Quarantined Night
Roylen could scarcely contain his relief.
The saintess had agreed to help Theorad. It was not even Roylen's own problem, and yet he felt as though he had accomplished something extraordinary.
And he had persuaded the saintess herself—a person whose authority within the Church stood almost beyond reach. Surely that was an achievement worth boasting about over drinks.
Her Highness will think more highly of me, too.
While the Princess was absent, he had assisted Viscount Theorad and convinced the saintess to intervene. What better proof could there be of a devoted and capable servant?
As this pleasing thought took shape, the light around Rastain seemed to grow brighter.
Roylen cleared his throat. He had apparently let his self-satisfaction get the better of him.
“Ahem. I am deeply grateful for your generosity. Is there anything a humble believer such as myself can do to help?”
“I carry the instruments I need for astrology, so there is nothing you need to prepare,” Rastain replied. “But one thing is essential. No one must enter the room while the Quarantined Night treatment is taking place.”
“You want the entrance guarded. Of course. Her Highness's knights and I will see to it.”
Rastain smiled at his quick understanding and rose.
The paladins folded away the silk screen. Her radiance flooded the room once more, and Roylen lowered his head.
She turned toward Theorad. Roylen had spoken at length on his behalf, but Rastain could not undertake the treatment without hearing the wishes of the man who would enter the patient's consciousness.
“Oh, Saintess!”
The blind girls heard her approaching and sprang up from the sofa. They came to her eagerly and took hold of her soft, flowing hair on either side.
Rastain gently stroked their heads, smiling, then raised her gaze to Theorad.
“Thank you for spending time with my children.”
“Not at all. I enjoyed feeling like a child again.”
Theorad rose from the floor and straightened his clothing.
As he met her eyes without flinching from the light, Rastain felt her heart grow quiet. How long had it been since she had spoken with someone face-to-face?
“What stories did you tell them?” she asked.
“Stories?”
“They are shy girls. Yet they were completely absorbed. I wondered what kind of tale could put them so much at ease.”
“Ah, well…”
Theorad hesitated, looking faintly embarrassed.
“Just the old folktales my father told me when I was young. Nothing remarkable.”
“You are too modest. A familiar story becomes wonderful when someone knows how to tell it. It sounds as though your father cared for you very much.”
“He did. He was my mentor and my friend. He taught me a great deal—not only with words, but by example.”
“I see.”
Rastain felt that she understood a little more of the trust the people of Deharem placed in their viscount. Some of it must have passed to him from the father who had come before.
She was sorry to have met him so late. Still, the meeting itself brought her a quiet happiness.
Then she remembered why she was here.
“Saintess.”
Theorad spoke after a short silence.
“What did you decide, after speaking with Professor Roylen?”
Hope and fear mingled in his voice. He dreaded refusal. Yet he did not seem frightened by the prospect that the procedure itself might kill him.
What a strange man.
Rastain smiled.
“I have agreed to help you. Even if I refused, I believe you would seek out another astrologer. I would rather perform the procedure myself.”
Relief brightened his face. She expected him to thank her.
Instead, he lowered his head.
“…I am sorry.”
Rastain understood.
If the treatment failed, both patient and Theorad might be lost. He knew he was placing that burden, and the guilt of any failure, upon the saintess who had agreed to help him.
“Don't say such things. The best answer is to make certain we don't fail.”
She drew herself up.
“When you begin this treatment, you must be determined to save the patient.”
His resolve was not something she expected to break.
Late that evening, when the stars had come out, Rastain and Theorad entered the elf's sickroom.
Outside, Roylen, the Princess's knights and the Church's paladins stood guard. No one else would enter during the treatment.
Rastain brought a bracelet and a crystal sphere to the bedside and pulled out a chair. Theorad sat beside her.
Moonlight shone across the elf's disordered silver hair. Her lips were parted slightly, and her breathing came in shallow, intermittent breaths. She looked desperately ill.
Rastain laid her hand against the elf's forehead. It was cold enough to confirm that the Quarantined Night had taken hold.
She closed her eyes and drew a little divine power into her palm. Beyond the open window, the starlight seemed to waver in answer.
After examining the elf, Rastain withdrew her hand. A slight stiffness entered her expression.
“She is no ordinary elf. The memories gathered within her are far more extensive than I expected.”
Theorad nodded. There was no point hiding what he knew now.
“She has lived a very long time. I don't know why she came to me in the first place, but she gave up her own life to save mine. The fool.”
The last word was harsh. His voice was not. Pity, grief, gratitude and affection all lay beneath it.
Rastain realized that the relationship between this master and his maid was more complicated than their titles suggested.
She would not question him about it with the patient lying before them.
“An elf with such a long life will make the work more difficult, but the basic procedure will be the same.”
She twisted a strand of her own long hair around her fingers and pulled it free. Without complaint, she wound one end around the elf's wrist.
“I will use astrology and divine power to open her consciousness. We will enter memories from the distant past, where the mind's defenses are weakest, and move gradually toward the present.”
She secured the strand and drew its other end toward Theorad, tying the connecting hair around his wrists.
“There is something you must remember,” Rastain said. “Do not think of what you see inside her consciousness as a harmless picture of the past.”
“Not the past?”
“To the patient, a memory being replayed is something she is living through. If you interfere with it, you will truly appear within her past.”
Rastain tightened the last loop of hair and withdrew her hands.
“So you must not meddle, whatever happens. I am warning you for your sake. Interfere even once and you will become trapped at the bottom of her consciousness. I do not know how I would bring you back from there.”
She faltered for a moment, then tried to smile.
“But that need not happen.”
From her lap she took a bracelet made of small beads threaded together. It looked more like a ritual object than an ornament.
“Wear this. It was made under a full moon and consecrated through a celestial rite. It will protect you from becoming trapped in the patient's consciousness. It will also let you communicate with me while you are there.”
“Such a precious thing… may I really use it?”
“I give it to those who need it.”
Theorad hesitated only briefly before fastening the bracelet around his wrist.
Saving the elf came first. He could worry about repaying the favor afterward.
“Thank you. One day I will certainly repay this kindness—”
“Then repay it by bringing her back safely,” Rastain interrupted, with a lightness meant to ease his anxiety.
It sounded like a simple request. Yet neither of them could take success for granted.
Theorad saw the playful curve of her lips and understood her intent. She was doing her best to calm him.
“Of course. I won't disappoint you.”
His certainty in the face of an unknown future gave Rastain an unexpected sense of trust. If anyone could reach the patient, perhaps it was this man.
She nodded, looked away and brought her hands together to begin the ritual.
Outside the window, the wind fell still.
Rastain took a deep breath and started her incantation.
Whoosh—
For an instant, the night sky seemed to brighten. Golden divine light streamed from her body and filled the room.
Theorad felt it all around him. Without being told, he slowly closed his eyes.
Guided by Rastain's chanting, he began to enter the elf's consciousness.