47. Rev
Chapter 47
Rev
Dawn came and though I could not see it from our rooms, I could feel it in my chest, urging me to leave the warm bed, leave her soft body curled into mine and get up to help Pompeii.
Karus slumbered in the nightgown I’d commissioned for her, and I admired the rise and fall of her chest under green silk and black lace.
I gently smoothed away her hair which had caught on her lips and studied the streaks of white. There were several more pieces that littered the top and sides of her head, and my stomach fell, remembering both times she’d used that spell.
We both knew I didn’t want her to attempt it again. I didn’t want to see her lose that control.
I’d do it.
I’d practice the spell. I’d use it on the Blight. Maybe even on Viridis. She could use Cosensian Magic to imbue her power to me and we could try again.
But first, we needed to cure Pompeii.
And train the channelers.
And conduct the conduit trials.
And she needed to take the Baron trial.
There was so much to do. I wondered how much time we really had before the Blightress reared her head again.
I tried not to spiral, I really did, but then I realized how much I was as Karus shifted beside me.
Let her sleep, Rev, I reminded myself as I shifted away from her warmth and rose from the bed.
Spring was cold in the Fortress, so I stoked the fire before heading to the washing room to splash water on my face.
I didn’t want to do what needed to be done today. We needed to search Heimlen’s study for answers. We needed to check on the laboratorium to ensure she really did kill off that Blight. We needed to hear from Talon and Ilyenna that they were alright, that they hadn’t caught this Blight illness from Pompeii.
I splashed my face again and drew a bath for Karus, filling the tub with water just warm enough to steam.
I felt a pull from her in the bed, a flurry of pain and panic. I rushed to her side as she sat up, her hand covered in blood.
“It’s started,” she trembled. “My bleeding has started again.”
She pulled back the sheets to reveal a red stain on the silk of her nightgown. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’ve ruined it.”
“No, love, Lia can get that out.”
She sobbed and I pulled her to my chest. “It’s alright. It’s okay. You can do this. Are you in pain?”
She nodded, rising with me as I took her hand and led her to the washing room. I slipped the thin straps off her shoulders and she stepped into the water, a sigh of relief on her lips.
I kneeled down on the side of the tub and kissed her temple, holding my hand out for her to take. “Show me where it hurts, Karus.”
She grimaced in pain and brought my hand to her lower stomach. “Here. Clairannia warned me about this. The first bleeding since getting my liberum mark would be the wor—” she bent over in pain, unable to finish the word.
“ Remolyn.” I spoke the enhancement spell of loosening and relaxation. Tendrils of blue wove through the water, encircling her waist.
Her face eased instantly, her head falling back to the edge of the wooden tub.
“Thank you. I’ll have to remember that one.”
“You rest here. I’ll check on Pompeii and speak to Lia. I’ll bring you some breakfast. Do you need anything before I leave?”
“Please be careful around anyone. What if you carry the illness and it just hasn’t shown up yet? It seems like it would have by now, but what if?—”
“I don’t think we can carry it. I keep thinking about what the Blightress told you. At least some of your power comes from her and unless she’s lying, a Baron’s power does as well. She made the Blight, so what if we’re too connected to it to be affected by this?” I shook my head, sighing. There were too many questions with too few answers we’d be able to find without speaking to the Blightress herself. “I’ll be careful, but I just have this gut feeling we’re immune.”
She bit her lower lip in thought. “I suppose neither of us feel ill. And we burned everything we wore in that room…” She nodded. “Please just be quick.”
“I will.” I rose and kissed the top of her head as she leaned back, closing her eyes. I picked up her nightgown, and headed to the bed to change the sheets.
“Wait, Rev, can you bring me something before you go?”
I turned back to her, stunned by her beauty. She gripped the sides of the wood, the water rippling around her shoulders, her hair floating out around her. Her cheeks were flushed red with the heat, a contrast to the bright green of her eyes in the flicker of the sconces on the wall.
I shook my head slightly. There were moments like these I still couldn’t believe she was mine, that she was back, and that I could hold her at any time.
I didn’t want to possess her.
That was a lie.
I wanted to own her as much as she owned me, and there lay the line I had crossed once before. I crossed it when I lied to her about Heimlen and what evidence of his betrayal to us both had been hidden under his gloves.
I promised myself I wouldn’t cross that line again. Not to save her, not to keep her. But in moments like these, when she took my breath away, I wondered if I was lying to myself because I would do anything to protect her. I would cross any line I’d ever established just to save her.
I cleared my throat. “Whatever you need, it’s yours.”
Her lips rose to the side, her eyes sparkling. “How about a good book?”
Pompeii’s bruised chest was a deep purple, verging on black. His lungs strained with each breath he took. This illness had developed quicker than I imagined it could.
I tried everything I knew. I tried every medicus magic enhancement spell I’d learned in the eleven years I’d trained my magic.
