She wanted to hit or throw something, but since her hands were tied, she lay there, angry tears pricking her eyes and fists clenched.
Natalie started when the cart lurched to a halt and the door opened. The guards dragged Jules and Natalie out. She blinked in the torchlight as the outline of a familiar stately stone building took shape before her; they were at the Abbey.
“Ah. I see it’s time for our official Council of Healers review,” Jules remarked, raising an eyebrow.
The guards seized them by the arms and escorted them to the front entrance. The door did not open as it customarily did, and no staff came out to meet them. The Headmistress’s office was dark; Gayla could not possibly be here for their review. Not only was this review a farce, it was a trap.
Natalie stumbled and suddenly found it very hard to breathe. Her earlier bravado and ideas of giving Aldworth a piece of her mind dissolved into panic. Before she could stop herself, she yanked her arms away from her guards, twisting and trying to run away. The guards wrestled her to the ground. One guard sat on her back with his elbow jammed against her jaw, mashing her face into the road. With her mouth full of dirt, she clenched her teeth, swearing to herself she would not scream. No. It’s not possible. Aldworth won? Gayla’s not here. Onlo and Anli are dead or Goddess knows where. After all we did, how has it come to this? If we go to that review, Aldworth will take Jules again. All we’ve done will have been for nothing.
Bile rose in her throat, and she realized she must calm down so she didn’t vomit and then choke. She struggled to breathe as the guard sat on top of her, yelling in her ear. She could hear Jules, too. He shouted something at her, but it was cut off quickly, likely by one of their escorts. She relaxed, giving up her fight. What was the point, anyway?
The guard hauled Natalie to her feet; she stood with her hair in a tangled mess around her face. She spat out a glob of dirt as the men in black dragged them toward the entryway. She gazed dully at the ground, stumbling behind her guard as they went around the cloister that contained her greenhouse, and into the antechamber just outside the Council of Healers chamber. The guards untied Jules’s arms and her wrists and sealed them in the room without a word.
Natalie jumped when Jules grabbed her elbow and put his mouth next to her ear. “The Inn of the Three Pearls in Saltwick, do you know where it is?”
“Jules, I—what?”
“The Inn of the Three Pearls, do you know it?” he hissed.
“Yes, I’ve been several—”
“Good,” Jules cut her off and cupped her face with his hand and gazed at her intently with his emerald eyes. “No matter what happens to me in there, if they let you go, you go to that inn with the obsidian. Onlo and Anli are at the inn; they will see you safe. Promise me, please, Nat.”
Natalie shook her head. “How do you know? And what about you? Jules …”
“Nat, please,” Jules begged, running the pad of his thumb along her chin. “I must know you are safe.”
“And I must know you are safe,” she cupped the side of his face.
Jules shook his head and lowered his forehead to hers. “Aldworth is in those chambers. And he’s more likely to let you go than me. Since that’s the most logical outcome, we must plan for you to get away. Come find me if you can. But whatever he has planned for me, I can only bear it if I know you are alive and well in this world.” He kissed her deeply and then let her go, taking a full step back. “One more thing. Don’t—”
Natalie stood helpless as the Council Chamber doors opened and a guard escorted Jules inside first. Don’t what?
Aldworth sat by himself at the center of the long table at the back of the room, his fingers steepled on the table in front of him, the candlelight in the room causing his frog-like face to seem quite grotesque.
Natalie stared at him for a moment and then shuffled to her seat.
Aldworth put his palms flat on the table. “This review is now called to order.”
Natalie couldn’t help herself. “Excuse me, Healer. Where are Headmistress Gayla and Healer Hawkins?”
Aldworth considered her calmly. “My esteemed colleagues, unfortunately, passed away from the sweating fever in Roseharbor.”
Natalie’s jaw fell open. “But the fever doesn’t kill people their age. And Healer Hawkins wasn’t even in Roseharbor.”
Aldworth’s gaze narrowed at her. “That is what happened.”
