Chapter 23

As dusk approached, Yaeth escorted Raiel back to his room in the hospital. Luckily, the door, which Raiel had left unlocked hours earlier, opened without a problem, and Yaeth watched his roommate enter, closing and locking the door behind him.

Raiel was in a bad state, and as Yaeth trudged back home, he wondered just how many more times he would have to see his new friend beaten and hurt. Just what had he gotten himself into? If everything that Raiel had recounted was true, the boy was in deep shit. Like to the chin – or maybe even to the eyebrows. Given the circumstances of the deaths of his parents, Raiel could quickly and suddenly find himself in the sights of some incredibly powerful people with the means and the will to see their task completed with his death.

Yaeth was not too keen on being on some spoiled noble’s blacklist just because he got his nose a little too close. For now, he would help Raiel find information about the incident those years ago, and then he could judge his role in the whole thing after that.

“Any news from our healer?” Tali asked with her lips on the rim of her tea cup, her words muffled by the porcelain. She sat cross-legged in the windowsill of her office, the occasional breeze whirling her unbound hair about her head and shoulders.

“We’ve heard nothing, ma’am. And as such, everything should be proceeding as planned. I would guess he has arrived by now, and if not, soon.” The hooded figure reported. He stood tall, clasping his fists behind his back, determined not to repeat the numerous embarrassments he’d brought upon himself during his earlier visits.

“Good. That’s good…” she replied absentmindedly as she sipped her tea. The tea was a blend of Whiteleaf and Whorlberry extract – both delicious, but even better combined. It was sweet. Just how she liked it.

She’d been considering how to go forward in regard to the boy after finding out, that there might be even more to him than she had thought. She’d wanted to simply take him out of that place where she had put him and train him herself. She was powerful, so why wouldn’t she be able to teach someone else, as well? Now, he might be worth enough to have set aside some of her other tasks in favor of teaching him.

However, thinking back to Sighart’s demeanor when she roped him in to taking Raiel on as a student, she knew that the stubborn old man would not let him leave again so soon. Not when he knew she had plans for the boy. Sighart was such a damn softie. No, getting even more on Sighart’s bad side would not be worth the reward. Sighart might be an old man with a soft spot for children and youths, but he was probably stronger than she was.

With a long sigh, Tali glanced to the corner of the room, where a fluffy ball lay curled up on a stack of blankets. The wolf had gotten bigger and was growing steadily. Bowls with water and chopped beef stood next to the little nest. She supposed she had a few soft spots herself. She might even have gotten a tiny bit attached to the damn beast.

The next day saw some improvement in Raiel’s condition, and although pain shot through his every fiber when he moved even a little, his limbs became much more willing to listen to his brain. He managed to stand without too much difficulty, and his nose avoided another sudden meeting with the wooden floor.

He had managed to sleep past noon, until he was awoken by knocking on his door and the immediate entry of a very tall man. He wore robes that flowed dramatically behind him as he strode directly to Raiel’s bedside without a second of hesitation. The man gave the boy a long, considering look without moving his head, simply looking down his nose. The gesture of superiority was enough to cause Raiel to begin to have misgivings about the man.

“So…” the man began, and even his accent poked at Raiel’s nerves. “You’re the boy I have been hired to attend to. I suppose I shall comply.” he said haughtily, pulling a chair over so he could sit down. He stared at Raiel for a second before gesturing wildly with his hands, impatience evident on his angular face.

“Well, remove your covers so I may look at your injuries!” he snapped.

“Oh, uuh… I’m not wearing anything, to be honest. I slept naked.” Raiel managed with hesitation. With a quick glance, he spotted the clothes, which he had tossed haphazardly on the floor next to the man’s chair. After the little excursion of last night, Raiel had removed the last clothing he’d worn, wanting to sleep with nothing on.

“Then put your undergarments on!” The man was becoming increasingly agitated each time something did not go exactly according to his wishes. “Barbarian…” the man muttered under his breath, as he fidgeted with his sleeve in annoyance.

“Could you hand me my underpants? They’re right there on the floor.” Raiel asked and pointed to the pile of clothing, while he held the blanket in place to keep the man’s eyes shielded from the horror that was his naked body.

“I most certainly will not!” the tall man exclaimed in apprehension, his already narrowed eyes turning to slits.

