Touch of Power

by Maria V. Snyder

  “Who’s in charge here?” I asked.

  A man behind the desk eyed me with a lazy insolence. “Who’s asking?”

  “My name is Avry of Kazan. I’m here at Tohon’s request. Answer my question.”

  Tohon’s name produced the desired effect. The man straightened. “I’m in charge of patient care.”

  “Wrong answer. You’re in charge of a cesspit. The right answer is Healer Avry is in charge of patient care from now on.”

  The man shot to his feet. “You can’t just barge in here and—”

  “I can. If you have a problem with it, please feel free to take it up with Tohon.”

  He fisted his hands and stared at me. “That’s King Tohon.”

  I met his fierce gaze and held it until he looked away.

  “King Tohon will hear about this,” he said as he stormed from the room.

  The other four—three women and one man—gaped at me.

  I frowned at them. “Do you work here?”

  They nodded.

  “No you don’t. If you did, this place wouldn’t reek. But we’re going to correct that right now.”

  Along with the two in the main room, I sent them to fetch buckets of clean water, find clean cloths, clean linens, soaps and alcohol. While they were gone, I started checking the patients. Infections, fevers, broken bones, dehydration… The list continued. The man who had been in charge returned with a smirk and Tohon right behind him.

  Tohon crinkled his nose in distaste, but didn’t remark on the smell. “I sent you here to help, my dear. Not cause problems.”

  “My mistake. Is there another healer here?” I turned my head as if seeking another person.

  “Quit the act, Avry. What’s going on?”

  “Look around, Tohon. Take a deep breath. This place is filthy. Your soldiers are dying, not from their injuries but from infection and poor care.” I stabbed a finger at the man. “He’s causing more harm than good.”

  Tohon considered. “It doesn’t seem that bad to me.”

  I suppressed a growl. “Come back here in five days. I guarantee half these patients will be on their feet and have returned to work by then.”

  “You’re rather confident for someone who doesn’t have any experience,” Tohon said.

  “First thing an apprentice learns is the importance of cleanliness. Basic stuff, Tohon. Your guy and his crew are either too lazy, too stupid or don’t care.”

  The man protested, but Tohon stopped him with a look.

  “All right, my dear. You have five days.”

  The five days were exhausting, but gratifying to see the patients respond to my care. I had also found a way to avoid Tohon’s touch. Since the dire cases all involved infected wounds, I spent every night in my bed, fighting fever and delusions as Winter stayed with me. Another unexpected bonus during that time, I’d found a set of keys inside a captain’s uniform’s pocket. I had been collecting soiled garments to send to the laundry and heard the rattle.

  When Tohon arrived on the fifth day, he quickly quelled his surprise. A fresh breeze blew in through the open windows. The patients had plenty of room between them. They sat up, propped on pillows and talked. Care workers moved among them, filling water glasses and checking bandages. The place smelled of soap and alcohol.

  “Nice work, my dear. If I assign you a few more helpers, will you have time to assist me with my project?”

  “Even with the extra help, I’ll need about ten days to finish implementing and training everyone on how to provide the standard care.”

  “Ten days, then.” He left.

  I really didn’t need that much time, but I hoped, by then, Estrid’s army would be keeping Tohon busy and distracted. Plus I could use the extra days and the stolen keys to search for Ryne.

  I found Ryne a week later. Tucked in a corner of the castle, in an abandoned and off-limits wing, the room felt like a museum. I held up the lantern I carried, illuminating the contents. The light reflected off shiny boxes resting on top of black velvet-covered tables. Upon closer inspection, I realized the boxes were glass coffins. A knot of cold horror twisted in my chest.

  Ryne occupied one of them, but he wasn’t the only one on display. Two others had been encased. An older man, wearing formal robes and a gold crown must be King Zavier. The other was a much younger man—close to Kerrick’s age. He had broad shoulders, short blond hair and familiar features. Did Tohon have a brother?