Horseshit. Her heart threatened to beat out of her chest. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. No, she would not give this man the satisfaction of seeing her tears. She would not cry in front Gayla’s murderer. Gayla … how could he? She crossed her arms over her stomach as if to stem the damage of her soul shattering into a million pieces. How would she live without Gayla? Had Aldworth already decided upon a death sentence for her and Jules?
Before she knew it, she stood in front of Healer Aldworth, slapped her hands palms down on the Council table and leaned across.
“How dare you? I trusted you. You were my mentor during my apprenticeship and you betray the Abbey like this?”
“Order. Please have a seat, Ms. Desmond.”
“No! You sent us to a city we had no hope of saving. And now you want to punish us for the town and a city we did save. We did our jobs as Healers and just because you have—”
“Ms. Desmond, if you will not come to order, I will have you summarily declared guilty, stripped of your Healer status permanently and exiled off this Island.”
Natalie glowered at him and sat down.
Aldworth continued, unfazed. “Until such time as Healer Hawkins and Headmistress Gayla are replaced, I will conduct your review. The charges against you are: abandoning your assigned post and neglecting your duties, contributing to significant loss of life in Whitestrand. How do you plead?”
Chapter 27
R
“N
ot guilty,” Jules drawled. “By the time you sent us to Whitestrand, it was beyond saving. We arrived to empty streets and pyres of bodies on the beach. But you knew that would happen, did you not?”
Uncertain of how Jules wanted to play his game with Aldworth, Natalie crossed her arms, slouched in her chair and glowered at her former mentor.
Aldworth turned to her. “Is that accurate, Healer Desmond? Was Whitestrand beyond saving when you both arrived?”
“Yes,” she said through clenched teeth.
“And why did you leave Whitestrand?”
Natalie explained the story of Morley, his recovery from the disease and his escape past the quarantine guards to Mistfell. She didn’t know why she bothered though. This man would never treat her or Jules justly.
“There was no one left in Whitestrand to save,” she concluded. “But we could save Mistfell if we were fast enough. And we did. Through what we learned at Whitestrand and our early treatments at Mistfell, mortality rates from the disease fell.”
“You still left your post without permission,” Aldworth snapped.
Natalie gripped the arms of her chair and dug her fingernails into the antique wood. “There was no time for permission. This disease kills too fast.”
“And was disobeying a direct order worth it for you, Healer Desmond? Your own father was the first to die in Mistfell,” Aldworth’s eyes narrowed.
Natalie stood, fists clenched. “And my mother was the first to survive. Because of us.”
“Sit, Healer Desmond. I will not warn you again.”
Natalie sat and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Her father’s death was coincidence, Aldworth,” Jules cut in. “Besides, at Mistfell, I learned more about the disease, so like she said, mortality rates fell. Then I took that knowledge to Roseharbor.”
“Ignoring my summons for this review in the process,” Aldworth put in.
Jules waved his hand. “Yes, well, I thought Their Majesties might want fewer of their subjects dying. You could wait. Besides, in Roseharbor, I f
igured out how the disease is spread.”
Natalie gave in and glared at Jules. He figured it out? He was behaving like a complete ass to both of them. Did he want Aldworth to kill him right there? Because if Aldworth didn’t, she might.
“And how is that exactly?” Aldworth asked.
“Rats near the food supply,” Jules replied.
“I did not see you during my inspections of the palace infirmary,” Aldworth stated.
“Yes, well, someone had to coordinate the elimination of the city’s rat population,” Jules said, spreading his hands. “I deeply regret missing your visits.”
“And what of Healer Desmond in all this? What did she contribute?”
Jules eyed her with a bit of distaste. She shot him a glare that promised death at his earliest convenience. “She’s a tolerable Healer, I suppose. All right at Naming, administering and Activating herbs and so on. She tended to the patients well. All in all, a good assistant.”