“Oh, right.” Raiel mumbled, mentally punching himself for forgetting some of these manners he had to follow. He wrapped the blanket around his hips and held it in place with a hand, and then got out of bed as quickly as he could manage. With continuous groans of pain, he put on his underpants and turned to the man in the chair, as he let the blanket drop to the floor.

The focused look in the man’s eyes, as he studied Raiel’s body, was a surprise. The scowl and the apparent annoyance had all but evaporated from his features, replaced by unmasked curiosity. “So, where does it hurt?” the man asked without making any attempt at eye-contact.

“Just everywhere, really. Nowhere specifically.” The boy explained as he went and sat down on the bed again.

“And if I do this?” A long finger was jabbed unceremoniously into Raiel’s ribcage, and he squealed with a mix of pain and surprise.

“Aauh! What the shit, man?” the boy cried with a classic swear he had picked up from the many times Yaeth had said it to him. He gently massaged the now aching spot in his side with his fingers. “What did you do that for?”

“Did it hurt?”

“Of course, it hurt!” Raiel yelled.

“No!” The healer clicked his tongue with irritation. “I mean, does it hurt a lot more than it usually would?”

“I told you – Yes!” Before he could say anymore, Raiel was struck by another finger in his calf and then a third in the soft flesh of the inner forearm. He groaned, this time from pain and frustration.

“And then?”

“Yes! It damn well hurt!”

“I see.” The man sat back in the chair with a contemplative look on his face, while Raiel shuffled further unto the bed to get away from the terrible abuse.

“Give me your hand.” The tone was commanding.

The man took Raiel’s hand a pressed down on the tips of his fingers, causing him to wince. The healer studied the boy’s face closely as he pressed on each fingertip. Then, the same was done to the tips of his toes.

“Still the same degree of pain?”

“Yes.” Raiel confirmed.

“Odd.” The was a moment of consideration. “Have you been… poisoned, recently?”

Taken completely by surprise, Raiel could only stare, before he remembered their trek through the underbrush in the forest. The snake had struck, but never penetrated skin. “No, I haven’t.”

“The symptoms you’re showing, such as hypersensitive pain receptors and general mobility issues, point to Inundation Shock. But…”

“Inundation Shock?” Raiel asked.

“The excessive flooding of energy within the body can cause harm, in some cases lasting.” the healer explained. “But, you’re not able to infuse, are you?” He raised an eyebrow when he made his question.

“Oh, no. Definitely not.”

“Of course not. What was I thinking?” He waved a hand in the air, as if to dismiss the absurd assumption. “Well, in any case, by stimulating the natural restoration of your body, as well as injecting my own energy flow, we should see a speedy recovery, don’t you fear.” the man reassured. “Now, lay on your stomach.”

Raiel did as he was told and made to put on the rest of his clothes, but was stopped by the healer as he was picking up his shirt from the floor.

“Just your undergarments will suffice.” he said. “The fabric would only impede the flow.”

With a shrug, Raiel laid down and tried to relax his body. In the wake of Eryna’s treatment sessions, he had come to expect the pain as an inevitable part of the healing. That’s why he was so surprised, when there was only an initial sting when the energy rushed into him, and then… no pain. The buzzing was there, but no pain follow, although he fully expected it to erupt at any moment.

“It… it doesn’t hurt.” Raiel remarked with hesitation.

“Of course, it doesn’t! Do you think me an amateur?”

“Uh, no. But my friend healed me before, and it hurt a lot.”

“She would be a mere student, then, would she not?” the man commented as his hands moved across Raiel’s back with practiced movements, unraveling the aches in the boy’s body. “I have numbed your pain receptors for now. I could actually undo that, and even enhance the sense of pain. These abilities can do so much more than mend wounds.” There was no malice or animosity in the words or the tone, and despite sending a cold shiver down Raiel’s spine, he knew the man most likely meant him no harm.

“That’s… frightening.” he agreed.

“Isn’t it?” the man laughed. “People with abilities such as mine are actually considered some of the most effective interrogators. You need not break a man’s bones to make him cry, after all.”

The conversation was moving to places Raiel would prefer not to be in, so he refrained from answering.

