Chapter 26 Kailin #2
Alar emerged from the bushes looking pale but more composed. "That was unpleasant."
Diarrhea never was, but the relief after purging the stomach felt good.
"Better out than in," Shovia said cheerfully. "Now come on, we're falling behind."
"You need to drink." I handed him one of my canteens. "Dehydration is your enemy out here."
He shook his head and pushed my canteen away. "Mine is still full. Conserve your water."
"Then take a few sips," I ordered. "Not from the tea. Just plain water."
"Yes, ma'am." He offered me a cheeky smile, and my heart broke into a gallop.
When he was done drinking, I had the stupid urge to lick the few drops of water that clung to his lips, but then he wiped his mouth with his sleeve, breaking the momentary thrall.
"Let's move," Shovia said. "We are holding everyone back."
We quickened our pace to catch up with the rest of our group, who had gained some distance on us.
The trail was steepening gradually, and I could feel the burn starting in my calves.
Four months of training helped, but nothing prepared me for an all-day trek with short breaks every couple of hours. I'd never trekked for so long.
Suddenly, there was a yelp of pain from ahead, and my gut clenched in fear. I was only able to release it once I realized that no one was tumbling down the mountain to their death and that there were no screams to accompany the original.
"She twisted her ankle!" someone yelled. "Get the medic."
I hurried forward to help, grateful for the excuse to focus on someone else's problems instead of my own growing anxiety about how high we had already climbed.
"Let me look," I said, crouching beside the woman. The ankle was already swelling, and when I probed gently, she winced, but I didn't feel anything broken. "It's probably just a sprain. Do you have a compression bandage in your first aid kit?"
"Here." Shovia handed me hers. "Use mine. I'll get a new one from the medic when he gets here."
"Thank you." I took the bandage and wrapped the ankle tightly. "You will need a walking stick," I told the woman.
"You should go back," Shovia told her.
The girl shook her head. "I don't want to. I want to finish the pilgrimage."
Shovia pursed her lips. "Your choice. But this ankle is only going to get worse, and you will regret not opting for the stretcher sooner."
When Lysara returned with the medic, the guy inspected my work and nodded his approval.
He pulled out a collapsible walking stick from his pack, extended it, and offered it to the girl. "Don't put your full weight on your foot," he instructed. "And tell someone immediately if the pain gets worse."
"I will," she promised.
"Are you sure that you can continue?" Lysara asked her.
The young woman's face was set with determination. "I can go on," she said.
She was going to slow us down further, which several people were already grumbling about.
"Good answer," Lysara approved. "But you'll walk up front with me where I can keep an eye on you." She turned to the rest of the group. "You will all take turns helping Yarinda. Is that clear?"
I nodded along with everyone else.
Yarinda was hurt, but that didn't mean that she would be a weak soldier or a liability in whatever unit she ended up serving. On the contrary, her grit and determination were admirable.
It seemed that I had been right in assuming that building cooperation and trust would be a big part of our training.
As Alar moved to walk beside me, I studied his face. "How are you feeling now? Is your stomach still revolting?"
He grimaced. "My stomach is fine, but I'm not sure I'll ever get the foul taste of that leaf out of my mouth."
"Don't chew any more of them," I said quietly. "Your stomach will eventually grow accustomed to them, but your body can't afford the dehydration given the water rationing."
He nodded. "Thank you for the advice."
"You're welcome."
"Mean bitch," Codric murmured under his breath. "She did that on purpose."
Turning to look at him, I put a finger on my lips. "Her intentions might have been good. Elucians don't need herbs to help them with the altitude, so she couldn't have a lot of experience with them."
He regarded me with a doubtful expression on his handsome face. "If you say so. But from now on, I will be watching her."
I couldn't blame him, especially since I'd entertained the same thoughts.
It was unbefitting of an Elucian to use underhanded methods like that, but if Lysara's intentions had been nefarious, she had found a convenient loophole around the Precepts of Truth.
The herb she had given Alar was helpful, and the side effects were tolerable under normal circumstances, so technically, she hadn't done him any harm.
Besides, I wasn't so naive as to believe that all Elucians adhered to the Precepts of Truth at all times. In fact, I was fairly certain that there were plenty of shenanigans going on, especially within our government.
Nepotism, for one, was rampant, and some areas of Elucia were getting better infrastructure than others because that's where the more influential council members were from.
