Solace

by Bethany Adams

  Standing just outside the open door, Maddy fought the urge to adjust the fabric of the far-too-thin scarf tighter around her nose and mouth. Not that it was completely useless. But anything short of a hazmat suit would make her feel exposed. She’d wrapped the thing twice around her face and fiddled with it enough that Caolte had grown visibly impatient at the delay.

  The positioning was as good as it was going to get.

  Caolte rounded the stone slab holding Naomh and knelt at his brother’s side. It couldn’t have been more than half an hour since Caolte had taken the second dose, but that had been sufficient for him to risk giving the potion to Naomh. Maddy had opted to scan from the doorway while Fen and Anna sat farther down the hallway. Inona insisted on remaining at her side, seemingly unbothered by her own scarf.

  Stifling, annoying fabric. Why did the things that were best for you have to be the most uncomfortable? Medicine? Disgusting flavor. Exam gowns? Itchy with a side of embarrassment. Even the hazmat suit would have been a bitch to wear. But if the scarf prevented her from breathing in the virus, she would suffer through it.

  After tipping half the vial into Naomh’s nearly lifeless mouth, Caolte sank back on his heels and sighed. “I’m not certain how much this will help. It’s almost as though he has given up, his body resigned to death. That he stays at all is probably for me.”

  Maddy scanned the Sidhe lord, though it was too soon for true change. It wasn’t that the virus had grown a great deal worse. It hadn’t. Yet his condition had declined. His breathing was slower and raspier, his muscles more lax. She had a suspicion that Caolte was right. Naomh was giving up.

  “But why?” Maddy asked.

  “He has never been the same since losing Elerie.” A muscle twitched in Caolte’s cheek. “I wish I’d encouraged him to go after her when she didn’t return. If either of us had had an inkling that she carried Kai… Well, there is nothing to do about that now, is there? Even I can’t bring back the dead.”

  Inona shifted restlessly beside Maddy. “But Elerie isn’t—”

  As Maddy turned a startled glance on the scout at her hastily ended statement, Caolte shot to his feet and rushed around the slab holding his brother. “What do you know of Elerie?” he demanded.

  Inona didn’t flinch at the powerful lord’s approach, but her eyes flashed with chagrin over the folds of her scarf. “You’ll want to speak with Lial when he is healed. This is…knowledge I should not have.”

  If it had to do with Kai’s mother, Maddy couldn’t imagine how… But wait. Delbin was Inona’s boyfriend. Delbin, who was from Oria the same as Kai. Hadn’t Delbin been on the mission to capture Korel, which had ended at the healer’s tower in Oria? Suddenly, Maddy wished she’d gone with Lial to try to heal the guy. It had clearly been a more interesting trip than anyone had said.

  “I don’t care where you gained the information,” Caolte snapped, the red of his hair flashing. “If it will save my brother…”

  Inona stared steadily at the man. “You would have to swear not to tell Kai.”

  Caolte frowned. “A difficult oath when this concerns his mother.”

  “He’ll be told, but not now,” Inona said. “Ralan’s orders.”

  The half-Unseelie lord’s expression turned more considering. “I see. How about if I give my word to withhold this knowledge from him for a month? Any longer I cannot promise. He is my nephew, after all.”

  An entire negotiation seemed to happen in the looks that passed between the two, but whatever Inona saw must have satisfied her. Finally, she nodded. But she didn’t speak until Caolte had given his word.

  “Elerie is alive,” Inona said softly. “She’s been kept in a deep sleep after Allafon pushed her down the stairs, but now that he’s dead, Alerielle wants Lial to help heal her.”

  Oh, damn. Maddy definitely hadn’t seen that one coming.

  Considering Caolte looked like Inona had punched him, he hadn’t, either.

  Chapter 43

  “How is he doing?” Lynia asked as she studied Caeleth for any clues. The young mage appeared healthier to her eyes, his color more normal, but she had missed the signs of illness once before. “It’s been a while since Lial gave him Emereh’s potion. Did it work?”