  There was one empty glass coffin. To think it waited for an occupant was creepier than the occupied ones. I shuddered, then inspected the bodies.

  Ryne actually looked many years younger than when he had visited Tara. He had shaved his full beard and bushy mustache. His dark brown hair had been cut short and, with his expression smoothed, he had a pleasant face.

  While Ryne appeared to be asleep, King Zavier’s skin had death’s pallor and the other man was also dead. From his comments when he showed me the castle, I knew Tohon enjoyed using his power to take a life. But he hadn’t taken Ryne’s. At least, not yet. I wondered if the stasis prevented Tohon from finishing the prince.

  Who was next? I suspected Tohon would enjoy seeing Kerrick inside the empty coffin. A strange feeling touched me, almost as if I felt protective of Kerrick. I dismissed it and searched under the tables.

  A cheap pine coffin had been shoved underneath the empty coffin’s table. I didn’t need to open it to know I would fit inside.

  I left the morbid room, setting a quick pace. The early-morning hours before dawn had been the best time for me to search the castle. Most of the inhabitants worked late, and remained in bed until midmorning. I’d been here long enough to know those were the hours Tohon kept, as well.

  After I returned the lantern to my rooms, I walked to the infirmary in the gray half-light, mulling over various ways I could send a message to Sepp about Ryne. None of them seemed possible at this time. Half distracted, I almost missed a furtive movement to my left. Curious, I slipped between the stable and armory. Pressing against the armory’s wall, I peeked around the building.

  A lone figure moved along the pasture’s fence and toward the northwest corner of the compound. My memory tugged. Cellina had mentioned a garden…of Death Lilys! I sprinted after the person, cutting through the pasture. Was she or he a complete idiot?

  In the weak light, the northwest corner appeared to be a copse of trees and bushes. The person had disappeared into the greenery, and I hoped a Lily hadn’t attacked. As I approached the garden, the individual stalks and Lilys came into focus. The petals were bent in strange angles. At first I thought the Death Lilys had all caught someone, but then I realized the petals had been pulled wide open, exposing the inside of the flower.

  I walked up to the closest one. It didn’t move. The plant had been wired to a metal frame to prevent it from closing the petals. Whoever had come here didn’t need to fear being eaten. Even the Lily’s infamous vines had been wrapped and knotted tight around a metal lattice. My emotions tugged between fascinated and repulsed. Who could tie up a Death Lily like this?

  Tohon. Why? No idea.

  I turned to leave, but a rustle sounded behind me.

  “Good morning, my dear,” Tohon said, stepping between two Lilys. He carried a bag. “Are you finished with your snooping already or is this part of the compound on your agenda today?”

  I shouldn’t be surprised Tohon knew about my searches. “You don’t seem upset.”

  He shrugged. “Look all you want. The only person who can wake Ryne is dead. Besides, you’re stuck here and can’t run off to Estrid or Kerrick and tell them all my secrets. And don’t think you can send a message, either. My people are loyal and will report you. You don’t want to anger me, my dear.”

  A chill rolled though me, pricking the hairs alo
ng my skin. Changing the subject, I gestured to the Death Lilys. “Why are they…spread apart? What are you doing with them?”

  “Keeping the flowers open makes it easier for me to extract their toxin.”

  Horrified, I gaped at him. “Why?”

  He smiled at my reaction. “Did you know the Healer’s Guild tried a number of ways to obtain the Lily’s toxin? The substance breaks down as soon as the Lily dies. But if it is taken from the living plant, the toxin retains its properties.” Tohon reached into his bag and pulled out an orange-colored ball. “Working with the Guild, I discovered that I alone can remove these sacks of toxin. I’m immune to the poison. But if anyone else reaches inside, the Lily will sting him.”

  The sack in Tohon’s hand matched the two I had hidden in my rooms. Why would the Death Lily give me them? “I know why the Guild wanted the toxin, but what do you need it for?”

