[coronatiger]

27th of Ratanu, year 412 (continued)

I was pacing impatiently in the hallway, waiting for Wolfram to take over guarding Ælios, when Xipil approached me. He explained about a vision he had received, concerning Pak and Groman. Xipil believed our acquaintances from the Evening Fort had gone near the Realm of Death and then returned, but I didn’t think that could be the case. I warned Xipil that his vision shouldn’t necessarily be taken literally. If it was true, however, that Pak and Groman had visited You and returned, that would be a momentous event, and Xipil asked me to pray on it. Wolfram emerged from the room he shared with Grogg and Hylda, and I told him to take over the guard, for I needed to withdraw. Xipil added that he had seen the sun rise for Pak and Groman, and that this was the same sun that rose for us this morning. I informed them that if they needed me, they should knock on my door, then I let the two of them discuss the meaning of the sun in Xipil’s vision.

I knocked and entered our room, startling Yana, who scrambled to gather up her flowers and make room for me beside her on the bed. She chided me for not waiting for a reply after I knocked. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t want to disturb your work. I just felt I needed privacy for restoring my venom. Is it all right if I kneel in the corner?” Yana nodded magnanimously and I positioned myself with my back to her. I didn’t think she’d enjoy the sight of me licking my knives. Yana tossed a cloak over me, claiming I was too beautiful and that she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on her work, even with my back turned. I welcomed the shade and shoved aside the feeling that Yana was being deceptive.

After I had cleaned my knives and sheathed them, I tightened the muscles around my venom glands and felt the holy liquid seep into my mouth. I retrieved the correct vial from my pouch, opened it, and spat carefully so not a single drop would miss the small glass container. Then I began to meditate, shutting out the voices in the hallway.

I woke from the trance an hour later, when my venom glands were replenished. I asked Yana if she needed anything before I went under again, but she said she was fine. I drained my glands and spat into the vial again. I closed my eyes. “Actually, there was one thing,” Yana interrupted. “Did you hear what Nynos just said?” I told Yana I had discerned his voice outside a while ago, but I hadn’t listened to what he actually said. Yana informed me that the city guards were looking for me, and that they apparently had stepped up their efforts significantly since yesterday. I heard how worried she was and promised to talk to Nynos to find out what we needed to do. I asked if Yana wanted a hug, but she told me to go back to my meditation.

A knock on the door shattered my brittle tranquility, and I got up and answered. It was Xipil. Ælios was asking for me; he had another lesson. I threw the cloak on the unused bed and left. “Who is it?” Ælios asked grumpily when I rapped on his door, but he turned sunny when I identified myself. Entering, I opened my mouth to ask if Ælios needed me to get rid of Nynos for a while, but Ælios spoke first. He asked if I had certain items for cleaning Nillet’s wounds. I said I didn’t have those things, and proposed sending Nynos to Ælios’s office. Ælios didn’t want Nynos to go there, but what he needed should be easily obtained elsewhere if I made a formal requisition.

I went to see Nynos and informed him that I needed some medical supplies. While we were talking, Yana poked her head out into the hallway and asked Nynos to get a bathtub, too. Nynos glanced at me, and I confirmed that this was also part of my requisition. Nynos nodded and closed his door. Since Xipil was loitering in the hall, I told him I was going back to my meditation. He asked if I had found out anything concerning his vision, but I jabbed, “Not yet. Someone knocked on my door and interrupted me.”

I had barely closed my eyes again when another interruption came at the door. This time it was Ælios himself, wanting to speak to all of us, now that Nynos was away. Xipil brought the others while Yana and I made room for everyone to sit on our beds. Ælios had examined Grogg’s arm. The lightning had severed the connection between the injured arm and Grogg’s mind and soul, he explained, and there was no way for Grogg to regain control of his arm. However, Ælios could mend the bones and muscles in the arm and if Grogg could teach Kraa to control his arm for him, he might regain its use. Kraa was already helping Grogg with his sewing, which made Ælios optimistic that Kraa could learn what was needed here. The spirit raven emerged from Grogg’s body and flapped around for a few seconds before perching on the troll’s shoulder. With my current weakness, I couldn’t see the familiar, but I could hear it, and I could read Grogg’s body language and watch Xipil study Grogg’s shoulder through the spirit-seeing ring. I needed that ring if we were to try anything with the colored souls of Nillet and Korro.

