lial surrounded the flask with his own power, the flash of blue so strong that Maddy let out a muffled curse from somewhere behind him. Well, she would just have to close her eyes. He was focused on binding the life energy behind a wall of his own magic, a force similar to the one he used to keep bones together while they knit.
He’d experimented with creating commands inside other potions. The tincture used to heal cuts held an enchantment that carried the mixture first to the blood to aid clotting and then to the skin to assist in repair. But this…This would be spelled for a different purpose. His magic would have to bind the entire concoction together as it was processed into the bloodstream and directed to the womb.
By the time Lial completed the spell, his head spun and his stomach rumbled a harsh complaint. Had he eaten that day? For the life of him, he couldn’t recall. But it didn’t matter, because food could wait. He studied the potion for a moment and then smiled. It had worked.
He had a victory to enjoy.
“I…don’t know what you did,” Aris said slowly, “but it appears to have solved my worry. You realize that if it’s effective, you could trade a sip of that potion for nearly anything, right?
Lial took down a tray of vials and a funnel. “If I was interested in wealth, perhaps. First, I must determine if it works. I’ll have a few doses to test, though I think it will only require one.”
Aris rubbed at his temples. “I’m going to have to do this again. I just know it.”
“Better than being constantly asked to attend people in their bedchambers, hmm?” Lial asked with a smirk.
“I suspect I’ll find out,” Aris muttered.
As Lial began to pour the potion into the vials in careful measures, Maddy sidled up to his other side to watch. Equal parts worry and curiosity filled her tone when she spoke. “You said a few doses to test? You’re going to experiment on people?”
“I should think not,” Lial snapped, though he kept his gaze on his task until the last drop was secured in the final vial. “Every potion in that book has been carefully verified as safe by centuries of healers. To be included, fifty healers across Moranaia had to observe and report minute details on how the herbs interacted with those who ingested the potions. In fact, if you ask Lynia, there is surely a book detailing the specific research if you—”
“No, no,” Maddy interrupted quickly. “Sorry. The way you phrased it made me wonder, but I should’ve known you wouldn’t attempt something half-assed.”
After sealing the final stopper, Lial finally glanced at Maddy. “Half an ass sounds like a serious problem requiring immediate healing.”
Aris made a choked, coughing sound, and Maddy chuckled. “It means something that hasn’t been thought out. As far as I know, there is no literal ass involved. Probably. Earth is weird, okay?”
“Good to know.” Lial lifted a vial, and purple liquid sparked like a jewel as he rotated it in his fingers. “As for my statement about testing… I wasn’t referring to a safety check. Neither the base potion nor the magics involved will cause harm, but it is impossible to know if the magic will actually aid in conception. Unless you were volunteering to try it with your mates?”
This time, it was Maddy who nearly choked. “Gods, no. I’m not ready to see how Fen would react to that. He’s already worried about the whole Felshreh fertility thing. I’m hoping to give him a decade or two before we think about children.”
“Alas,” Lial said, replacing the vial in the tray. “We’ll have to wait until Lynia decides she wants a child, then, unless someone else comes by seeking my help. I had the thought for her, but who knows if she’ll ever be ready for that kind of relationship with anyone?”
Maddy grabbed his wrist as he began to turn. “Wait a minute. You went to all that effort, and you don’t think she’ll choose you? I thought maybe you were hoping
for a child, too.”
Lial sighed. “I’ve thought recently that it might be nice to have a family, but I have no intention of pressuring Lynia in such a way. When I give a gift, it is just that, provided with no expectations. I would have tried to do something like this for her and Telien had I known it bothered her.”
“My gods.” Maddy released him, but a broad smile stretched across her face. “You really are exceedingly nice beneath the grumpy.”
Best not to give an answer to that.
Apparently, Aris decided to take pity on him. “Have you spoken to Tynan?”
“Yes,” Lial said. “He sounded optimistic about being able to return, but he has to check with the head priest on timing. Though…don’t you worry his presence might aggravate Kezari further? They are uneasy near each other.”