  “My dear, I can’t believe you’d be that innocent. Think devious thoughts.”

  There were easier ways to kill, but the toxin caused a slow and painful death. A crazy connection occurred to me. The toxin’s symptoms matched the first two stages of plague. Both ended in death except for those few who survived the Lily’s poison. Since I doubted Tohon cared about the similarities or wished to find a cure for either, I concentrated on what he would find useful. He had called his people loyal, but from what I’d seen, they acted more terrified than devoted.

  “You use the toxin to threaten people.”

  “I knew you had a dark side.” Tohon beamed with pride. “It’s amazing how effective the threat of injecting the toxin into a person is. They’ll do anything I say or tell me what I need to know. Remember that, my dear.”

  He’d just confirmed I would find no allies here.

  “Since you seem to have enough time to wander around each morning, I don’t think you need another three full days in the infirmary. You can start helping me now.” Tohon gestured for me to accompany him.

  As we walked to the castle, he asked, “Have you discovered my lab yet?”

  “No.” I had hoped not to find it during my explorations. I could only imagine the horrors that awaited.

  Tohon led me through the castle and into the base of one of the towers. Another corkscrew stairway had been built inside. Instead of descending as I had expected, Tohon climbed the stairs. We looped around and around until he stopped a few floors up. He unlocked a door.

  “Why did you think I could find your lab when you locked the door?” I asked.

  “I figured Nasty Kerrick taught you how to pick locks.”

  I huffed in amusement.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “He wouldn’t teach me. I think he was afraid I’d break my word, and he’d need to cuff me to the trees again.”

  Tohon tsked. “No surprise. He has such ill manners.”

  He pushed the door open. Sunlight spilled out, and it reminded me of his forever garden. But tables and equipment filled the long narrow space. Windows high up on the walls let the light in. The lab smelled of vanilla and anise.

  Happy that my low expectations hadn’t been met, I walked around. I recognized a few devices like the distiller, which extracted oils and other medicinal liquids from plants. The Guild had a whole building dedicated to research. It appeared as if Tohon had duplicated it on a much smaller scale.

  He grabbed a bowl from a stack and set it on a table. Dumping the toxin sacks, he spread them out. I counted ten.

  “Is there a limited supply?” I asked.

  “Each Death Lily has two sacks. If they’re removed, they will grow another set, but it takes a few months.” He pointed to a ledger. “I keep track of when I harvest the sacks.” Tohon opened a drawer full of syringes. Taking one, he pushed the needle into the sack, then filled the reservoir with the toxin.

  Sickened by his macabre task, I asked, “What do you need me to do? I have patients to check.”

  Tohon gestured to a chair. “Have a seat, my dear. This won’t take long.”

  Unease roiled as I sat. He tapped on the syringe to ensure no air bubbles were stuck.

  Turning to me with the syringe in hand, he said, “Tonight I have one of those dreaded royal parties. You will accompany me. Wear the green gown.”

  My mind registered party and gown, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from that syringe. When he set it on the counter, I relaxed.

  He smiled. “Your emotions are such a delight, my dear. You can go from hating me, to fascinated, to repulsed, then to desiring me and back again. How am I to tell which is genuine, when you don’t know yourself?”

  “At least I’m not predictable.”

  “True.” He crouched down before my chair so we were eye level. “The one thing I do know is you’re getting satisfaction from your work in the infirmary, healing patients. You are finally doing what you’re supposed to be doing. It’s gratifying, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you have me to thank. If Nasty Kerrick had his way, you would have healed Prince Ryne and died.” He rested his hands on my chair arms as he studied my expression. “Yes, I know the truth. I was helping at the Guild headquarters when the first plague victims arrived.” With a slight smirk, he asked, “Did Nasty Kerrick convince you to heal the prince?”

  “No. You did.”

  “Oh? Do tell, my dear.”

  “Do you want a list or should I just sum it up?”

