A Feast of Souls: Araneae Nation, Book 2 (26 page)

“Nerys…” I began.

“No.” Her gaze darted between the blade in Vaughn’s hand and my face. “She drank it and I saw you drink it. How else can you explain her recovery, and how can you explain your health?”

“Mana heals souls on a spiritual plane.” Vaughn’s weight shifted. “What she did for Mother almost killed her. The oil isn’t what saved your maven.” He stared at me. “Mana did that alone.”

Pleasure unfurled in my chest at his praise. Love was absent in his gaze, but warmth was there. Pride made his chest rise when he looked at me. Respect carried in his words. That he believed in me… I lacked the words for how I treasured his faith. Warmth. Pride. Respect. Trust.

There were worse ways to begin a relationship. Perhaps we could make this work.

Forcing my head to turn, I asked Nerys, “Where were you going with the roll?”

“I t-treated some of the worst cases in the north tower.” Her lip trembled. “My cousin is ill. She doesn’t have much longer if I… I had to try. I watched you. I was careful…but I had to try.”

I crossed to the bed and emptied the supplies from my roll. The tin filled with dayflower oil was much lighter. “Dayflower oil is as lethal as Mimetidae venom.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Nerys stagger. “But you drank it. The maven drank it.”

“I’ve dabbled in dayflowers all my life. I’m resistant to their adverse effects.” I crammed my belongings into their slots. “As for Isolde, I am well aware of how to treat those under my care.”

Vaughn watched me a moment. “Where are you going?”

I tucked the roll under my arm. “I must visit the north tower.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” His voice came out strained.

“I have no choice.” I met him at the door. “She’s right about one thing. I haven’t gotten sick. I’m immune to most common maladies, but I had no reason to hope I would be immune to this.”

“What are you saying?” He kept me from leaving.

I sighed when I pushed and he refused to budge. “I’m saying I’ve never tested dayflower oil on a person not under my care. Not only am I interested in the results, but I’m obligated to attend those people.” I pushed again. This time he moved. “Thank you. I’ll inform you of my findings.”

“You won’t have to.” He grasped Nerys’s arm. “I’m going with you. She can at least do you the courtesy of identifying her victims.” He glanced at Isolde. “Do you feel safe waiting for me?”

She bared her teeth and reached between her bed and the table beside it. Metal glided against metal. She straightened, holding a short sword aloft. Fisting the hilt, she said, “The day I require a sitter is the day I retire my title as maven of this clan.” She growled. “That day is not today.”

Vaughn’s easy smile lifted my spirits. “In that case, would you like your door left open?”

“I’m no fool.” She angled her blade toward the door. “Shut it and lock it. If someone wants in enough, they’ll find a way. Once they cross that threshold,” she said, grinning, “they’re mine.”

“Don’t overexert yourself, Isolde.” I watched her expression blacken. “I’m glad you feel like you’re strong enough to battle all adversaries, but give your body time to catch up to your spirit.”

“She’s right. You need time to finish healing.” Vaughn nodded my way. “Defend yourself if you must. Otherwise, please don’t go looking for trouble. Mother, I mean that. Don’t. Stay here.”

Her glare was mutinous, but she offered a curt nod. Her eyelids were heavy. I doubted once we left that she’d remain awake to cause any real trouble. Though she felt rejuvenated, she had gone too long without proper food and drink to maintain her strength. She was days away from giving her son grief. I hoped. Lips twitching, I had to admit Isolde was nothing if not determined.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find her blade at our throats when we returned—on principle.

I braced on the doorknob. “Nerys, how long ago did you administer the oil?”

“I attended those in the north tower on my regular rounds.” Her face scrunched. “It was after you left, and after Vaughn went to search for you. Once Isolde was resting peacefully, I left her.”

A curse caught in my throat. “Prepare yourselves. If they’ve gone all night unattended…”

“They haven’t been,” Nerys protested. “I wouldn’t dose them and then leave them alone.”

“How…?” Then I remembered. “Vaughn stayed with Isolde last night. You were given your own suite.” Hope stirred. “That’s good. So your last round must have ended when I caught you.”

