Chapter 40 #2
Serg didn’t answer; instead, he moved to the desk and pulled a small mortar and pestle from his pouch, along with leaves and a cup. “Water, please, Inez,” he said, voice low as he drifted in thought, grinding leaves into stone for some sort of paste.
Erinna wanted to stop him and demand answers, but she was beyond exhausted. Perhaps Inez was right when she told Erinna that she didn’t think these were dreams. It certainly didn’t feel like she slept.
When Serg was finished, she had a mug of vaguely familiar tea in her hand. The doctor settled back into his seat, and Erinna took a sip of the concoction. It was similar to the tea she used for sleep, but more bitter to the taste.
“Arm, please.”
She held out the arm closest to him.
“The other.”
Erinna furrowed her brow and raised her other arm. Her sleeve drifted up, and her stomach sank. The mark. He wanted to see the mark.
Serg tapped at it lightly. “This is only a guess on my end, but I believe you are being hunted.”
Everything stilled. “Hunted?”
“Yes, but not physically. I’ve only seen a case like this once, long before I learned my craft. A woman in Aramoor had been possessed, coughed up the same substance, body chilled to the touch. The only difference was that she never woke up.”
“She’s not being possessed,” Kane mumbled beneath his breath.
Erinna snapped her attention to him. “And how would you know? Are you the doctor?”
Kane looked at her with an astounding level of patience. In a few steps, he was at the bed next to Serg.
“I know because of this.” He tapped her hand lightly to remind her of their pact. The piece of her power he held.
“She is not technically possessed, but I think something is trying. And it may be connected to that curse.”
“I see.” Serg frowned and turned to Erinna. “Have you heard of a Realm Walker?”
Erinna shook her head. Great, another term she didn’t know.
“They are people who can glimpse the Realm Beyond, that have an affinity to see into worlds connected to our own. It’s rare but not unheard of.”
“They’re like me,” chimed Inez, earning a nod from Serg. A type of aberrant. A type of diviner.
Erinna took another sip, attempting to ease her nerves as she filed the information away. “What does this mean for me?”
“Well, if you can see into another realm, then something else can see you. The curse may be making it easier for those beyond to find you.”
Erinna’s head swam with the information. She supposed it made sense and explained her Talent to some degree. But it didn’t feel right.
“No.”
Everyone turned to Kane. “She’s not a Realm Walker. She’s a gravewitch.”
That’s right. That’s what Raye called her, the memory coming back in broken fragments.
For the first time, she saw Serg’s eyes widen in surprise. It did not make her feel reassured. “It is far worse then.”
“Okay, enough, tell me what’s happening.”
Serg turned to Kane, and Erinna grumbled internally. It was just her luck that he continued to know more about her own power than she did.
“You not only see into the Realm Beyond, you can touch it, manipulate it. And as untrained as you are, you can get lost in it or bring something worse back with you.”
She hated to admit it made sense. With everything that happened so far, the curse, her resurgence of power, the Weeping Queen, it seemed to be the most plausible explanation.
“So what do I do?”
“I’ll give you more tea. The one Inez gave you was mixed with a small narcotic meant to aid sleep. It can naturally dampen a mage’s power, but eventually the body adjusts. I’ll give you a larger dose, but it is only temporary.”
“A tea to dampen power?” Such a thing existed? How had it not made its way to Tarth’s shores?
“It doesn’t have much effect on a trained mage, and it’s”—Serg looked at Kane—“hard to come by.”
Of course he would have such a valuable item in his collection.
Serg fixed her with a hard stare. “I must stress that this is only temporary. I recommend you find some way to shield yourself against it.”
It was far easier said than done, but Erinna nodded.
“The tea will work for now. Try and get some rest.” Serg packed up the rest of his stuff and exchanged a look with Kane before leaving.
Inez threw her arms around Erinna’s shoulders and squeezed. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Tears hazed Erinna’s vision. It was all too much, but she would thank the Mother Goddess every day for Inez. The diviner peeled her arms away from Erinna, eyelids drooping with fatigue. It looked like she hadn’t slept in some time.
“Get some rest, Inez. I’ll be fine.” Erinna gave her a reassuring pat, pleased that Inez obliged. She sent one last look between Erinna and Kane, face unreadable as she disappeared through the door.
Soon, it was just Erinna and Kane. She turned away from him to compose herself. He did not get to see her cry.
“I can help.” His voice was low and hesitant.
“You’ve helped enough.”
Kane clenched his jaw and tapped at the table in frustration. “I just—” He took in a long breath and let out a longer sigh. “I’m glad you woke up.”
Any vitriolic retort died on her lips, and a heavy silence settled between them. “Thank you, for making sure I wasn’t dead.” It was the best she could do for now.
Erinna peeled the layer of blankets back. She needed to find someplace else to sleep now that she was awake. But fatigue slowed her movements, and that tea had already started its work.
Kane held his hand up to stop her. “Stay here tonight.”
Erinna shook her head. They could be cordial for now, but she wasn’t ready to stay in such close proximity to him. There was only one bed, and she wouldn’t fight over who got the floor.
He closed the distance and started to pack the blankets back on top of her. “I insist.”
“But what about—”
“I’ll leave.”
Kane was at the door before Erinna could protest; it was clear he wouldn’t entertain a debate. “I’m…” Erinna started but wasn’t sure what she wanted to say.
Kane waited a long moment before responding. “Rest well.” With that, he left.
When she was finally alone, Erinna buried her head into the pillow and wailed. She wailed against the ache of loneliness and despair. Against the absence of her father and the betrayal of her friend. When no tears were left, she wiped her nose and clutched her knees to her chest.
The navy-blue cord around her wrist caught her attention. It was warm before. The memory came back and pierced her heart. It was warm right before he died; that memory was clear as day.
Erinna let out a shuddering breath and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the thoughts from flooding in.
She couldn’t accept that Kane was right, not when everything felt so raw.
She curled her fingers around the leather and ripped it away from her skin, throwing it somewhere in the room where it could rot in the shadows.
When her shaking finally stopped, Erinna allowed herself a moment to think in the silence and comfort of Kane’s room.
There was still work to do, steps to take to free her father. Wallowing in misery would have to wait.
They were headed to the Initian Islands.
There, she could find Nama Kellori, the Professor of Transmutation they saved not too long ago, who could help her unweave the arcanum of the curse—or at least point her in the right direction.
If fortune decided to grace Erinna, Rexin may still be docked in the capital, Kailani, and could guide her back home when the time was right.
Yes. She latched onto that hope, tucked it in close to her heart.
Then, when the exhaustion became more than she could bear, Erinna drifted into a dreamless, restless slumber.