  Beside her, Aris shook his head. “Yes and no. The virus is almost gone, but I can still detect the stain of it. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to eradicate it. I might be able to manage the task if I risk flooding him with life magic, but I don’t know how much power I will need to add to this potion. Not that I’m certain of success there, either.”

  “I hope you find your confidence.” Lynia propped her fist against her hip and gave Aris a stern glance. “We can’t let Lial die, nor any of the others afflicted.”

  From his place near the foot of the bed, Tynan spoke. “Why do you have doubts?”

  “I provided energy for a fertility potion,” Aris answered, no hint on his face that he knew she’d been the intended recipient. “But the power faded from the mixture quickly without Lial’s intervention. He used some kind of spell to trap my life magic inside. He’s not here to do that this time.”

  “Do you know if there are any vials left?” Tynan asked.

  Aris shook his head. “I have no idea what Lial might have done with them.”

  “I do,” she said. “I gave one to Lial in case the life magic would help. What do you have in mind?”

  “I’ll see if I can study the spell used to imbue it.” Tynan’s expression turned sheepish. “I am no expert at potions, but I have more skills as a healer than my earlier visit here might suggest.”

  Aris appeared puzzled for a moment before wincing at the memory of his difficult healing. For her part, Lynia didn’t bother to stifle her own aggravation at the reminder. She’d been the one to help Lial back to his rooms after Tynan had forgotten to warn him that Aris’s mind healing was about to begin and to disconnect the healer link. Lial had suffered terribly for that lapse in judgement.

  Now wasn’t the time to chide him, though.

  “Come,” Lynia said, leading the way to the workbench. She took the proper vial from a basket and handed it to Tynan. “You two work on this while I study the book for anything I might have missed. Ways to speed up production or double the amounts, for one.”

  As Tynan and Aris settled into chairs, Lynia’s focus shifted to The Wayfarer’s Trial. She couldn’t tell them how to imbue the life energy and hold it there, but there was every chance her research could provide the answer. The question was where to look within the text. This book wasn’t as neatly indexed as many others, no doubt because it had been written during Emereh’s travels. Even the introductory chapter was more a description of what he planned to do, not what he’d done. Any changes would be notated where they’d occurred.

  Gods help her if the alterations had been slow and rarely remarked.

  She started by flipping through each section, pausing to read the notes on any potions or recipes the healer had written down. She made it halfway to the section on Abuiarn before she found the first note about a change in methodology—he’d excluded life magic for that case. The next two made no mention of differences.

  Then she reached the chapter written during Emereh’s travels on Rrelen. She’d intended to examine this sooner but hadn’t had time. This was the place where the virus had first been studied. If there was vital information they hadn’t yet discovered, it was no doubt here.

  Lynia had just reached the description of Emereh’s first meeting with Tebid Ored when Tynan tapped her shoulder. “Excuse me, Lady Lynia,” he said. “We’re going to attempt to enchant the remedy for Lial.”

  The scrap of paper trembled in her hand as she marked her spot in the book before gathering it to her chest. Suddenly, she didn’t want to give up her space. What if they messed up Emereh’s potion so much that it needed to be mixed again? That would add more marks of time to their already strained limit. But if Caeleth was anything to go by, the tincture wouldn’t fully work without im
buing it with Aris’s life magic.

  A look of understanding crossed Tynan’s face. “I give my word that I will stop if there’s a risk of ruining the new batch of the potion, but I truly think I can reproduce the trick.”

  Lynia searched for composure as she swept up her notebook and backed away. “Of course.”

  Then she could only watch as the other two worked their magic.