“Yes.” Her cheeks flushed. “I didn’t sleep much last night or I’d have been more cautious.”

“I had a hard enough time catching you as it was.” I held open the door. “If you’d been more rested, I might not have captured you and you might have cost those people their lives. Let’s go.”

Though Nerys’s dangerous gamble made my stomach clench, I had trouble faulting her. Put in her situation, I would have reacted the same way she had. I would have stolen, risked lives—theirs and mine—if it meant saving the ones I loved. Hadn’t I already? I’d defied Sikya’s wishes by coming here and battling this illness. I was risking my life to save others
for Vaughn
.

My own logic floored me, and my feet became too heavy to lift.

I couldn’t love him. Not before he gave me a sign my heart was safe in his keeping.

Chapter Fifteen

North tower stank of sweat and unwashed bodies. Entering the largest room in the converted sick ward, I surveyed the five people resting upon makeshift cots. Thank the gods, they all lived.

“Which did you treat?” I would examine those first.

“I, um, treated all of them.” Nerys’s shoulders bowed. “I meant to treat my cousin, but when the others heard me explain what I was giving to her, I couldn’t refuse them. I had to try to help.”

“I understand.” And I did, all too well. The call to heal was impossible to ignore. Measuring Nerys’s determined expression, I considered she might have a healing gift or a touch of empathy.

“Gods’ web,” Vaughn cursed. “I hope for your sake these people survive.”

Nerys shrank into herself, huddling against the furious male at her back.

I started at the nearest cot, sat on a wobbling stool and checked the female’s pulse, finding it stronger than expected. I woke her with a gentle shake, surprised when her clear eyes stared up at me. “Hello there. My name is Mana. I’m here to examine you. Is that all right? How do you feel?”

She turned her head, caught sight of Nerys and tried to sit upright. “Leave her alone.”

I placed a hand on the patient’s shoulder and eased her back down to the mattress. “Nerys is fine, for now. She has been named a thief. If you answer my questions, you might help her case.”

“I’m Crystin.” The female tore her eyes from the doorway. “Nerys is my cousin.”

“Ah.” So this was where the trouble began. No wonder a stool sat beside her cot. “I see.”

“No, you don’t.” She threw her covers aside. Her legs were withered and misshapen, a birth defect most likely, given how healthy the tissue appeared. Crystin slapped aside my hands, rising without my help. Panting, she braced on the edges of the bed. “I was born this way, crippled. My parents didn’t want me. They were going to…” Her elbows buckled and she fell back against the mattress. Nerys bolted, but Vaughn snagged her shoulders. Crystin stared up at me. “Nerys saved me. She’s the only family I have. Please. If you have to blame someone for this, then blame me.”

Tears leaked from Crystin’s eyes. I gestured to Vaughn. “Release her.”

His nod was reluctant, but he obeyed.

A blink of my eyes, and Nerys had knelt beside me and gathered the frail youth in her arms. As she rocked the girl, she kissed her cheeks. “You’ll shoulder no blame. This was my doing.”

Nerys had spoken that for our benefit, I was sure.

“It’s not fair.” Crystin clung to her. “Look at the others. They’re all better. All of them are.”

“That’s for us to decide.” Vaughn stood, legs spread in the doorway. “And regardless of the results, I can’t condone her methods for achieving them. She stole, lied and endangered lives.”

“She saved us.” Crystin glared at Vaughn over Nerys’s shoulder. “Cleit didn’t even try. He was too afraid to walk through the door. Too afraid he’d catch the plague and die here with us.”

“Hush, now.” Nerys squeezed the girl tighter.

“Is that true?” Vaughn demanded.

Nerys flinched. “I used his herbs and tended the sick.” Her voice gained some strength. “It doesn’t matter who handled the rounds as long as they were made. I saw to it they were, daily.”

“You covered for your uncle.” No wonder Nerys snapped under the strain. Torn between an uncle with a talent he refused to use and a cousin in dire need of help he refused to give, she had become desperate. I couldn’t fault her for seeing me work and believing I had some miracle cure.