“You were working on Naming patients together before you left. And may I remind you that it was only the crisis in Whitestrand that got you out of a review for killing a patient,” Aldworth reminded Jules. “Did Naming patients together help fight this epidemic in any way? Are you stronger for it, Healer Rayvenwood?”
Jules shrugged. An ominous silence descended upon the room.
Natalie clenched her teeth. Who was this version of Jules before her? Belittling her, after all they’d gone through together. After the nights and kisses they shared. The man had made her swear to keep herself safe after the trial. After he’d told her in Mistfell that he’d stopped withholding secrets from her, had he been keeping some great unknown secret all along?
“Very well. Healer Natalie Desmond: For the charges of abandoning your assigned post and neglecting your duties as Healer, you are stripped of your Healer status and are hereby exiled from Ismereld at once. You have one day to leave. You are dismissed.”
Natalie blinked at Aldworth. Holy Goddess, he planned to exile her no matter what was said here. She sized him up, the elderly frog-faced man with elegant silk robes and well-groomed hair. He’d taken everything—her trust, her home, her calling, her greenhouse, her budding teaching career, her beloved Headmistress. And what would he take of the man next to her? Despite everything, she still felt protective of him.
“What about Healer Rayvenwood?” she demanded.
“I will sentence him once you leave.”
There is more truth sitting in the bottom of Benji’s stall than coming out of this man’s mouth. She shuddered to think of what Jules’s sentence might entail. “We committed the same crimes. Surely we deserve the same punishment?”
Healer Aldworth leaned forward. “You are not on the Council, Miss Desmond, and I strongly suggest you leave before I make your punishment worse.”
Sighing, she turned to Jules, who gazed back at her. He lowered his gaze to her chest then back to her eyes. She blinked and almost cocked her head, confused.
But then the solid, stone weight between her breasts reminded her: the obsidian and her promise to find Onlo and Anli. Her promise to be safe. She schooled her face to betray no emotion, but inside, what was left of her heart shattered completely. She gazed fiercely into his eyes and blinked once. I swear by all I hold holy, we will come for you. Stay alive, Juliers Rayvenwood.
She made her expression neutral and turned to Aldworth. “Yes, Healer,” she whispered and exited the room. The chamber doors slammed behind her, the sound reverberating through her tattered soul like a death knell.
Natalie stood in her room, a paralyzing numbness filling her heart. Her arms and legs felt wooden, and dizziness overtook her. The Healer part of her brain kicked in and recognized the early stages of shock. When was the last time she’d eaten something? Between her capture and everything that had followed, it was all a blur. Where was Jake? Oh no, Aldworth’s men must’ve killed him when they captured her and Jules. She put a hand over her heart and fell to the side.
A knock on the door startled her out of her dull haze.
“Nat?” Em’s concerned face appeared in the doorframe. “I heard you were— By the Five, are you all right?” Em enfolded her in a hug. “Ugh, you smell awful.”
Natalie took a deep, shaking breath that was half laugh and half sob. “I do. I mean, no, I’m not okay. I’m so glad to see you. You’re the first friendly face I’ve seen in ages. But I have no time to talk, unfortunately. I need to leave here, fast.” Em sat on the bed and Natalie told her as much as she could.
Em pounded her fist on the bed when Natalie said Aldworth had taken away her Healer status. “He can’t do that.”
“Shh,” Natalie hissed. “He’s a dangerous man, Em. He’s killed the Headmistress, Healer Hawkins and Goddess only knows what he’s going to do to Jules. I have to get away and get to his friends. They can rescue him.”
“I’m coming with you,” Em declared.
“What? No. Em, people need you here—”
“Oh, hush. You are not doing this all by yourself.” Em stood and strode toward the door. “Give me twenty minutes. I’ll meet you in the stables,” she said over her shoulder.
Natalie sat on the bed blinking at the doorway. In their years together as students, she and Em had often snuck into each other’s rooms after lights-out to talk and giggle. Later, as their classes got harder, they’d studied late into the night by the light of carefully guarded candles, sustained by food they’d stolen from the Abbey kitchens.