  Maddy had been surprised by the news that Kai’s mother still lived, but Caolte vacillated between shock and anger. He paced around his brother’s sleeping chamber in frenetic laps, his boots thudding against the dirt floor like rage muffled. Now and then, the man paused to shove his hand through his sparking hair until she worried he would burn himself. The guy had to be immune to his own magic, for she caught no hint of a singe each time he lowered his hand.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Caolte muttered, so low it could have been to himself. “If I tell him right away, he’ll storm Moranaia as soon as he can walk. Too soon for his health for certain. But it could motivate him to reach for life. Even with the medicine, I fear…”

  With a shake of his head, Caolte resumed pacing.

  Maddy sensed Fen sidling up behind her a moment before his arm went around her waist and he settled his chin on her shoulder. “Fun times,” he whispered.

  “Shush,” she hissed. “It’s a bad time for snarky commentary.”

  “Sorry. Does not compute.”

  With a huff, Maddy nudged her elbow back into his stomach, but he only chuckled in her ear. “Do you need something?”

  “I was only checking on the situation,” Fen answered, his tone turning serious. “I think his color might be a little better.”

  Maddy glanced between the two sick lords. “Which one?”

  Fen was silent for a moment. “I think both, but hard to tell about the unconscious one. Caolte’s got fire in his hair again. That’s something.”

  He was right about that. If the half-Unseelie lord could conjure fire in his aggravation, his energy levels had to be returning. The air wafting from the room was warmer, too. And when Caolte paced back her way, she noticed that the circles beneath his eyes were starting to fade. A quick scan revealed what those signs implied—the virus had lessened significantly.

  She turned her attention to Naomh. He was still ridiculously pale, but there could have been a hint more warmth to the tone. His breathing appeared to be smoother, too. As she had with Caolte, Maddy used her magic to check. It was difficult to tell at first because his illness was so much more advanced, but…

  Yes! The potion was working.

  She’d tried hard not to consider whether Lynia had found a way to help Lial, but knowing they’d found some success here, she could no longer avoid thinking about it. What if she could assist in some way?

  Besides, she wasn’t capable of healing anyone here. Aside from confirming that the potion was making a difference, there wasn’t anything else she, or the three of them, could do. It wasn’t like the Seelie queen, and she wasn’t Lial. Maddy consulted telepathically with Fen and Anna, and at their agreement, Inona.

  All concurred. It was time to return to Moranaia.

  “The potion is working,” Maddy said to Caolte, who drew to an abrupt halt. “I can’t tell you what to do about your other dilemma, but I can confirm that.”

  “What?”

  “Look at your brother.”

  After peering at Naomh for a moment, Caolte crossed his arms. “He is not healed.”

  “I said is working, not worked,” Maddy replied. “Give him his next dose on time, and he should continue to improve, just like you have. There is nothing else for us to do.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  A single spark rose toward the ceiling, and the warmth increased perceptibly. But she was undaunted. “What I said. We need to go.”

  Caolte’s spine snapped taut, and the glare he sent her would have quailed a woman who hadn’t been kidnapped by a madman and stood trial in the Seelie court—on two different occasions, no less. Fen’s arm tensed around her waist as the other man advanced, but Maddy merely laughed.

  “Don’t try to intimidate me.” Maddy smiled. “What’s the point? You would be far better served to let me return to Moranaia to help Lial, the person who actually has the training to do more than scan for sickness. If your brother worsens again, contact Lord Lyr. Our mission here is complete.”

  Though his nostrils flared in anger, Caolte halted, his hand going back through his sparking hair. “There is truth to what you say, though I do not like it.”

  “Sorry,” Maddy said. And she was. She knew what it was like to worry over family. “Give me another decade or two of training, and I’d be of more use.”

  Caolte let out a long sigh, heavy enough to carry across the space. “Forgive my ill humor. I do thank you for your aid. Once you exit this hallway, one of my warriors will escort you to the surface. I’ll remain with Naomh.”

  Fen relaxed behind her, and her own muscles loosened.

  Okay. Maybe she had been a little nervous.

  Lynia leaned against the headboard of Lial’s bed with The Wayfarer’s Trial open across her lap. Though the camahr had eyed her when she’d climbed onto the mattress, the creature had settled quickly, and a strange sort of peace had surrounded them all. Lial breathed steadily beside her, a calm-seeming sleep, and she tried to think of his current condition as only that—a nap he would awaken from soon.

