14. Mage Stone
CHAPTER 14
Mage Stone
ALIA
I t was bad. The first indicator was the wheeze. Anna only wheezes when her lungs were having trouble functioning. When her body was shutting down from the stress it was under.
“Curo, thank Source you’re here,” Rey said, pushing around the corner to give me a hug. His voice was a too loud. My sister flinched. She was sensitive to stimuli when like this. But Rey didn’t know. How could he?
“Hey, how is she?” I asked.
“She came to consciousness a moment ago, but her eyes couldn’t focus and she just screamed.”
I walked over to her, pushing strands of hair behind her ear, watching her flinch at my touch. She was awake. Thank goodness. But she was in so much pain—the healer was poking and prodding, Rey was talking to his cousin Graham much too loud, and everything was giving off energy. Nervous, anxious, worried energy.
“Everyone out,” I hissed. The healer looked up and nodded, immediately packing his things.
“I’ll stay,” Rey said. “I can rub her feet.”
I clenched my teeth, but nodded. He was her husband, after all. What right did I have to toss him out?
Graham came over. “If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs,” he whispered, his eyes filled with compassion. I gave a hasty nod.
Rey went to Anna’s feet, rubbing them. She tensed further and winced. “Gently,” I admonished.
He went slower and easier, and my sister slowly relaxed. She opened her eyes, and they were resigned. “Nuh-uh,” I whispered. “You aren’t giving up on me.”
They cleared just a hair, but the pain… Please, let me bear her pain, I thought to Source. But that was not my Gift. My Gift was knowing her need and being unable to do a thing about it.
Her need was two-pronged. She needed peace and a safe place to rest. She needed something to balance and support the organs. I drew out my kit.
“Stay with me, sis. When you get well, where do you want to go?”
“Spec—” She began coughing.
Guilt curdled in my soul. I shouldn’t have asked. But now I knew.
“We’ll go there. We’ll watch the fairies tend to the bioluminescent mushrooms growing along the watershore. It’ll be such fun to watch the kiddos splash in the clear water, just as we used to. Remember? It was our favorite place as kids.” I spoke as I gathered my satchel, opening it to my remedy kit. “We’ll make hair ribbons of the pink water fronds and tie sunflowers to the end. The birds will call out to their families, singing of the beauty and wonder of the gentle waterfall at the far end of the crystal-clear waters. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll see the stag of the forest come to the edge for a drink, dipping his massive head to gently sip at the waters.”
I shook the remedy bottle, and Anna automatically opened her mouth. I popped the tincture beneath her tongue. She was more relaxed, but her needs screamed at me, pulsing against my soul like battering rams.
And although she relaxed and the peace came to her mind and that need cleared, her body was too far gone. It was shutting down; there were too many needs for me to keep up with.
I needed that mage stone.
Where are you, Ran?
The night was long and fogged with needs. I attended to everything I could, but it wasn’t enough. Never enough.
Anna’s breathing slowed. She was no longer conscious to listen to what we would do when she felt better. I needed that mage stone. And I needed it now.
Ran?
I ’ m coming, she said.
I nearly collapsed then and there. I leaned against the wall outside my sister’s room, letting my body sag.
“Hey, you ok?” Graham asked.
I quickly straightened, turning with a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”
His eyes were uncertain. “You were amazing last night, Alia.”
A gentle warmth spread in my soul. “Thanks,” I said, shifting my feet awkwardly.
“Would you…”
“Yes?” I prompted him to continue.
“Would you like me to walk you home? After… ya know, everything?” His cheeks were tinged with red, and I found it somewhat adorable. My mind flashed back to strong, sure arms and a need so deep it squeezed my heart like a paper press, but Graham was here and now. I’d likely never see that odd werewolf again. Good riddance.
“Sure,” I said.
His eyes lit up. “Oh, and here’s you a water and jerky. I didn’t see you eat or drink anything last night.”
My stomach rumbled, and I put a hand to it, my cheeks heating.
He chuckled. “Seems I was right.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Alia!” the frantic scream pierced through the hall and made my hair stand on end.
I slammed the door open to see my sister shaking on the bed; her needs were slicing through me as her life teetered on a precipice.
“Place a leather between her teeth. Keep her alive until I get back,” I ordered through clenched teeth.
Rey took a step forward. “Alia, don’t you dare leave us?—”
I ran to the window and jumped, landing and rolling as I hit the dirt road outside my sister’s home. I had to meet Ran. It was Anna’s only chance.