  “Not nice. Well, consider this. Ryne has been defeated. Even if you somehow managed to wake and cure him, he doesn’t have the manpower or the resources to stop my army. Your sacrifice would have been for nothing. You’re infinitely more valuable than Ryne.” He paused and scrunched up his nose. “Which makes this harder to do, but it must be done.”

  “Makes what harder?”

  He grabbed my right wrist and strapped it to the chair’s arm. I squawked in protest, pushing at him with my left hand. Quicker than expected, he had trapped my left wrist, as well. I struggled against the bonds and kicked, but he stepped out of reach. How could I not notice the leather ties hanging from the arms?

  “What…?” The question died in my throat as Tohon picked up the syringe and approached. I opened my mouth to protest, but he thrust the needle into my upper arm and depressed the plunger, sending the toxin into my body.

  Logically there was no reason to be scared. I was immune to the toxin. But would the immunity still work if Tohon and not the Death Lily injected it into me?

  Chapter 23

  “Why did you do that?” I asked with a steady voice despite my fluttering stomach.

  “You don’t seem too upset,” he said.

  The toxin spread throughout my body. I leaned back and closed my eyes as my thoughts disconnected from my body. Except there wasn’t a Death Lily to connect to. Only Tohon, but there was no way into him. As if he sensed my plight, he touched my cheek. And we linked consciousnesses.

  Interesting reaction, my dear. This isn’t your first experience with the Death Lily’s toxin, is it?

  Hard to lie when he heard my thoughts at the same time that I did.

  No. My childhood encounter played, then the one where I had pushed Flea out of the way.

  I suspected as much. They won’t communicate with me.

  You abuse them, steal their sacks.

  They kill people, Avry.

  So do you.

  His amusement flowed through me. Are you going to defend me, too?

  No. Stop you.

  Another wave of mirth. I doubt it.

  Why did you inject me?

  To prove a theory. Too bad the Healer’s Guild is no more. I would have liked to gloat. Tohon dropped his hand from my cheek. He returned to the table with the sacks and wrote in his ledger.


  Disconnected from him and my body, my awareness hovered. Could I send it to another place? Too bad Tohon released my wrists and grabbed my hand before I could try. Our consciousness joined as he pulled me to my feet.

  You’ll feel better in a few hours, my dear.

  How do you know?

  I’m guessing.

  We left the lab and he locked the door. As we spiraled down to the ground floor, I asked, What theory did you just prove? But the answer popped in my mind. That all healers have survived an encounter with a Death Lily.

  Impressive, my dear. If you weren’t already mine, I’d be worried.

  I’m not yours.

  So you say.

  I suppressed the desire to argue with him. As my mother had often said, Pick your battles. Instead, I concentrated on the experiment. Does surviving the toxin make us healers? Is our magic a gift from the Death Lilys? I asked Tohon.

  I believe so, but I haven’t been able to prove it yet.

  If I had control of my body, I would have skidded to a stop. Images of him injecting people just to see if he could turn them into healers flowed through my mind. However, Tohon kept a firm grip as he guided me back to my rooms.

  You haven’t been—

  That’s none of your concern, my dear. His tone warned me to drop the subject.

  I mulled over what I’d learned. If you’re immune to the toxin, does that mean you can heal, as well?

  No, my life magic prevents me from getting sick. I’ve never had a cold, the flu or stomach problems. Even poison has no effect. Ah, here we are. He laid me on my bed and released me.

  I hovered over my body, still able to see despite my closed eyes.

  Tohon sorted through the clothes in the armoire. He held up a green gown. Sequins glinted from the low-cut bodice. “Wear this one tonight. I’ll send Winter in a few hours to help you get dressed.” He draped it over a chair before leaving.

  Disembodied, I tried to move, remembering how I had flowed through the roots of the Death Lily. But then a vine had connected me to the Lily. I had also needed Tohon’s touch. My body lay on a mattress; perhaps I could move through the bed.