Nothing worked.
His breath strained with a rattle at his throat in each inhale. He coughed again, and I caught the phlegm from his lips with a rag already stained in pools of black.
“Revich,” he rasped, the effort to speak twisting his face. “You cannot risk?—”
His cough began again, and I pulled him up to lessen the gasping of his chest.
“That’s enough. I’m not leaving you here like this.” I ended any more question if I should be with him. “Karus and I are going to look in Heimlen’s study today. There must be something there about how he cured the Black Fever. I’d guess this illness is similar.”
He let his head fall against the headboard and squinted my way. “You haven’t been…in years.”
I clenched my jaw hearing him struggle.
This was my fault.
I should have been more careful. I should have told him before I left to avoid the laboratorium while I was away.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll find something. I’m sending a letter to Clairannia today. She might know a spell that can help you.”
He took another full, rasping breath. “Don’t want to…spread…”
More coughing, wheezing, struggling to breathe.
“I see you trying to warn me, old friend, and I will not listen.”
He gave what I assumed to be a chuckle.
I brought another spoonful of Lia’s broth to his lips, and he sipped it slowly.
I spoke to him of all that had happened in the two weeks outside of Felgren that was only a few days within. His smile was brightest hearing about how we had completed our companion ceremony without outside help.
“It brings…me joy, Baron.”
“When you are well, we will celebrate.” I wiped his mouth again. “So, you’d better recover soon because the servants and channelers are itching for a party.”
His grin was pained but there nonetheless.
“Rest. I’ll be back in a few hours to check on you again and let you know what we find.”
He nodded weakly, and I helped him settle back against his pillow. “ Soporen,” I murmured softly, his eyes closing and the tension in his body releasing.
I rose from his bedside, collecting the ruined pillowcase I’d found him under and the rag I’d used to collect the sludge coming from his mouth. I threw them into the fireplace, forcing the smoke up the flue.
This was bad.
No, this was terrifying.
Not only was I concerned for my friend’s life, I worried for the rest of the staff. For my channelers. For Karus.
I had to trust my instincts. Karus and I shared a connection to the Blight through the Blightress. I didn’t have time to panic that she would succumb to this next.
But Ilyenna? Talon? I’d sent both of them to take care of Pompeii in their punishment, and I might have doomed them as well.
It was time to order a lockdown of the Fortress.
I stood outside of Pompeii’s room, my mind struggling to remember the spell I needed. It wasn’t as if I amplified my voice often. I closed my eyes, leaning back against his door, cycling through the enhancements I knew.
I’d been blessed in my thirty years with the gift of memory, able to recall pieces of my life in flashes of pictures, and my thoughts sorted through a book I had once read about conduits who had taken more leadership roles on the isle.
I could see the pages I had flipped through in Viridis, when it had been so much more than the husk it currently was.
There was the spell. Amploren : to project your voice.
Behind my eyes, I saw the word written in the book just as if I held it again in my hands under the Viridis light.
I cleared my throat and spoke, “This is Baron Revich,” I began, blue wisps of my power flowing from my words, winding their way down the long hall and through the door to the kitchens.
“Please do not be alarmed. I am speaking to you after leaving Pompeii’s bedside. He is very ill, and because I cannot be sure this illness will not spread, I am ordering a lockdown of the Fortress. Each of you are to stay in your rooms with the exception of Lia, who will continue to bring food to your doors.”
She’d do it, too. I knew if I asked her to stop feeding the people in the Fortress, she’d ignore me anyway.
I gathered my thoughts and continued, my magic still flowing from my voice and booming through the hall. “I’ve spoken to each of you personally about the Blight that lives in the depths of Felgren. It is my fear that a form of this Blight has infected Pompeii. His lungs are bruised at his chest, and a black liquid seeps from his mouth when he coughs. Lia or myself will be at each of your doors at least twice a day, where you will confirm to us that you do not show signs of this illness.
“You are to stay in your rooms. I cannot stress this enough. Karus and I are seeking answers. We will keep you informed. I wish each of you well. Now, please, head to your rooms, and await answers from me.”
I left the corridor for the kitchens, passing several servants heeding my orders. I nodded to each one as they scrambled through their doors.
Lia stood in the kitchen, barking orders to the few people there as they washed up and left. She nodded to me and turned, getting straight back to the dough she kneaded on her work table.
“For you and Karus,” she informed, pointing to a tray of cinnamon buns and pastry-wrapped eggs and bacon—both of our favorites.
“Thank you.”
She added, “Ilyenna and Talon are well so far. I checked on both of them already this morning.”
“Lia,” I chuckled, “I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
She kept at her work and responded under her breath, “No one ever does, love.”
I took the tray and left as a few more of the staff passed through the dining hall, confident in the knowledge that I was doing whatever I could to keep my people safe, and knowing it was time to enter Heimlen’s study.