  She’d watched Aris and Tynan until they were satisfied with their modifications to Emereh’s potion. Then she’d returned upstairs with her research, anxious to be near Lial. Elan had come up to check on them once, but the young healer had retreated to the top floor to take a nap while he could. Tynan and Aris kept watch over Caeleth.

  With a heavy sigh, Lynia forced her gaze back to the book. It was difficult reading, and not because of the text’s age or complexity. The things they’d studied on Rrelen… She shivered. Thankfully, the worst accounts were second or third hand since Emereh either hadn’t yet arrived on the colony or hadn’t been willing to participate in those experiments himself. Like torturing animals.

  I cannot adequately express to you the depravity of some of the mages here. Tebid was correct to leave in disgust. I begin to regret my decision to visit this horrible colony myself, and I do hope my report to the queen will have some impact on the laws that govern it. In the best of cases, this land will be emptied of all inhabitants and the worst offenders imprisoned or executed.

  I suppose I do not regret this sojourn, however, if for one reason: my ability to help heal some of the wrong committed. I have returned several animals to their original states with my life magic, and now I must confront the unusual illness revealed by the perversion of the virus endemic to one such pitiful creature. While all life mages may make alterations to living beings, those changes must fall within the Natural Order. The changes made to both the creature and the illness pervert that order terribly.

  How so? Since the animals bearing the highest amount of the virus also possessed natural resistance to attack spells, a pair of mages from the land of Gale had hoped to use the virus to strengthen their magical protections in a similar way. The mages twisted the virus into a spell and then found a way to insert that poisonous energy into their workroom’s magical shielding. They didn’t consider how those shields linked to the world’s energy fields, nor did they care when it became obvious. They craved only power.

  I have never seen the like. The virus-like spell broke free from their shielding and spoiled the local energy source before it could be contained. Then that pair tried to draw in the tainted magic to make themselves invulnerable, but it altered their mental channels and rendered them insane. Ample life magic cleansed that wicked well, and I was able to purify the local energy before Rrelen as a whole was affected. The mages were beyond saving, and their death was no loss. A sad thing for a healer to say, but it is truth.

  However, this newest horror presents some chal
lenge. The same virus has recently been altered by another healer, if one could call him such. At first, I attended this bit of research, curious to see how the virus acted within the unfortunate animal. But Qene went forth with a mad plan while I was absent: inserting this virus into his assistant.

  The speed at which she died was appalling. Our kind are not prone to such diseases, and the structure of the virus that destroyed her is a mystery barely discerned. I thought this would be enough to dissuade Qene from future experimentation, but that was a foolish assumption. He continued unbeknownst to me, which brings me to my current problem.

  There are now multiple ways this virus invades the body. One offshoot lives readily in water, especially mist or the vapor expelled from living beings. As mentioned earlier, one type becomes a form of poison to any energy it touches, and one is transmitted through the blood. Can I create a concoction that defeats all forms? With enough power, any decent life mage should be able to repair energy fields, but the rest… I’ll need my healer’s skills to confront the other.

  Lynia rubbed her eyes, stinging from the strain of reading in the dwindling light. A quick glance at the nearby water clock showed that it was three marks until sunset, but between the clouds that had gathered and the sun falling behind the treetops, the light coming through the window had grown dim. She activated the mage globe beside the bed and inspected Lial to see if the glow had disturbed him. Only when she was assured that he slept soundly did she return to her book.

  Truth be told, she barely understood half of the experiments Emereh detailed as he sought a cure. He spoke of a huge variety of healing magics, herbs, and potions, so many ending in failure over the span of what had to be months. How had he persevered for so long? But eventually, he listed the final potion, the same recipe he’d repeated in the section about Abuiarn.

  Exactly the same—all that reading and no extra information that would help her improve the mixture.