After a few minutes, the healer mumbled something to himself before speaking. “I have noticed, that there seems to be a blockage of some kind, which dulls the flow I send into you. Did you know that?” The question seemed genuinely enquiring.

“No, can’t say I did.” Raiel lied as his heart began to race in his chest. “Why is it dulled?”

The man didn’t answer for a moment, and Raiel heard him scratch the stubble on his face in thought. “I must admit that I can’t tell.” He sounded embarrassed.

Raiel had to hold himself back from breathing a long sigh of relief when he realized he had not been busted by this noble of unknown affiliation. It was easy to guess, that the seal in him was what restricted the healer’s powers, as well as masking any latent energy within him. It had never occurred to him, that a trained infusionist might be capable of detecting the ability of others.

“Weird.” he said, and closed his eyes, trying to calm his nerves.

Raiel woke up late in the afternoon to see the healer gone without a word. Standing from the bed, he immediately noticed a significant boost to his energy and that the pain in his body had receded to nothing but a mild ache. What a miracle worker that guy had been! He wondered just how much money that must have cost, and was glad to know, that he wasn’t the one who had to pay for it. Or, at least, he hoped he did not have to pay.

Exiting the hospital room, Raiel made his way down the corridors to the bathrooms and went into one of the shower stalls. In the mirror, he saw that he had now grown a beard. That really was weird. Was that aggressive hair growth another side effect of the shock? If so, it seemed like an odd one. He scratched the bushy facial hair, which looked to be about four centimeters, with narrowed eyes, as he studied the rest of his body for any visible physical anomalies. Doing so, he noticed that his muscles had grown quite a bit. In fact, he looked at least a few years older than he had just a couple of days before.

These changes were not welcome, now when he had become painfully aware of the potential consequences, should his secrets be exposed. Especially with the facial hair, anyone who looked at him for two seconds would see the difference. He had to get rid of it.

He took a quick shower and got into the same clothes he had worn yesterday, since he had forgotten to bring anything to change into when he visited the room last night. Remarkably, the gashes on his leg had begun to heal nicely, and he could support his weight on it without too much difficulty.

He walked home and put on the last shirt and the last pair of underwear. He would have to wash the other set soon. Pocketing the scant remainder of the coins he had earned, he went for a shave, hoping he could find that same barber, where Eryna had taken him.

Unfortunately, he was quickly rejected, since the service apparently cost more than he had, which frankly seemed outrageous. With a sneer, the barber directed him to another shop with services of ‘lower quality’, and Raiel was only too happy to be out of there. The other place treated him nicely, and the result, to him, looked identical to what he had gotten with Eryna. He also managed to keep half of his precious coins, which was much better than he had dare to hope for.

Getting back to the room, he found Yaeth snoring in bed, his socks and shirt thrown haphazardly on the floor. Raiel walked up to him and planted a foot on his stomach with a grin.

“Let’s go to the library!” he sang with glee.

Yaeth moaned pitifully as he was forcefully pulled from the nap he had been so enjoying, and slapped the offending foot away as he grumbled something about an unnamed moron, who keeps bothering him at all hours of the day.

“Fine… I guess I did say I would do it.” he sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands, trying to wake up properly. “How long was I asleep, anyway?”

“Can’t be more than an hour’s time. I was here earlier, and you weren’t.”

“Alright, let’s go, then.” Yaeth announced, and pushed himself off the bed to put on the rest of his clothes and his boots. He turned to Raiel before opening the door. “Get your backpack, too, while we’re at it. We might need to bring some of it back with us.”

When they got there, Yaeth took a sharp turn as soon as they entered through the front door, going for a row of shelves in the far corner of the first floor. To Raiel’s great relief, he seemed to know exactly where to begin their search.

“Okay, so, this is the general history section.” he informed, gesturing to the shelves of books surrounding them with a wide arch of his arm. “I say general, but that’s a pretty broad term in this case. You can find most historical knowledge in this area, or at least the knowledge we possess. The sections of other fields of study also contain history about that subject, but most of that can be found here, as well.” He blurted quickly, while he began to look through the massive amount of volumes. Raiel chose a place at random and started combing through the books one by one. The more advanced stuff still posed a grave challenge, and while his reading speed had become passable, difficult words still caused quite a few of the titles on the spines to be indecipherable.