When Ælios left, Yana asked if anyone understood him. I let the rest of our guests file out before answering. I said that Ælios wanted to fix Grogg’s arm by using Kraa. “I heard what he said,” Yana exclaimed annoyedly. “I just don’t see how it’s at all possible!” “I don’t either,” I confessed and asked permission for a hug. Yana wrapped her arms around me. “I love you,” she whispered. I assured her I felt the same way. “Good! Now go back to your meditation and stop distracting me!” I wasn’t the only one whose emotions were on a seesaw.

My vial was as full as it would ever be and I was ready to bite too, when Nynos returned to the ship. I heard him give something to Wolfram and make some jokes with him before he knocked on our door. The spy handed me a heavy bag. “Where’s the bathtub?” I asked. “Did you think I would be carrying it myself?” he countered. I put my hand on his arm and assessed the muscles there. Nynos was certainly stronger than me, but he wasn’t abnormally strong. “I think it’s the pride that’s the problem,” I concluded. Nynos lowered his voice. “I assumed you wanted to bathe together,” he said. I told him that was none of his business. Nynos asked where I wanted the tub, and I glanced at Yana, who pointed to the floor between the beds. Nynos considered the door with a face that said it might be difficult to get the bathtub through. He grabbed some food in the kitchen and ate while directing the soldiers to maneuver the bathtub into place. It took up most of the floorspace in our room. “If you want help filling it, you have to tell me now,” Nynos said. Yana and I definitely wanted help, and Nynos instructed the soldiers to start warming water in the kitchen; we had to carry it from there ourselves. Nynos tossed a white bundle to me and left us to it. The bundle contained towels, soaps and sponges. “This was more than I asked for,” Yana told me with a grin, looking at the giant bathtub.

I delivered the bag of medical supplies to Ælios, and then Yana and I spent the next hour filling our tub, going back and forth between our room and the kitchen. All the walking and carrying made me sigh with relief and delight when I finally lowered myself into the water. Yana made one more lap to the kitchen to gesture to the soldiers that we had enough. When she came back, she paused at the sight of me slipping Hope into the water. “I’m not sure how comfortable I am with a snake in the water. Can you ask her to stay at the other end of the tub?” Yana asked. I thought she had come a long way in conquering her fear of snakes, so this question came as a surprise. However, when I considered how fragile, how volatile I felt myself for the time being, I decided not to make a fuss. “Of course, Sweetie,” I replied, then hissed the instruction to Hope. I sensed confusion from our little sister, but she obliged.

Yana and I spent some time just soaking and watching Hope’s swimming technique. It seemed so effortless compared to how we humans flailed about when we were swimming. Yana broke the silence. “How far along is she? Can you tell at all?” “Most snake species have gestation periods between four and six weeks,” I explained. “Hope will lay her eggs in about two weeks, as far as I can tell. It should go well, with little or no moon to hinder her.”

“I want to wash out the dye from your hair, Nuur-Karif,” Yana said after a few more minutes of silence. “The quick job is already beginning to fade, as I warned you it would. Tomorrow, when we know what the guards are looking for, we can dye your hair again.” I moved to the middle of the tub and leaned back towards Yana, letting her magic fingers massage my hair and scalp.

When Yana was satisfied, she asked me for a favor. “Do you remember last month in Sam, when I tried teaching you a trick to relieve the cramps?” “Yes, I totally freaked out and spilled water all over the floor! I wasn’t expecting the process to be so intimate.” Yana giggled at the memory, and I joined her mirth. “The point is,” Yana explained when the laughter had died down, “to stimulate that sensitive spot until it explodes. Then the ripples that spread out through the body will ease the cramps, at least for a while. I can achieve the effect on my own, but I would rather have you do it to me. It feels so much better when I’m in your hands, and you’ve proven your skill at making me explode already.” “I’d love to do this for you, Yana,” I said. “Will you return the favor?”