Numbness overwhelmed everything else. Nothing mattered. I knew my sister would die without me, but I couldn’t stand around and watch her suffer.
Ran screeched to a halt before me, in the middle of the street. What the heck was she doing? She could be killed if she remained here and someone saw her.
Saddlebag, she said.
She tossed her head as I ran to her side, pulling out the swirling mage stone and then running back to my sister.
Get out of sight. NOW! I nearly screamed at her inside my brain.
Take care of your sister, Two-Legs. I ’ ll take care of me.
I couldn’t spare a moment for her, knowing every second counted. A mage stone couldn’t bring someone back from death.
I slid into Anna’s home, quite literally. My elbow and shin took the brunt of the impact as I slammed into the wall. There was no pain. The stairs seemed to go on forever until I was suddenly in her room.
Anna was still.
I came to her head, pressing the stone to her chest and hitting the part which activated the stone.
“Come on! WORK!” I shouted, pressing the stone again. It stayed gray with the gentle swirls of writing no one knew how to read. It should be bright.
The healer felt for a pulse in her wrist. “You may be?—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” I growled, my hand on a blade.
The healer froze as if he saw a tiger hidden in the woods. He slowly stepped back, his hands upraised.
My eyes darted back to my sister. “Please,” I whispered as I put my forehead to hers. “Fight!” I said. “Come back to us. Come back to me. What am I to do with Jacob and his little infatuations without you there to tease him with me? What about little Fina and Jess? They need their momma; their auntie will never do for long. Please, sis. Please,” I whimpered.
I closed my eyes, one tear dribbling from my cheek to land on her nose. A bright light flashed and my eyes popped open to see the stone glowing so brightly it was hard to look at.
A deep breath filled my lungs. Anna’s needs assailed me.
And I was never so happy to feel those needs or hear her wheeze.
Graham walked me home, but I could hardly speak. My lungs felt tight and my soul felt scoured. I just wanted to be alone.
Especially knowing I had to face Mom and the rest of them when I got home.
Mom raced out the door, staring at my face. “How is she?” she whispered.
“She’s ok,” I said, smiling.
Mom crumpled. Her shoulders bowed, her face seemed to age before my eyes, and she grew pale. She swayed. Graham caught her before she hit the ground.
I wanted to fall into a ball and cry.
“Help me get her into the house, please,” I said, my voice emotionless.
Graham looked at me with concern, but he gripped under Mom’s arms and I got her feet. We sat her on the rug before the fireplace, and I turned her head to make certain her tongue didn’t choke her.
Dad came down the stairs, his face pale but his jaw strong. “Is she… ?”
“Anna’s fine, Dad,” I said. He leaned against the rail, the only weakness he would allow.
“Fina and Jess?” I asked, even as I opened my satchel and retrieved the Aconite.
“Abed,” Dad said. “What can I do?”
“Heat up some water. She’ll need valerian and hops when she wakes.”
“Will do,” he said. He came by where I knelt beside Mom. He leaned down and kissed my hair. “Proud of you, kiddo.”
I clenched my teeth so I wouldn’t cry. “Thanks, Dad.”
He nodded and went to get the water boiling.
A few minutes later, Mom woke up with a headache. She was disoriented and kept asking about Anna, to which I always said she was fine.
I walked Graham out. "I think I love you," he said, wringing his hat in his hands.
I stared at him. I opened and closed my mouth, then opened it again.
His smile was sad. "And I think I know you don't love me. Friends?" he said at last.
I smiled. "Friends," I said, sticking out my hand.
We shook on it, and with a sad smile he left.
I glanced back at the house, but I couldn't go in there. Not yet. I went to the woods.
Ran came, nuzzling my chest and lapping at my face.
And I sat on a log with Ran’s nose resting on my ear and her warm breath rustling my hair while I stared at a spider spinning its web in a willow tree.
“Hey, sis, how ya feeling?” I laid my satchel on a table and sat gently on the bed.
Anna’s eyes focused on me. They were red rimmed and sunken, but since her needs weren’t battering or cutting into my soul, they weren’t life threatening. We’d bought another day.
She gave me a tiny smile. “Much better, thanks to you,” she whispered, her voice breathy.
I smiled back, unable to help the prick of tears which I shoved back. I almost lost her yesterday. I couldn’t do that again. “It was just a little shove. You did the fighting.”
Her eyes closed and she winced. “What if I’m tired of fighting?” she whispered.