“Go over there and look.” Yaeth commanded, pointing a thumb at a shelf behind them without looking away. “That’s military history. Maybe you can find something there, while I look through political history.”

Raiel did as instructed and they fell into a cozy silence as they both riffled through a seemingly endless sea of paper, occasionally pulling out titles to inspect more thoroughly afterwards. Although cozy and calm, the work was by no means enjoyable, at least not for Raiel. He suspected, that his friend had a more positive view on the matter, since he seemed to be someone, who could take things seriously when he had to. They kept going for another two hours or so, before Yaeth uttered a gleeful shout, drawing the glances of other students in the library.

“Come! Take a look at this for a second!” he hissed, wildly beckoning for Raiel to come over and join him. “Here, look!” His finger was pressed down on a chapter title on the index page of a leather-bound book with cracked edges and stiff paper. Raiel narrowed his eyes as he studied the line of words.

13. Sharing ancient power – a case of divided opinions. The beginning of a lasting feud?

Raiel wasn’t sure he fully comprehended the meaning of the title, but Yaeth seemed to be certain as he flipped the book closed to show the title of the volume.

Bloodline politics and the inner workings of the noble court – by Gragory Streyn

“Obviously, some of it is speculation, since only the nobles are privy to that kind of information. But, if I remember correctly, this guy was pretty well acknowledged when he was alive. And now, for that matter.” Yaeth really seemed to believe they had found something here.

“Let’s find a table and look through what we have.” Yaeth lifted the stack of books he’d collected on the floor and raced off towards the reading area, Raiel soon following with his own heap. He found his roommate already reading through, and was content to take a seat across from him as he waited for the big reveal.

“Yes!” Yaeth yawped a little too loudly, winning him glares from students, as well as a passing librarian. He hardly seemed to notice, though, and he flew into a hurricane of an explanation of the material he had been studying for the past fifteen minutes.

“Dude, this is crazy! If you’re right, and you were hunted because of your abilities, this might explain it. No promises, though!” he whispered. “About three hundred years ago, there was a big argument, and I’m talking real big and angry, about whether the older noble families should share their potential for infusion with houses raised to nobility through merit. Most of them either thought it appropriate or didn’t care one way or the other. But, several families were opposed to the idea, although it had already been done for many hundreds of years. So, they proposed to cut all sharing of blood with families not already in possession of the power.” Yaeth stopped to catch his breath after speaking without inhaling.

“According to this book, apparently, there was some serious disagreements among the houses, and even a few violent conflicts. Allegedly, the opposition ended up surrendering, and agreeing to go back to the way it had always been. Since then, however, bastard children and even a few direct descendants of new noble houses would go missing inexplicably. Many suspected the same families who had opposed the sharing of blood, but nothing could ever be proven beyond doubt… What if…” Yaeth paused, looking for the correct way to propose his theory to his friend.

“What if that’s what happened to your mom and dad?” he mused carefully. “What if your mom was a bastard of some noble, and the trait was passed to you, as well?” he threw his hands up, looking for a response from Raiel. “What if it was found out, and that’s why you were hunted?”

Raiel sat still in his chair, his jaw hanging slightly ajar, while Yaeth huffed after the heated speech. Raiel didn’t know what to say, and the thoughts were swimming in his head. “Who…” he said quietly and Yaeth looked at him. “What families was it?”

Yaeth shot him an apologetic half-smile. “Sorry, but it doesn’t say anything about it here. I think a lot of this was conclusions based on bits and pieces from the author’s side. Additionally, it would probably have been bad for his continued health, if he publicly accused specific noble families of being no better than back-alley assassins.”

“Huh.” was all Raiel could manage after that anticlimax.

“But!” Yaeth exclaimed, a finger raised. “Maybe the historians here on campus know about it!” Yaeth seemed to be hooked on the investigation, and was eager to go forward with it. He was already more invested in this than he had planned to be, but he couldn’t deny that it was exciting Raiel couldn’t help but smile at his friend’s antics. Yaeth always acted so unwilling, but when it came to it, he delivered.

“Let’s go ask, then!” Raiel declared, trying to raise his own energy to Yaeth’s level.

Yaeth grabbed the boy’s hand, formed his fingers into a fist, and bumped it against his own, grinning from ear to ear.