Natalie lay down and hugged her quilt. Despair crept up and threatened to suffocate her with its cold, dull fingers. She should just stay in bed.
But she’d promised Jules she’d be safe. Knuckling away a tear, she wondered why she should do anything Jules said anyway. Taking credit for her work and demeaning her stung. But he’d seemed so sincere just before they’d entered the Council chamber and he’d made her promise to find Anli and Onlo. And what had he been about to say when the doors opened? Which Jules did she believe: the one before the review or the one in it?
Probably the one before, she thought, flopping onto her back. Anytime Jules is near Aldworth, he’s going to act strangely. I would if I were him. Plus, I wouldn’t trust a pig I liked with Aldworth.
Sighing, she ordered her body to stand. Stumbling as she went about her room, she changed into a clean pair of clothes, grabbed a spare knapsack and packed what few possessions she had left; most of her belongings were still with the tent near Roseharbor. And her Healing diary was lost in some back alley in the city proper. Natalie swore. She’d put so much work into making her Healing diary, and its knowledge had saved her hide so many times. Five damn it all, as if it wasn’t enough to be stripped of her Healer status. Now her diary would be lost to the elements, or worse, used by some drunken vagrant to wipe his bum. She kicked her clothes dresser, seething and barely registering the pain in her foot. She put her hands on the wall and breathed deeply until she calmed down at least a bit.
Natalie took one last turn around the room that had been hers for the past five years. She carefully made the bed where she’d slept countless nights curled next to Jake. She ran her hand along the desk where she’d stored all her herbs and studied for exams with Em. She couldn’t see a thing, but she took one last look out the window where she’d spent countless hours reading. It wasn’t much, but it had been home.
With her bag slung over one shoulder and her other arm clutched over her chest covering the void left where her heart had been, Natalie closed the door and left her room for the last time.
Sticking to the shadows, she snuck down to the greenhouse and filled her bag with useful herbs for her journey—wherever it was she might be going. Her bag full, she traced her fingers along the worktable and smelled the delicious scent wafting from its surface, the combined scents of years of herbs being mashed into its surface. When memories of Jules sitting in the moonlight sprang unbidden into her head, she pushed them away and leaned on the table, praying
it would give her strength. Taking a deep breath, she whispered “Goodbye,” and shuffled toward the front door of the Abbey and out to the stables. She had refused to look at either the corner where Jake used to sleep or the Headmistress’s old office. Every Healer knew some wounds needed time to Heal before being poked and prodded.
Em peered at the buildings lining the streets of Saltwick. “What tavern are we looking for again?”
“The Inn of the Three Pearls,” Natalie mumbled, not lifting her gaze from the cobblestones. The town of Saltwick was ten minutes from the Abbey by horse. They had walked straight past the stables and traveled on foot, not wanting to add theft to Natalie’s troubles. Natalie’s mood on the walk shifted from despair to another beast entirely. Her stomach growled loudly, her head spun, and she still couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten. If one more thing went wrong today, Healing oath be damned, she’d probably kill someone on sight.
“Oh, that’s just ahead,” Em said.
Natalie staggered along behind Em. “Mmm.”
They entered the Inn’s taproom, squinting against the light. Natalie hoped Onlo and Anli would be easy to find. She bloody well wasn’t in the mood for some lengthy adventure hunting two hard-to-find people. Thankfully, she spotted two familiar black cloaks at a table near the back of the bar.
She walked over, pulled a chair across the floor and sat next to them, causing both Obfuseltans to reach for their weapons. “Good, you’re not dead.”
Onlo observed her for a moment. “Things did not go well.”
Natalie arched an eyebrow. “You don’t say?” She reached into her shirt and placed the obsidian on the table. “Our mutual friend said I should come to you for protection. By the way, this is my friend Em. And frankly, before I explain anything else, I’m going to need food or I will pass out.” She swayed then, causing all three people at the table to reach for her.
Emerald's Fracture Page 20