There was probably much more going on that I wasn't aware of, but I wasn't interested in politics and preferred to leave the headache to others.
It wasn't easy to govern the stubborn and opinionated Elucians, so unless I was willing to do that, I had no right to criticize those who put themselves out there.
As the path continued to climb, switching back and forth across the mountainside, I kept my eyes firmly on the backpack of the person in front of me, trying not to look at the increasing drop to our right.
When a cool breeze swept down from above, carrying with it the sharp scent of snow, Shovia cursed softly. "Weather's changing," she muttered. "It's going to get interesting."
"Define interesting," Codric said, his breath coming harder now.
"Anything from a light dusting of snow to a full-blown blizzard." She grinned at his expression. "Welcome to Elucia, where the weather is predictably unpredictable."
I was about to respond when Alar suddenly stumbled. Instinctively, I caught his arm and steadied him.
"I'm okay," he said. "I just got dizzy for a moment. The air feels thin."
"You're just hungry." Codric clapped him on his back. "It's not that bad yet."
I shared a concerned look with Shovia. If Alar was already struggling, how would he manage when things got more difficult ahead?
He pulled another leaf from his pocket and examined it. "I know I shouldn't, but I'm so hungry that it's tempting."
"Don't," I warned.
"Isn't chewing on a leaf considered breaking the fast?" Codric asked.
"Medicine is excluded," Shovia said.
He turned to me, and the grin that spread over his face was all about mischief. "I'm sure you know many beneficial herbs and berries. If you just point us in their direction and explain what they do…"
"That would be cheating." I patted his arm. "We are supposed to abstain from food for three days. It shouldn't be that difficult."
"So they say," Shovia muttered. "They also say that the thin air helps us commune with Elu. Personally, I think it just makes us lightheaded enough to believe whatever the shaman tells us at the top."
"Shovia!" I hissed. "That's blasphemy."
She shrugged. "Just saying out loud what we all think. Even Saphir jokes about it."
Alar chuckled, then quickly sobered as another wave of dizziness seemed to hit him. This time, I wasn't quite fast enough to catch him, and he sat down hard on a nearby rock.
"I need a minute," he said, his face pale and sheened with sweat.
I crouched beside him, worried by his rapid breathing. "Try to slow your breaths. Deep and steady, like this." I demonstrated the breathing technique Gran had taught me for managing panic attacks.
He tried to match my rhythm, but I could see him struggling. The altitude was hitting him hard, harder than it should even for a flatlander.
Something wasn't right.
"Lysara," I called. "We need a break here."
Our group leader backtracked to us, her expression neutral as she assessed Alar's condition. Without a word, she pulled out his water flask and added something to it—more herbs, I guessed.
"Drink," she ordered, handing it to Alar. "All of it."
"Hold on." I lifted a hand. "What's in it?"
She regarded me with thinly veiled hostility. "Are you questioning me, Kailin?"
"I know all of the remedies for altitude sickness, and I am not familiar with what you put in Alar's flask."
Her shoulders stiffened. "Do you think I would purposely do anything to harm a pilgrim?"
Sabotaging a pilgrimage was a grave offense in the eyes of Elu, but not everyone was a believer.
"No, but as my grandmother says, life is all about learning. If there is an additional herb that treats the sickness, I would like to know what it is."
That was the truth, just not all of it.
The tension in Lysara's shoulders loosened. "This stuff is proprietary. It was developed for riders, and we use it for the more difficult cases on the trek."
She wouldn't lie about it in front of everyone, would she?
"So, it's a secret formula?" Codric asked.
"Yes." She turned to Alar. "Drink, or I'll have you taken down the mountain."
He complied, but given his expression, the taste was even worse than the leaves. Almost immediately, though, his breathing began to ease.
"Better," Lysara nodded. "But you'll walk with me for a while. I need to monitor you."
I didn't like that because I wanted to keep an eye on him, but there wasn't much I could do about it other than join them, and I'd already antagonized Lysara enough. I had to trust that her intentions were good.
As they walked ahead, I couldn't help thinking it was strange that the Citadel didn't share its medical discoveries with the rest of Elucia. I also didn't know that the riders had their own apothecary, but it made perfect sense since they had other exclusive medical facilities.
Dylon had not mentioned that, though, which was peculiar since our entire family was involved in running Gran's shop.
Was it supposed to be a secret? And if it was, why?