Ashi is my friend…I’ll be damned if I give up now!
Shortly before sunrise, Magnes roused himself and went to check on the patient. He sighed with relief.
The fever’s broken, thank the gods.
He grabbed a cloth and wiped the sweat from Ashinji’s forehead, then laid his hand against the skin, now cool to the touch. He lifted an eyelid and nodded in satisfaction. Ashinji had drifted out of delirium and into normal sleep.
The crisis is past…Now, it’s just a matter of time.
“That was close,” Magnes muttered. “Too close.”
“Ai, that it was,” Gran replied. She stirred in her chair, waking Seijon, who had fallen asleep while sitting on the floor beside her, his head cradled in her lap.
“Ashi!” the boy cried, scrambling over to the side of the bed.
“Quiet, monkey!” Gran scolded. “You’ll wake him and Ashi needs his rest!” She softened the reprimand with a gentle pat on the boy’s head. Seijon scrubbed at his tear-streaked face, gazing at Ashinji with love and relief in his eyes.
Fadili tried to hide an enormous yawn behind his hand. Magnes felt a pang of guilt. The young Eskleipan apprentice had been of tremendous help, giving his time and energy freely and without complaint.
Magnes rested his hands on the younger man’s shoulders. “I can’t thank you enough, Fadili. I know you didn’t have to stay here all night, but I’m grateful you did. It made things so much easier.”
Fadili shrugged and his generous mouth stretched in a tired grin. “You don’t have to thank me, Tilo. We are brothers. This elf is also your brother, which makes him mine as well.”
One last thing needed to be done before Magnes could return to the temple for a few hours of sleep. From the supplies in his satchel, he made up a mixture of willow bark, feverfew, and goldenseal.
“Brew this up as a strong tea and make Ashi drink it as soon as he wakes. He’ll hate the taste, I’m sure, so put a lot of honey in it,” he instructed, handing the packet over to Gran, who tucked it away within the folds of her skirt.
She nodded. “When will you return?”
Magnes raked a hand through his curls and scratched the stubble of beard sprouting on his chin and cheeks.
“This evening.”
Chapter 37
"Concentrate, Jelena. Feel the dormant energy within the wick, take control of it…That’s it. Now, kindle the flame.”
“I’m trying, Sonoe, but I don’t think it’s working! Wait… I… yes !”
The little beeswax taper flared to life. Jelena gasped with delight.
“You did it, Jelena! Excellent! You see? I told you that you could.” Sonoe laughed at Jelena’s bemused expression. “You always underestimate your Talent, Jelena. You should never do that. Remember who and what you are. You’re an Onjara, and believe me, you’ve got the Onjara ability. You mustn’t be afraid to use it.”
Jelena nodded in agreement. “I hear what you’re saying, Sonoe, and I know you’re right. It’s just, well…until I came to Alasiri, I was a nobody…no, even worse, I was a despised nobody. It’s been a long, hard struggle to let go of all that and to see myself as worthwhile. Ashinji helped me the most, but so has my father…and you, of course.”
The windows of Sonoe’s private sitting room were thrown open to admit the soft spring breezes that wafted up from the gardens below, bringing with them the sweet perfume of the season’s first blooms. Sonoe and Jelena sat side by side on a silk upholstered couch, their bodies touching in the easy way of close friends. From across the room, gleeful giggles bounced through the air. Eikko and Sonoe’s maid Chiba had charge of Hatora, and the two hikui girls happily passed the cooing baby from one pair of arms to the other. Sonoe’s little dog Jewel spun and leapt around the girls in a frenzy of excitement.
Such peace, Sonoe thought. Pity it all has to end.
Her hand strayed to her bodice and pressed the black stone pendant secreted between her breasts.
Tonight, everything would change.
Sonoe reached out and laid a hand on Jelena’s cheek. Despite all her efforts, she had failed to quash the genuine affection she felt for this girl.
It will make her death so much harder to witness. If only a way could be found to spare her…
Sonoe sighed.
Such thoughts are counterproductive . Jelena’s fate was sealed long ago, and there’s nothing anyone can do to change it.
“Kindling a candle flame seems like such a little thing, though,” Jelena said. She reached out and snuffed the candle between her thumb and forefinger. “It’s a far cry from the powerful magic you and the other Kirians wield. I feel like a mouse beside an oliphant sometimes.”
Sonoe laughed. “Have you even seen an oliphant?”
“I’ve seen pictures…in books about the faraway south, out beyond the deserts,” Jelena replied. “There are leagues and leagues of forests so dense, the sun never reaches the ground. The humans who live there, the Eenui, are small and very, very dark-skinned. They ride oliphants, or so the books say. Mai Nohe’s father, Master Kurume, traveled to the Eenui lands, when he was a young man. It took him nearly a year to get there.”
“Tell me about Mai,” Sonoe prompted.
Jelena’s eyes swiveled downward and a stain of color crept into her cheeks. “There’s nothing to tell, really,” she murmured.
“If that’s so, then why are you blushing, pet?” Sonoe pressed, grinning. “You can’t hide the truth from me, dear heart. You know better. I think the handsome young swordmaster has turned your head!”
“We are getting to know one another, yes. I promised I’d give him a chance to win me over, and he’s certainly doing his very best!” A brief smile played across Jelena’s mouth, to be replaced by a frown of anguish. “Oh, Sonoe! What am I to do? Mai is handsome, kind, steady…”
Sonoe pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I can hear a ‘but’ that you’re not saying. Let me finish your sentence…‘but he’s not Ashinji’.”
“Am I being hopelessly pathetic for hanging on to my dead husband for so long? Gods, Sonoe, what’s wrong with me?” Jelena’s voice rose with her inflamed emotions. “I’m lonely and my child needs a father! Any other woman in my position would gladly accept a man like Mai, but here I sit, pining after a ghost when a living, breathing, wonderful man wants to share his life with me!” Jelena huffed and flopped backward into the cushions.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Sonoe soothed. “The love you and Ashinji shared was a very rare and beautiful thing, and it can’t ever be duplicated. You’re afraid that nothing else can ever measure up, but Jelena, there’s your mistake. Don’t even try to find the exact same thing you had, because you’ll fail. Accept what comes along for what it is, and happiness will follow.”
Such sage advice , Sonoe thought. The ironic part is, I meant every word .
Jelena nibbled on a fingertip, her humanish face a tablet upon which Sonoe could easily read all of her conflicting emotions. Clearly, Keizo’s daughter felt a strong attraction to Mai Nohe, but her love for her deceased husband had not diminished one whit.
Poor Jelena! You so much want to be reunited with your beloved Ashi. Well, my sweet friend, your wish will be granted very soon.