She dared me with a look. “What would you have done?”

“The same as you, I’m sure.”

Her eyes widened, as if she hadn’t expected my answer.

“Tend your cousin, Nerys.” I offered her the stool. “I’ll check the others.”

Leaving the two females with their heads bent in low conversation, I began my rounds. Each person was checked to ensure the dayflower oil hadn’t affected them adversely. From the eight patients Nerys treated, I had difficulty rousing only two. At this stage, it was impossible to tell if their bodies hadn’t processed the last of their dose, or if their health hadn’t improved. I must ask Nerys for her notes. Since dayflower oil was a calmative, they may very well be sleeping awhile.

Once I’d circled the room, I crossed to Vaughn and mirrored his pose.

He broke before I did. “Well?”

“No one appears to have suffered any ill effects. If anything, they’re in much better health than Cleit led us to believe.” I shrugged. “If what Crystin says is true, he never entered this room. So it’s possible he was mistaken about how ill these females were.” I rubbed my neck. “I’m just not sure. With Crystin on Nerys’s side, and Nerys acting as their primary caretaker, I can’t trust these females to give anything but a glowing report on her efforts. Though it makes me wonder.”

Time had dulled the worst of my hurt where my final spat with Henri was concerned. Now I considered his findings objectively. I had no reason not to believe the yellow death was bacterial. Bacterial infections were treated and prevented with the use of antibiotics. Henri said dayflowers contained antibacterial properties. Could the solution be so simple? There was one way to learn.

“Nerys.” I turned to her. “You said you used Cleit’s herbs to treat these patients?”

She answered slowly. “I did.”

“I assume at least some of those had antibiotic properties?”

“Yes.” Her response came surer now. “When his supplies failed, I began reading scrolls he kept in his room. I tried treatments listed, from honey to goldenseal. Nothing worked until now.”

Hmm. Perhaps the answer wasn’t so simple after all. “These people volunteered?”

Crystin spoke over Nerys. “They did. All of us did.”

Then perhaps a few more would too. “How many more are housed in this tower?”

“There are two more rooms, both smaller than this one.” She indicated an arched door. “One room, through there, has three females. The other room connects into that one. It has two more.”

“Do you think the people in those rooms would agree to an experiment?” I wasn’t sure then if I hoped she would say yes or no. “One can be the control room, the other given dayflower oil.”

Nerys blinked. “I—I don’t see why they wouldn’t.”

I hated knowing I would prey on their desperation. “Do they know what you’ve done here?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I had thought—if it worked on Crystin—I might try, but I didn’t want to get their hopes up until we knew whether or not taking dayflower oil made a difference.”

“Good.” I faced Vaughn. “I’ll need Isolde’s permission before we begin.”

His face was set in troubled lines. “I’m confused as to what you think this will accomplish.”

I lowered my voice. “Henri said dayflower oil has antibiotic properties.”

“That pompous little scrollworm was picking at you?” He growled. “You can’t believe—”

I pressed a finger to his lips. “Henri is—a good male, an honorable male. I think the death of his parents… He doesn’t know what to believe in. More than ever, he requires proof of the divine, but it’s not my place to supply it. So yes, he dented my pride. And yes, our friendship will suffer for his claims, but his work is valid.” My gesture encompassed the room. “I can’t deny the facts. These were sick people. They have been ravaged by sickness. Yet they are all fever free now.”

Vaughn grunted. “He’ll gloat if he’s the one who finds the cure.”

I promised him, “I only care that a cure is found.”

“You’re handling this well.” He examined me as if searching for cracks in my facade.

“Henri’s success takes nothing away from mine.” I shrugged. “His application for dayflower oil doesn’t invalidate mine.” I confided another factor in my consideration. “Beltania was spared the brunt of the plague. We thought at the time it was our good fortune. Or that prayer had staved off the worst of the epidemic. But what if neither was the case? If dayflowers are the key, then it makes sense that the outbreak died along with the herds. Our varanus graze in the flower fields.”