“She will tolerate him for my sake.” Aris glanced toward the bed and then quickly away. “She knows I worry about my reaction after seeing… I tried not to look at the surgery, but the blood… Even now, your patient makes me uneasy.”
Miaran dae fe onai, Lial cursed. He should have found a way to take the potion to Aris instead of asking him to return here. The sight probably did feel like iron in the man’s heart. “Forgive me for keeping you here, Aris. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No one forced me through the door,” the life mage countered. “But I should go. Once Lyr questions his prisoners, I’ll be leaving with Kezari and whatever scouts he assigns to search for the third traitor.”
Lial lifted a brow. “Are you certain you’re well enough for the task?”
“If taking a walk doesn’t clear my mood, I will notify Lyr,” Aris answered, his gaze clear enough that some of Lial’s worry eased. “I give you my word.”
“And I will hold you to it,” Lial said with a sharp nod.
Only when the life mage had departed did Lial allow the deep, worried sigh to slip from his lips. The last thing he needed on top of a plague was an antsy dragon flying his traumatized patient over the edge of sanity. Lial wasn’t a mind healer, so there was little he would be able to do but sedate Aris.
And for a mage of Aris’s talent, that was no small endeavor.
Chapter 23
Anger simmered in Lyr’s stomach and heated his blood, but the look he focused on Koranel was colder than the icicle dangling from the tree limb outside the tiny, barred window. Just as potentially deadly, too. The drec had deceived them—the report Lynia had found proved that well enough. Koranel had transferred to Oria a couple of decades after his training, but Norin had elevated him to his second in command a few short months after he’d transferred back to Braelyn. Koranel’s wife and children had remained at Oria despite his return.
Lyr ground his teeth together. He hadn’t known Koranel had a family until reading that report—a family that Allafon could have used as leverage to keep Koranel loyal. If true, that meant Allafon had had two high-ranking officers, including Norin, planted in the army under Lyr’s authority. And Norin would have been freer to act on his treachery if his second in command was part of the plot.
Frustration joined anger until it was all Lyr could do to remain visibly calm. What had his father been thinking to approve the promotion? He’d expressed reservations in his notes about Norin’s choice, but he hadn’t thought to question Koranel himself. And since that had happened long before Lyr became Myern, he hadn’t known, either. What cause would he have had not to trust his father’s decisions on such things?
A terrible oversight when it came to anything involving Norin.
“You’re wasting your time,” Koranel finally said, the first to break the tense silence.
“I have plenty at the moment.” Lyr eased closer in the spare stone cell where the other man stood chained against the wall. “While you merely extend your misery.”
Koranel snorted. “Or my life, depending on how I’m punished.”
“Hmm.” Lyr tapped his finger against the hilt of his sword. “A valid point. But I am more inclined to be lenient to the cooperative. Unless you’ve done something more horrible than I suspect?”
Something flickered in Koranel’s eyes. “You should question Fenere. He’ll speak more readily, I imagine. I have nothing to say.”
“I’ve already spoken to Fenere,” Lyr said. Not since they’d been hauled from his study and imprisoned, of course, but Koranel didn’t need to know that. “I have learned more than enough to keep you bound here. If I’m incorrect, why won’t you defend yourself?”
The other man pinched his lips together and turned his head away.
“Allafon is dead, as you well know.” Lyr lifted a brow. “So it’s curious that you haven’t brought your family here. What is left of them after Morenial executed any traitors.”
That last was a guess, but it hit the mark. Koranel’s head jerked around, fury lighting his face as he strained against the chains. “If I had an iron blade, I would shove it into your heart for that. My daughter did not deserve death for serving in Allafon’s guard.”
So the man had lost a child. A twinge of sympathy filled him, but only for a moment. Loss didn’t have to turn a person into a traitor. “If Morenial judged her wrongly, why did you not come to me for redress?”
“As though you would have listened,” Koranel spat. “After what Allafon did to you.”
“Do I have a reputation for being unfair or unreasonable?”
Abruptly, Koranel slumped against the wall. “She didn’t deserve death, but neither of us were…wholly innocent.”