“Then you’re tired of fighting. And freak, that’s ok. I’ll be here to help you when you get tired, ok?”
She opened her eyes, the dull blue brightening just a touch. “You’re the best sis, you know that?”
Guilt hit me in the gut. If I were such a good sister, she’d be well by now. I buried that and playfully nudged her leg. “Takes one to know one,” I replied with a wink. “Did you hear about Jacob’s new crush?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Nope. What happened?”
“Mom took Fina and Jess to the market, like usual, right? But she spotted Jacob. He wasn’t in training—” She gasped. “RIGHT? So she saw him sitting with this little cute redhead. He tried to kiss her on the cheek.”
“Oh no.”
“Yep. The girl was turned away. When she turned back and saw how close he was?—”
Anna was already giggling. It caused her wheeze to worsen, but she needed her spirits lifted. Missing so much broke her, but hearing the tales like this made her feel as though she were still a part of it.
“She didn’t,” Anna got out between chuckles.
“Oh yes she did. And get this, they were sitting on the fountain, you know the one in the center of town with all the pigeons?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
We both broke down into snorting, totally unladylike laughter. “He was soaked head to toe, pigeon poo in his hair, and a black eye.”
“Oh, poor Jacob!” she said, settling back into the pillows once more. “I wish I woulda been there to see it.”
I set a hand on hers. “You will be,” I said.
She nodded, and I next told her about the idiot cobbler who made shoes two different sizes on purpose, then about the boy who thought a skunk was a puppy. When I told her it had taken a week’s worth of tomatoes to get the smell out of the boy’s clothes, we were laughing hysterically. Then the door behind me opened with a crack.
Anna’s laughter cut off and her eyes widened. Was that… fear?
“Can you be quiet? I mentioned there were customers downstairs. You’ve run off two of our best buyers!”
“Alia was just trying to help?—”
“Alia was being more than helpful,” he sneered. He ran a hand down his face and softened his tone. I was staring, open-mouthed. I didn't know who this person was; Rey had always been nice and even sweet when I'd seen him. “Could you two just please be quiet during business hours? We need this money to pay for the bills and debts so we don’t lose this place.”
Anna flinched as if he’d hit her. His eyes lit with something I didn’t like even as he frowned. “We’ll be quieter,” Anna whispered, her voice the breathy, soft thing that it was when I arrived.
“I’m so sorry, honey. I—I didn’t mean to yell. It’s just, you’ve been so sick and it’s made me so worried. You know I love you, right? Always have and always will,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it.
She smiled up at him, but it was strained. “Of course, my love. I love you too.” He stared at her until she said, “Always have, always will.”
He kissed her and went out the door, whistling.
Doc’s words repeated in my head. “ Only stress typically causes a person to get as sickly as your sister,” he’d said.
I’d seen this behavior a few times, and Mom had commented on it, but Dad and I typically wrote it off. Rey’s under a lot of pressure. He’s trying to care for his sick wife and earn enough for his children.
Then again, he hardly ever comes to see his children, who stay with my parents and me. We buy their meals and their clothes. We thought it was just because Ray was busy.
“Has he ever hit you?” I whispered to my sister.
She smiled and patted my hand that was resting on the bed. “No, sis. Never. And he never would.”
I thought that meant she was ok. I thought that meant he wasn’t abusing her.
If only I’d known then that abuse doesn’t just mean bruises on the skin. Sometimes the scars are too deep for a person to see from the outside. And just because someone has never been hit doesn’t mean they aren’t suffering abuse.
I forgot to mention something.
I paused washing out the cloth diaper as Ran’s voice invaded my mind. She sounded hesitant, which made me nervous. Yes?
The mage stone came with a favor.
Ran, so help me spill it or I ’ m putting peppermint oil in your meat ? —
I promised you ’ d help the werewolf in a mission.
“You did WHAT?”
Mom stuck her head out the door where I was by the well. “Ran,” I said by way of explanation.
Mom gave a sage nod. Was that a hint of a grin around her mouth as she ducked back inside?
“When and where?”
New moon. Harbor district. I thought… well…
I felt her unease and realized she’d had no choice, and she still felt bad about it. You did the right thing, Ran. I ’ m sorry, I didn ’ t mean to yell.
I ’ m sorry I got you into it.
I sighed. You didn ’ t get me into anything. It was a crappy situation and we did the best we could. You saved my sister ’ s life. And for that, I ’ ll spend a few hours with an arrogant werewolf.