Lyr’s nostrils flared. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.” At Lyr’s snarl, Koranel met his eyes. “Literally. Allafon wanted me to help Norin for the sake of my family, but I couldn’t bear to. I just…didn’t interfere. Norin threatened to tell Allafon about my inaction if I breathed a word, and by Lord Telien’s death, my daughter was well-entrenched with the guard at Oria. She…believed in Allafon. Morenial killed her for her loyalty, but I could have talked her around. Korel promised to see her avenged if I stationed Fenere at the trainee’s barracks and ignored his actions. I didn’t know they were going to start attacking people.”
Lyr gripped the hilt of his sword out of reflex, making Koranel flinch. “He’s headed to Oria to attack Morenial?”
“I don’t know.” Koranel’s eyes slid closed, and his muscles went lax as he lost the last of his fight. “I swear it. He has some kind of cloak like the ones Allafon had designed, but they don’t work as well. That’s the only other thing I know. Just…please don’t harm my wife and son. They don’t know I got mixed up in this. If you have any mercy, tell them I died in service.”
Lyr studied the other man, weighing all the choices. Like many, it seemed Koranel had been caught in Allafon’s web of abuse. Young Delbin had been exiled to Earth so Allafon couldn’t blackmail him into using his magic to harm, only to return to find his brother Tenic had fallen to that fate. Even months after the rogue lord’s death, Lyr and Morenial were still finding families living in fear of a cruel variety of wicked punishments. If Koranel was to be believed, his was one of them.
Well, there was one good way to find out.
“Change your mind about the blood oath and help me find Korel,” Lyr said, gaining Koranel’s instant attention. “And I might not have to tell them anything.”
Although it was still a few marks until dinner, the light was only a bare trickle through the window when Lynia returned to her room. She’d exhausted all of her books from the palace archives, including a couple of new ones Caraden had passed her way. She’d contacted a friend of Selia’s at the Citadel for any of their sources, but that required yet another wait. Her research was crucial to their success, yet here she was, taking a break in her room before she screamed in frustration at her failure to find the answers.
It didn’t matter that she knew such things took time—usually far, far more than a handful of days—and it hadn’t even cheered her up to find the information so readily for Lyr. Not just because of the bitte
rsweet nostalgia dredged up by reading Telien’s boldly inscribed account, either. No. Time was running out on this plague. She couldn’t explain the deep certainty in her gut about that, but she knew it was true.
And Lynia had little more than a handful of notes to aid in the fight. Despite all she’d read, she had yet to determine if their mystery infection was connected to Abuiarn at all. She might have abandoned that line of research if not for Ralan’s guidance and Meli’s runes—both suggested the illness of Abuiarn was relevant. But how? And what form would the infection take? Although she’d decided that bacteria were less likely, she also couldn’t be certain they faced a virus. She barely understood what a virus was.
Abuiarn’s downfall gave no clues.
Lynia flopped down on the center of her bed with a sigh. Even the books from Earth were of limited use. She would need Lial with her to decode what many of them meant, if he even knew. She’d read the Moranaian healers’ texts he’d suggested, and she understood them well enough. But there were so many foreign words and concepts in the Earth books that simply weren’t in her English vocabulary. Not even Arlyn, who’d been born and raised speaking English on Earth, had been familiar with many of the concepts.
In annoyance, Lynia flung her arms wide, only to smack her left hand against something hard. Alarmed, she jerked upright, her gaze flying to the spot she’d hit. What in the world? It was a book. She absolutely would not have propped a book against her pillow. What if she’d rolled atop it or knocked it to the floor, causing damage?
She scooted over to grab the book, but the motion caused a small vial to roll across her bedspread in an arc until it settled near her hand. Her forehead furrowed. A potion? As a matter of fact, it looked like the book was the same one on potions she’d read in Lial’s workshop. Had he come by her room to leave these for her?
Heat rushed through her at the thought of him entering her bedroom, and it wasn’t caused by anger. No, this pooled decidedly lower, and the intensity of her desire wasn’t helped by the memory of watching him sleep in this very bed. She’d never seen him so unguarded, but even so, he hadn’t appeared soft. A sleeping warrior waiting to fight for life.
Solace Page 23
